The Commentary Box: Dundalk are in a farcical Leinster Senior Cup situation

The old saying that in times of diversity we all face a long road, but that has a turn has come up trumps for Dundalk this season. A year ago, Dundalk FC were on the verge of extinction. They were relegated to Division One.

In came former player, Ciaran Kilduff, as the new manager who has steered them right back to the top tier of Irish football. He has done so mainly with the use of academy players, with a sprinkling of experienced players as well.

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At times this season, he has won key games with sixteen and seventeen year olds. Some have been 18, 19 and 20-year-olds. But it's been a phenomenal achievement.

The team also has had experienced players like Daryl Horgan, Conor O'Keeffe and JR Wilson. Add Aodh Dervin to the list, along with goalkeepers Enda Minogue and Peter Cherrie. Dundalk played 36 games in Division One.

Peter Cherrie lined out for 18 of these, while Enda Minogue also lined out for 18. Dundalk lost Sean Keogh in the transfer window. But the Republic of Ireland under-19 international move

d to English Premiership side Brighton.

He has come up through the academy, as has Vinny Leonard. He has been linked to Celtic. But he will stay on for the first half of next season.

Dundalk included 17-year-old Luke Mulligan in the side for the Cobh game on Friday. He may be in the Republic of Ireland squad for the World Cup in November.

Norman Garbett, a New Zealand under-20 player, was also in the team, as was under-19 international Vinny Leonard. Eoin Kenny is an under-21 player with the North. He lined out on Friday.

Sean Spaight, the sixteen-year-old Republic of Ireland international, also played as a full back. He has some future ahead of him. Clubs are queuing up to sign him. He has played six games for the Dundalk senior team this season.

He was man of the match in the recent home game against UCD. 20-year-old Andy Paraschiv, who came from the Leinster Senior League, has been a revelation this season. He lined out on Friday.

Rohan Vaughan started on Friday. The 19-year-old loanee from Queens Park Rangers got the winner on Friday. It was his fourth in 10 games. But Rohan has not started many. He is a great prospect.

Dean Ebbe lined out. He got his tenth goal of the season. Along with Keith Ward and Enda Minogue, they were the only really experienced players for Dundalk on the pitch.

Ethan Vaughan, another youngster, has been plagued by injury since he joined Dundalk last season. He has hardly played a single game. Samuel Saffei was the Sub keeper on Friday. He replaced Enda Minogue.

It was great to see the youngster get his chance. Aodh Dervin was on the bench. The experienced vice-captain was on standby if needed. Harry Groome was also on the bench. He is an experienced player.

I feel Dundalk should bring him back for next season. He would be joining Daryl Horgan, Aodh Dervin and Leo Gaxha, who are signed for 2026. Dundalk's leading goal scorer, Gbemi Arubi, was also on the bench.

Signed from Waterford at the beginning of the season, he has been a revelation since he overcame early-season injury. Gbemi is only 20. TJ Molloy was on the bench. Aged 16, he holds the record for scoring the earliest goal ever in Dundalk's history.

TJ is a great prospect. He is a Republic of Ireland under-17 player. Youngsters Callum Woods and Shay Casey were also on the bench.

Declan McDaid was also on the bench. The Scots full-back wants to stay at Oriel. I am sure he will be talking to Ciaran Kilduff about his future in the coming weeks.

Cobh may have ended up 10 points behind Dundalk at the end of the season. But they pushed Dundalk all the way, just falling away in the last two games. Cobh gave Dundalk a guard of honour for winning Division One.

They also presented the club with silverware. Dundalk beat the Ramblers in the four times the sides have met this season. Dundalk hit the front on 36 minutes when Dean Ebbe struck home a great goal following a cross from Eoin Kenny.

It took Ramblers four minutes from the end of the game to level things up when Declan McGlade's effort could only be parried by sub keeper Samuel Safaei. Matthew Wheelan buried the loose ball to the net.

But Dundalk were not finished. Rohsan Vuaghan latched onto a loose ball 25 yards out. He ran five yards and unleashed a cracker to the net. It was a great way to win the game and end Dundalk's league season.

Dundalk made ten changes to the side that beat Finn Harps last Friday week. They made substitutions to the team during the Cobh game as well. Enda Minogue was replaced by Sammy Safaei.

Ethan Vaughan was replaced by Callum Woods. Vinny Leonard was replaced by Shay Casey on 61 mins. Keith Ward was replaced by YJ Molloy on 61 minutes. Norman Garbett was replaced by Conall Alfred on 70 minutes.

Norman has the makings of being a top-class player. He has fought off serious injury last and this season. Now that he has made some first-team appearances, he has shown great potential.

Whether he stays on at Oriel, only time will tell. Last week, I asked the Dundalk boss if he was staying on at Oriel. He seemed a bit unsure of his answer.

I only asked him about his future as Dundalk manager when I had suggested to him that he would hardly get a break when there is plenty of work to do in the close season. His answer left some uncertainty.

The manager has said it depended on what was going to be done in the preparation for next season. Basically, he wants to have a side that gives him a competitive chance to stay up. Kilduff is 100 percent correct. He wants a side that will stay in the Premier Division.

He does not want a team that will go straight back down. Cork City have gone up and back down in the past three seasons. The manager wants to stay at Oriel. But he will only do the job if he feels he can do it right.

The manager will only be able to do the job correctly next season if he gets the investment needed for new players. He will basically have to rebuild a new team if he wants to stay in the Premier Division.

The investment needed for this will need to be substantial. To be fair to the owners and the manager, proper talks for next season have yet to take place. They will in the coming weeks.

Premier and First Division football is as different as night and day. Unless the manager gets the money needed to strengthen the team, Dundalk will be relegated next season. They must strengthen and do this considerably.

The manager told me after the game that when he says he will only stay if the club is going to be competitive, it's nothing to do with Dundalk FC.

"When I took the job last season, I sat down with John Temple and we had a vision for the club. It's been brilliant. I have had no regrets. It's been an absolute pleasure and a privilege. I plan to continue.

"It's just that at the end of every season, I have to go home and reflect on issues with my family. I need to make sure that if I am going to do it, I am going to do it right.

"If I was in charge of Dundalk for ten years, I would do the same thing every year. I am very lucky to have John and the others in Oriel Park around me. They have helped me so much this year.

"The plan is to go ahead again next season. In fairness, the league season only ended tonight. I know that John and others at the club will know that we will need extra investment for next season.

"But as the season is just over, we are all aware that discussions will be coming. It's a real credit to all those at the club who have done so much to keep this club alive.

"But there is now obviously another big step to be taken, which you and I am aware of, as are the people in charge of the club. We are all aware that there is a big gap between the First Division and the Premier Division.

"The last time we were in the Premier Division, we were relegated. We really need to get ready as a group and as a club. I am sure that this will happen in the coming days and weeks.

The club did make efforts earlier at planning for next season. But with us in the throes of attempting to win the First Division, it was hard to sit down and do much talking.

"But I will be sitting down with the club this week as we plan ahead for next season. There is a Leinster Senior Cup final due to happen soon in the next week or so. But leaving that aside, I am sure there will be plenty of time for talks of what lies ahead.

"The Leinster senior cup has been so frustrating. Even today, I can not give you a date for that event. We got a bye in the quarter and semi-final of the competition. But no date has been set for the final.

"As for next season, I do have a number of players who I want to bring in. We are the first club in the Premier division next season whose football year is over. The playoffs will run for two weeks.

"The Premier Division still has a couple of more games to go. So we are a couple of weeks ahead of most clubs whose season is yet to finish. But of course, we have been talking to players throughout the year for next season.

"This was with the vision if we were to be promoted. We should be able to put meat on the bones soon, as far as our preparations for next season are concerned.

"Conor O'Keeffe, JR Wilson, and Declan McDaid did so well for us after the window closed. We needed to react when Sean Keogh left for Brighton. The club were brilliant in their reaction to his departure.

"These were experienced players who I am happy to sit down with to discuss and see about next season when we are in the Premier Division. The sooner I can sit down with them and discuss their future for next season, the better.

"There is nobody in Oriel who does not want us to be successful. We are now in a transition period as we get ready for preparing for the Premier Division next season. There is no news on where Vinny Leonard is going next season.

"There have been no developments on the story about him being linked to Celtic since that news came out. The one place he is going is to the World Cup next month to represent Ireland.

"Vinny is an absolute superstar. No matter where he goes or when he goes, he is only going to get good things. He is a special, special talent.

"Every player in the dressing room and everybody knows that the best thing for us is that he is really loving his football. I hope Vinny stays at Oriel for as long as he wants to stay.

"Most of our underage players are under contract. Once they reach the right age, we will sign them and give them a contract. We are in a great position as we have been able to blood these young players.

"The question that was being asked earlier that had we not been relegated, we may not even have seen Vinny Leonard. But there is nothing more to report on Vinny moving anywhere at the moment.

"You have to ask the question, had we not been relegated, would we have seen Sean Spaight, Luke Mulligan and all the young players we have seen this season. The young lads have had great experience this season.

"They have been helped by our coach and all the other staff. We finished the game in Cobh tonight with a team which had an average age of 17 or 18.

"They got great experience tonight after going one up and being hauled back to one all and then going on to win it. Then, in front of the bus, the team were saluted by 350 supporters. This was great for our young team.

"The supporters have been great all season. They travelled around with us all season. You and Niall would have seen it, as you two have also travelled around with us all season, as well to every game. We have had some tough geographical trips this year.

"The support for us has been massive. We have had some great nights. The game tonight was a great way to finish what has been a great season. I think in years to come, this team will be looked back at with great gratitude.

"We nearly went out of football a year ago. They kept the doors open with some great football. Now we are back in the Premier Division after being relegated just a year ago."

The words of the Dundalk manager offer a great deal of encouragement that he is staying at Oriel. But he must be sure that his team in the Premier Division has a good chance of staying up Costs of running a team will increase substantially.

Even that will not guarantee survival. Cork City spent a considerable amount of money on their promoted team this year. Yet they were relegated. They be in the cup final. But being in the Premier Division would be worth far more to them.

Dundalk were relegated in 2002. Yet they beat Stephen Kenny's high-flying Bohs team in the final and qualified for Europe. If Cork City do beat Shamrock Rovers in the cup final, then they will qualify for the Europa League.

If City lose the final, then whoever finishes second in the Premier Division will qualify for the Europa League. This is because Shamrock Rovers are all but league champions and automatically qualify for the Europa League.

This season, the FAI Cup winners are being given a place in the prestigious competition. All other places for Europe are in the Conference League. If Rovers do the double, the second Europa League place goes to whoever finishes second in the League.

The Dundalk FC 1903 Supporters Club Awards were held on Saturday night. Vice captain Aodh Dervin got the player of the year award. It was thoroughly deserved.

He has been outstanding this season. Vinny Leonard got the Young Player of the Year. He has been so good this season that he could also have won the Player of the Year award as well. Daniel Shiels was also given the Supporter of the Year award.

I was very impressed with Cobh Ramblers' state-of-the-art astro turf pitch at Saint Coleman's Park. It was installed in 2024 along with new LED floodlighting and a new and a fine pitch surround.

Dundalk will be installing new LED flood lighting in the close season coming up. A new astro turf pitch will be laid and ready for season 2027. Work on this happens post the 2026 season.

The FAI have proposed a reduced surplus of 1.8 million euro for 2024. But they still owe banks and other borrowers 42 million euro.

In accounts up to last December, which were circulated to delegates ahead of the AGM on November 8th, a slight reduction in turnover of 61.1 million is reported.

Commercial income rose to 22.9 million euro due to the association easing their four-year wait to main former sponsor Three as sponsor of the men's senior international team.

Sky Ireland expanded their portfolio from the women's team across both squads in March 2024 on a four-year deal. The Republic not qualifying for the World Cup next year, which looks like happening will be a serious blow.

Dundalk are in the farcical situation that their season is over, and yet must continue training for the Leinster Senior Cup final. No date or venue has yet been arranged. Dundalk meet Pats in the final.

They got a walkover in the quarter and semi-final. Now, in the final, no date was known at the weekend or has yet been given to both clubs. The final should be played in Oriel.

But really, if the competition is seeing clubs pulling out of it, then it should either be scrapped altogether or left to the junior clubs. It's the oldest soccer competition in Ireland.

I would hate to see it disappear in the same manner as the EA Sports Cup has. The Leinster Senior Cup is also the most beautiful trophy in Irish soccer.But enough is enough. The competition needs a radical overhaul.

Have a great week. Look after each other. And please remember to be careful out there.