Dundalk manager Daly disappointed with defeat

Manager Jon Daly couldn’t hide his disappointment following Dundalk FC’s 2-0 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division defeat to Bohemians at Oriel Park last Friday night.

Five losses on the bounce has rooted The Lilywhites to the bottom of the table, with the cessation of their 16-year stay in the League of Ireland’s top division looking imminent.

Indeed, relegation to the First Division could be confirmed by the time Dundalk next take the field at Oriel for their fixture versus title-chasing Derry City on October 18th.

“You’re always disappointed when you don’t come in after a game and win and get your three points,” Daly said straight after their 2-0 loss to Bohemians.

“It is frustrating, of course it is. As I said to the players inside, the frustrating part for me is I never feel after games that we’ve been massively outplayed or that we’ve been battered by teams.”

Dundalk and Bohs were scoreless at half-time, but Dawson Devoy’s strike on 58 minutes, coupled with a John Mountney own-goal on 84 minutes sealed the points for the visitors.

“Towards the end, we’ve thrown on Eoin (Kenny) and we’ve changed shape,” reflected Daly. “We’re trying to get something, so we’re going to be a little bit more open at the end, but I’ve never come in after a game feeling like we’ve been really outplayed.

“It’s always the little moments in games. As I said, we don’t take big chances, big opportunities and then we give up something that we get punished for.

“The goal, it’s one of those that gets headed out to the edge of the box in the middle of the pitch. It’s a great strike from Devoy. He’s got that in his locker.

“He’s actually a very talented player and he’s got a lot of ability, bags of ability, but I think from our point of view, we head it into an area where we give him the chance to shoot and then we don’t block the shot and it flies in, nearly rips the net off.

“The second goal then comes from a set-play where we don’t defend it properly and it hits Mounts and goes in and probably just sums up the last few weeks for us.”

Things could have turned out very differently for Dundalk on the quarter-hour mark after Mayowa Animasahun’s close-range effort possibly crossed the line, right before Daryl Horgan was denied at point-blank range by Bohs goalkeeper Kacper Chorazka.

“It’s hard to say (if it crossed the line) from the angle I’m at,” said Daly. “I was hopeful that it did. The linesman has a great view. He was looking across the end line.

“We had three big opportunities in the first half. They’re the moments and the chances that you need to be sticking away. We had some good chances then at 1-0 – Daryl Horgan had a really good chance and Jamie Gullan has a good chance.”

Dan Pike pulled up injured shortly before the half-time interval and left the ground on crutches, but in better news, Paul Doyle returned to the fold after an 11-week absence.

“I’ve seen him on crutches there,” observed Daly. “I just asked him how he was. He said it’s not good. I haven’t had a debrief yet from Danny (Miller), the physio, so I’ll speak to him and see where he’s at.

“The last thing we need is injuries to the backline. We’re short there at the moment, but Hayden Cann should be back in contention next week.”

Speaking about midfielder Doyle’s long-awaited return, he continued: “He’s got good technique, he’s a good player, he’s a good footballer and we’ve missed him over the last while, but he’s back fit now, so it gives us another option in the middle of the park. It’s good to have him back and hopefully he can help us now in the last four games.”