Dundalk boss praises impact of subs

Jon Daly praised the impact of his substitutions in the aftermath of Dundalk FC rescuing a late SSE Airtricity League Premier Division point at Galway United last Friday night.

After falling behind to Patrick Hickey’s first-half opener, The Lilywhites never gave up and kept themselves in the game before Eoin Kenny’s dramatic 96th-minute equaliser.

Kenny emerged from the bench to replace fellow teenager Sean Keogh less than 10 minutes from time, while it was another sub, Ryan O’Kane, that provided the assist.

“I know they’re disappointed not to start and I get that,” Dundalk manager Daly said afterwards. “Until they change the rules, you can only start 11. You’ve got plenty of players fighting to get into the team and it’s important that the boys who come on the pitch impact the game.

“Norman Garbett came on and done really well at half-time, he was positive. Dara Keane came on again and had an impact. The guys that came on the pitch, they impacted the game and that’s important. We wanted to come away with three points. We feel that we had the slightly better chances.

“Ultimately we’ve come away with a point. We’re still alive just now, we’re still fighting and we’ll continue to fight regardless of what happens over the next few weeks.”

Bottom of the table and facing what is now an almost certain relegation, of Daly’s 11 defeats as Dundalk boss, only four have been by more than a single goal, while The Lilywhites have never lost by over a two-goal margin under his stewardship.

Their ability to keep themselves in matches finally paid dividends against title-chasing Galway when they found a last-gasp leveller through 18-year-old striker Kenny.

“I spoke about that before the game,” said Daly. “We’re always in games and we’re always there thereabouts. It’s the fine margins, it’s momentum in games and it’s moments in games that can swing it for you.

“When I have looked back over all the games we’ve played, there’s always sliding doors moments where we’ve had maybe a chance that we’ve not converted and then we’ve been punished a couple of minutes later.

“That’s football, that’s this league at the moment and the way it is. If you don’t take your chances, you get punished. It’s probably all season that little bit of quality in the final third has let us down and them key decisions have cost us.”

He added: “It was a pretty even game. We had some good spells. We actually played some good football. You know what they’re going to do, they’re very good at what they do.

“Hickey’s a threat, Walsh is a threat and I would say for 99% of the game we dealt with everything they threw at us and then that one time we switch off, Hickey pops up with the goal.

“We had arguably the best chance of the first half. John Mountney from the free-kick, I’d say nine times out of 10 he’s sticking the ball in the back of the net.

“He caught it really well, but it was straight at Clarke. We were throwing everything at it to try and get something out of the game.

“Eoin Kenny gets a really good header and then had a little chance after that off the back of it and probably made the wrong decision. A point is probably a fair result.

“We’re disappointed not to get the three. We had the better chances and the more clear-cut chances. Albeit there weren’t many.

“It was a good contest, an evenly fought game. They’re a team that are going for the league. Let’s not shy away from that. Up until 90-odd minutes where we equalised, they’re two points off the top of the league and are genuine title contenders.

“To come down here, to go 1-0 down and to then actually get yourself something out of the game, there’s not many teams will do that and it’s a credit to the guys to show the fight and the spirit and the never-say-die attitude to keep going.”