The Commentary Box: Dundalk need the missing supporters to return

Dundalk boss Ciaran Kilduff says he is concerned that sometimes things may be flat on the pitch. He says that everything even off the pitch there is a flatness, including among supporters.

The Dundalk boss says he thinks there may be an expectation and complacency that the team should be doing more. Kilduff's comments came after Dundalk's 1-1 draw against UCD which had an attendance of around 1,500 people.

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This was the second game in a row where attendances were down in comparison to earlier in the season when Dundalk were getting crowds of 2,500.

The manager said that one of the reasons why he took the job at Dundalk was that the crowds were so good at the end of last season at Oriel.

He pointed out that the club were pulling in crowds of 2,500 even though the club had been relegated. Ciaran says that the attendances are down by around six to seven hundred.

The manager said he had the feeling that it seemed there were expectations that the team could be doing more when they can not. He rightly pointed out that the club are unbeaten and top of the table.

I agree with the manager. The team really can not do any more than they are doing. Kilduff says that maybe the club has to do something extra to get the missing fans back.

Twenty-four hours later Dundalk got some great news. Longford got a goal three minutes into injury time that saw Cobh Ramblers two priceless points. So despite Friday's draw, Dundalk maintain their six-point lead on Cobh,

Ciaran Kilduff says Dundalk are easily the best club in the country as far as he is concerned. He added that Oriel can be electric at times when there is a good attendance.

He says that the club are into the second half of the season, with just nine home games left. He wants to know can the team and the fans drive things on together as they enter the final push for the automatic promotion place.

He accepted that there are times that the team is flat and the fans are the difference. They are he said the 12th man. He has appealed to the fans to drag the team home to a win.

There will be a time he said when the team will drag the fans home. He said that the team will do all the battling on the road like when they are in Cobh or Kerry.

He says at Oriel the fans can be the 12th player. He said there are nine home games left in the league. He asked again if as many supporters as possible can come out for the games in Oriel, to drive them home for the remaining games.

He asks would it not be great to get back to the Premier Division at the first attempt. He added that the younger players in the squad have played so well all season.

They had been given an opportunity to play for the first team, where it would not have happened at other clubs. It's going to come down to the team winning all of their home games in the run-in.

Next week Treaty come to Oriel. The two teams have met twice this season. Both games were drawn. The manager felt that his team could have won both games, especially the match at Oriel.

Kilduff says he wants all supporters at Oriel from next Friday, to help get the side over the line and win automatic promotion.

The manager is right to call on all supporters to come to Oriel. It is quite clear that at home, Dundalk have struggled somewhat. But they have come out on top in most of the games.

To have an unbeaten record is a fantastic achievement. But the manager must understand that watching many First Division games can be a major turn-off.

The standard is just nothing like it is in the Premier Division. Some of the games in the First Division can be just very boring and lack any real quality.

I have to say, I have not seen Dundalk serving up games like this too often. But I have felt that there would be a time span beyond which a minority of fans will stop attending.

Watching some First Division games can be very difficult. Dundalk have been involved in some games as described. But most of the times they have played football which fans would want to watch.

Personally, as we are now into the second half of the season I just want to see Dundalk win. Getting the three points are what matters not how. If at times we have to watch a puke football match, so what?

The win and the three points will bring Dundalk closer to the Premier Division. That's what matters. Yes, Dundalk need the missing supporters to return.

They can help make other teams uncomfortable and inspire the Dundalk players to go on and get the win. The 400 fans did it in Wexford three weeks ago. They did it in Cobh. Hopefully, they can help inspire Dundalk, whenever they need that little lift.

Friday's game was a very forgettable affair. It ended up in the last fifteen minutes with Daryl Horgan being pushed up to play as an out-and-out striker.

Daryl was being far more effective on the wing or being used as a roaming midfielder. When he moved to the striker's role, Dundalk's attacking threat was greatly stunted.

Luke Mulligan had another good game as right full. He is an attacking defender and he put the UCD defence under pressure with his attacking runs.

I thought Sean Keogh was once again excellent at left full as was Vinny Leonard at centre half. Mayowa was awarded the Man of the Match award by the match sponsors. Once again I was very surprised by their choice.

This was not one of Mayowa's better games. He is a good player. But he was making needless mistakes at the back at different times throughout the game. He was also booked again.

This would have brought him very close to suspension for the games he has been booked. He is very lucky that all players who have been booked up to now have had their names scrubbed in an amnesty as it's the second part of the season.

Once again Daryl Horgan was my man of the match. He was immense. He created Dundalk's goal and many other opportunities. He was a thorn in the side of UCD for the entire 90 minutes.

Harry Groome and Aodh Dervin did their best in centre midfield. Groome's opening goal was immense. Eoin Kenny was used as a winger.

Again he had another very quiet night. Leo Gaxha had a much quieter game than of late. But he still caused the university side some problems.

Dundalk's performance had nothing to do with the fall-off in supporters. It's just that they came up against a typical First Division team who made it hard to allow the league leaders play their normal game.

UCD packed their defence and wanted to hit Dundalk on the break. Their tactic worked and helped them get their equaliser.

Enda Minogue had an average night at the office on Friday. He was at fault for the UCD equaliser This came from a 25-yard free from Adam Verdon.

Enda has saved Dundalk on many occasions this season. For whatever reason he should have been able to deal with Verdun's shot. He seemed to be able to get a hand to the ball.

But it just drifted past him and crashed to the right-hand corner of the net on 37 minutes. The free kick was a needless one to give away. Aodh Dervin was adjudged to have handled the ball 25 yards out from goal.

Aodh told me afterwards that he most certainly did not handle the ball for the free. Whatever the case, was the fact the soft goal UCD got was enough to give them a draw and a point. They are now unbeaten in three games.

Dundalk made four substitutions in the game. Sean McHale replaced Harry Groome on 59 minutes. Andy Paraschiv replaced Dean Ebbe at the same time.

Aodh Dervin and Eoin Kenny were replaced with 10 minutes remaining by Keith Ward and Shane Tracey. There was little time for them to put their stamp on the game.

Dundalk served up a rather poor performance overall. UCD went close on 11 minutes when Niall Holohan headed narrowly over.

Dean Ebbe was presented with a golden opportunity to score on 12 minutes when a great cross from Daryl Horgan put him in the clear six yards out.

He got his head to the ball. But it was a very weak header that caused no problems for the UCD keeper Dara Kavanagh.

Luke Mulligan who once again had a good game tried to score with an 18-yard effort. It forced the UCD keeper into another great save.

Dundalk went ahead on 27 minutes. Daryl Horgan once again sliced open the UCD defence. It was a pinpoint pass to Harry Groome. He met the ball on the spin.

His shot was so perfect that it struck the bottom right-hand corner of the net. But Dundalk's lead only lasted eight minutes. The referee judged that Aodh Dervin had handled the ball 25 yards out from goal.

Adam Verdon struck the ball that went round the Dundalk wall. It was a good effort. But Dundalk keeper Enda Minogue should have got to the ball. It ended up in the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

UCD had the better of the exchanges in the second half. Dundalk's performance was indeed flat. Brian McManus nearly scored for the Dublin side four minutes into the second half. He had a clear view on goal.

Luckily for Dundalk, he shot narrowly over. Eoin Kenny broke through with a great chance on goal. He shot weekly at the UCD keeper.

It was very disappointing to see the young Dundalk striker not to make a better effort of the opportunity he had created for himself. With five minutes remaining Jake Doyle could have scored for UCD. He shot narrowly over.

There were four minutes injury time. It was enough to allow young Luke Mulligan have a shot at goal. Again it was narrowly over.

After the game, Dundalk boss Ciaran Kilduff gave me his own view of what happened on the night. "UCD are a very good team. They came into the game tonight winning their last two games.

"One of those was an away victory over Bray Wanderers. I am delighted to have UCD out of the way. They are that strong. We were a little flat tonight. We certainly did not deserve to win the game.

"UCD are that strong, that they are only going to get stronger and stronger. If you zoom out of the things it's a good result against a team we have not played well against. We are still top and at the end of round two of the league, we are top.

"When you do not play well against a team who are doing well and you do not lose it's a good sign. So yes it's probably just a refocus and a readjustment that have to be made now at this stage.

"There was nothing in the game and then all of a sudden, we had a moment of quality from Harry Groome and Daryl Horgan for the goal.

"We have had moments to come up with those moments in the past number of weeks such as those from Leo and Daryl. We had spoken to Harry to step up and make the most of opportunities like this.

"And he did so well to do it and score. At that moment you get the feeling that if we can get a second goal that it will really boost our confidence. That never came. Then we have given up a soft-looking goal.

"We were disappointed with that and the game then had a 1-1 draw written all over it for the remainder of the match. Both teams huffed and puffed. But I do not think either did enough to win it.

"Enda has put his hand up and accepted that he could have done better for the UCD goal. But Enda has rescued us so many times. It's only when a keeper makes a mistake that we talk about it because the ball usually ends up in the net.

"Do not forget one of his many saves in Wexford two weeks ago. We went on to win the game. Aodh was frustrated with the referee's decision to give the free kick. I think we were all frustrated.

"The officiating was frustrating tonight. Even in the technical area, when we were trying to get the team organised to entertain. There were yellow cards given that certainly were not and other situations where they should have been given and were.

"Conor O'Keefe is still a couple of weeks away from being available. He had a couple of bangs on the head weeks ago. It was a serious injury. There was no rush made to get him back playing.

"We still have to go through a number of protocols before he can get back on the pitch. When it comes to head injuries there will never be any risks taken. We are looking at a young player named Declan McGlade, not McDaid.

"He is not long home from Australia. He trained with us this week. We are definitely looking at young McGlade. We will be busy in the player market.

"We will be announcing a new signing in the next 24 hours. No, I will not tell you who it is as he has not been announced."

Well, I found out myself who it was within a half hour of leaving Oriel on Friday night. It was JR Wilson who was coming from Athlone Town.

JR is 26 years of age. And is a defender. He has played previously with Shelbourne and Bohemians. His brother Tyreke Wilson has played for Shelbourne. He is an experienced right back.

The manager says he hopes to bring in a minimum two or three other new signings in the window. He also says there may be an opportunity to get a loan signing or  two in as well.

"We have to get reinforcements. It's nothing to do with the lads we have here. They are a credit to the club. To go half the season unbeaten with so many young lads has been incredible.

"They took on the weight of the club when they were needed. I could not be prouder of the players we have. But one or two more players in would be a help.

"If I was to say we needed three players, I would say we need a defender, a midfielder and an attacker. I would be looking for experienced players.

"I just think we need a little bit more depth to the squad. I know in the glory days when I was here, we had 22 or 23 players to work off.

"If you were not on the pitch, you would be worrying if you would be on the bench or the stand. But I am happy with what I have here. I would be happy though to get two or three more players in.

"On a finishing note, I really want to appeal to the fans to turn out in Oriel every week from now until the end of the season. We are down around 500 to 700 supporters in comparison to what we were getting.

"We need the fans to drive us home at Oriel. Leave it to us to do the driving away from home. But we need all the supporters here in Oriel to help get us back to the Premier Division.

"It would be great to see the young lads on the team playing in a side that got straight back to the Premier Division at the first time of asking. They would never get that opportunity again.

"It's all going to come down to the run-in. That starts against Treaty in Oriel next Friday. We have failed to beat them in the two league games we have played against them this season.

"They hurt us here in Oriel with a late goal. And they hit back with a goal when we played them away in Limerick to draw the game.

"I want everyone who can make it to Oriel next Friday to be here. We must make this place a fortress and I need the fan's help more than ever to help get us over the line."

Aodh Dervin says that the team were looking for all three points on Friday night. But the vice-captain says it did not happen because the team were just not good enough on the night.

"I can not take anything positive out of that game tonight. Tomorrow it may be different." How right Aodh was. With Cobh blowing a one-nil  lead against Longford in injury time on Saturday Dundalk still lead the league by six points.

"Our performance was just flat tonight. That is all of us one to eleven. We can blame this and that for the performance tonight. But we were simply just not good enough.

"Our goal was a great finish from Harry, preceded by a great ball in from Daryl do not know what happened after that. We just went flat. I do not know if it was even a free for their goal.

"The referee gave a free for a handball against me. But I simply do not know how. My hand was down by my side. If your hand is down by your side, I do not think it's a handball.

"I do not know where it even struck my hand. They got a soft goal from the free. But Enda has saved us so many other times.

"He saved us from going two behind in Wexford and then we went on to win the game. Look Enda will be disappointed now and he knows he will be. We all have to be disappointed with that performance.

"The manager told us at half time that we needed to up our performance. We knew that ourselves. Sometimes you can not be relying on what the manager says.

"Sometimes it has to come from us. We just were not at it tonight. It was just flat and was so disappointing. Apart from the goal, we have not done anything. UCD are a good side.

"We might look back in a few days and we may look at this as a positive result. We owe Treaty one and that's for sure. They have held us twice this season.

"We will reflect on this game tomorrow. Then we will begin our preparation for the Treaty game. I have a role to play in the planning for that game as I am Vice-Captain along with the skipper Horgs.

"The young lads on this team are not playing like young lads. They are playing way above their years. I have to rally the lads around as does Horgs. But it's all of us. And let's all be positive. Next week is a new week."

I was so impressed with the manager and the vice captain in those interviews. You could see clearly how much they care how the club performs. You know how much Dundalk FC means to them.

This care and love for the club has funnelled right through the squad and is the reason why Dundalk are top of Division One. In the glory days, players were paid out ridiculous money that finally nearly put the club out of business last September.

The money that was wasted in that glory era was dreadful. The income that many of the players got was crazy and off the scale. The bonuses paid out for some of the European games were beyond comprehension.

I can only hope that Dundalk never goes back to that again if they ever return to the glory era. The club must simply never allow itself to get into that situation.

Look at what this young team is achieving today. Should they get the Holy Grail of promotion it would be a remarkable achievement.

Money in the glory days was just not wasted on players. It was wasted elsewhere as well. But the wages some of the players were getting to play for Dundalk were just crazy. And this was not just in the Kenny era. It was in the post-Kenny era as well.

To all fans, I would ask you to show up in Oriel next Friday to support a very special group of players. They can lead Dundalk back to the halls of paradise of the Premier Division and all the good things that can come from that.

Have a great week. Please be very careful out there. And remember to look after each other.