Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny argued his team were hard done by to lose to a stoppage-time penalty against Shamrock Rovers in Oriel Park, saying there was no way referee Robert Harvey could have been certain a foul was committed.

But his Rovers counterpart Stephen Bradley contended, by contrast, that it was a "stonewall penalty" which gave his side victory at the death.

With the sides locked at 1-1 after a frenetic clash, the referee adjudged that Sean Gannon had fouled Ronan Finn in the penalty area and awarded a spot kick to the visitors.

Midfielder Dylan Watts kept his cool to slot home the winner and inflict upon Dundalk a first home defeat of the season and end a 13-game winning run in the process.

"It's a corner, that's what it is," Kenny said of the penalty decision when speaking to RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after the game.

Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny: "It's not a penalty"

"Sean Gannon has kicked it out and Ronan Finn's collided with him. It's not a penalty. To lose in that manner is very disappointing. But lookit, there's nothing we can do about that.

"When you concede a goal in the first minute you're up against it. But I thought we were the better team overall and should have won the game really. We had all the chances really. The players responded quite well. It was quite a frenetic game and it's one we're quite unfortunate to lose.

"The referee made a very, very big decision. In my view, he can't be certain that's a penalty at all. And to give it in the 94th minute is a big call.

"But that's the way it is. We've no time to dwell on it because we've to travel to Limerick for Friday. That'll be our fifth game in 14 days. That's the nature of it at the moment. We've got to dust ourselves down and get ready for Friday."

Rovers boss Bradley insisted the penalty call was correct and praised midfielder Watts for converting it in pressurised circumstances.

"It was a stonewall penalty for me," he told RTÉ Sport. "When you see it back, it's stonewall. And Dylan showed tremendous character to step up and take it. He's a young lad and showed great steel to step up and hit it."

Shamrock Rovers fans celebrate after the dramatic 2-1 win away to Dundalk

The surprise win takes Rovers to within a point of Waterford FC in the battle for the final European place (the two sides meet on the penultimate gameweek of the season in Tallaght).

It comes off the back of two disappointing losses in August, the Cup defeat in United Park on the 10th and the 1-0 reversal at home to Bohemians eleven days ago, their third loss to Bohs this season.

Prior to that, Rovers had won five of the previous six league games and Bradley contends that the two week break before the Cup tie stalled their rhythm.

"I think the little break before we played Drogheda (in the FAI Cup) hurt us. It broke our rhythm because we were on a great run of form in the league. We were excellent in the league and in Europe and the little break hurt us.

"And it's taken us two weeks to get our stride back. That shouldn't happen but unfortunately it has. But I thought tonight the players responded and showed tremendous character.

"We need to get Europe. We know that. There's a long way to go before the end of the season but we just need to keep turning out performances like that and see where it takes us."