The Commentary Box: The atmosphere was electric in Oriel

A year ago to the day Dundalk's Mayowa was instrumental in the Oriel Park club getting a vital one all draw against then Champions Shamrock Rovers in the opening game of the season at Tallaght.

That night Mayowa was the star at centre half. He was hailed by the TV pundits as the one to watch. Sadly it all went downhill for Dundalk after that as they were relegated and of course, are now in Division One.

But once again Dundalk had another centre half hero on the opening game of this season when Vinny Leonard's  36th minute goal was enough to give Dundalk all three points.

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The 16-year-old met Aodh Dervin's perfect corner with his head. The ball nearly burst the net as it wrestled in the bottom right hand corner. This season Mayowa is seen as the vastly experienced centre half.

But he is only 21 and still has much to learn. But he is guiding his young 16 year old understudy very well so far. Vinny had a good pre-season.

He bolstered a very strong Dundalk defence that came away with a clean sheet and a hugely important home win.

It means Dundalk start the season with three points in the bag and the chance of getting a good run together. If they can build on this win and get a momentum into their league run it will give them a huge boost. 

But Vinny Leonard was a hero for another reason as well. He was on duty for the Republic Of Ireland under 17's In Spain in a mini tournament.

He played one of the two scheduled games Ireland were due to play against Finland and Hungary. Vinny decided to cut his international duty short and returned home to play for Dundalk on Friday. How lucky Dundalk were that he decided to do this.

In a game where Dundalk had plenty of chances, it was Vinny who took the golden one that brought the goal and started the season with the precious win. He also wrote his name into the record books.

It was a terrible night for spectators as it rained incessantly. However, it was a good game to watch and will certainly bring the fans back.

The attendance was not announced. Taking a guess I would say that it was close to 2,000. But I would add a warning it's always very hard to estimate the attendance at Oriel.

Once again Enda Minogue had very little to do. Athlone failed to muster a shot on target for the entire night. However, the Midlanders are a good side and dominate in spells.

They had Ciaran Kilduff's men pinned well back into their own half for the last 20 minutes of the second half. Dundalk fans were on the edge of their seats as Athlone came closer and closer.

In the end, it was Dundalk's night and it was a win that was thoroughly deserved. Athlone, Dundalk and Cobh are the three teams mentioned to win the automatic promotion spot.

All three on Friday showed they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season on the opening night. Athlone had seven Premier Division players in their team.

Ciaran Kilduff was spot on to say that they are a very good side in his post match press conference. Cobh Ramblers are the team I think could seal the automatic promotion spot.

They were two nil down against Treaty United with just eight minutes remaining in Limerick. They came back from the dead to win by three goals to two.

Two of the goals were scored in injury time. Dundalk fans must keep a close eye on the Ramblers as must Ciaran Kilduff.

Cobh are all but full time. They have new investors who intend to see Cobh getting promoted this season. They have the vastly experienced Mick McDermott in charge.

He has not left Glentoran to head down to the other end of the country unless he was going to be involved with a Cobh side that would have a good chance of getting promotion.

Meanwhile, the other team tipped for success, UCD were hammered 3-0 by Wexford FC at home. This was one of the shock results of the night. I think that the Belfield side will still be in the running.

I do not take any notice of the results from the opening games of the season. Still, it was a terrific win for Wexford. They will be a very difficult side to beat this season. Kerry finished second from bottom of the Division last year.

They had a very impressive two nil win over Finn Harps in the Kingdom county on Friday night, interestingly Dundalk are away to Harps in Ballybofey next Friday. The following week they make the long journey to Kerry for their first ever visit and game.

Flares

The atmosphere was electric in Oriel as Dundalk swarmed forward looking for the opening goal on Friday. Stadium announcer Mickey Duffy read out a warning the behaviour of lighting flares would not be tolerated in the ground by supporters.

It was a stark warning and plea to fans not to use any pyrotechnics or flares. Sadly, some fans chose to ignore Mickey's plea.

He had pointed out in his announcement, how much the club were fined last season as a result of the use of flares and other fireworks.

But the appeals fell on deaf ears as the shed was lit up by the use of a huge amount of flares as Dundalk came onto the pitch ten minutes from the kick off.

The pitch was filled with smoke that carried dangerous fumes making it difficult for anyone with respiratory problems to cope with.

Last season I was hit very badly in a similar use of such flares causing me to have a severe asthma attack. It would have been the players who would have been affected the most by the smoke.

This was because of the way the wind was blowing. Do these supporters who use these flares not care they are affecting the health of others around them and players with these flares and their deadly toxins?

The national TV stations stopped covering the games in Oriel because of the way the smoke from the flares blew in on top of them in one particular game.

They told me in no uncertain terms that they would not be back. And they stayed away for three years. They returned for the Derry game at the end of last season. This was the night Dundalk were relegated and Derry put themselves in pole position to win the league. They did of course blow the chance in the end.

Supporters using flares are putting their own safety at risk holding a device that could explode at any time. They are also putting the lives of other supporters in the shed at risk should the flares explode prematurely.

They are illegal devices also. So once again I would appeal to supporters not to use them. One supporter amazingly said he thought the flares were allowed in the First Division.

I said no. I also pointed out again that they would ensure the use of them would result in more heavy fines for the club. It's next to nigh impossible for the club to keep these flares out of the ground.

It's a problem that has plagued Dundalk for years. And if supporters going to Ballybofey next Friday or Kerry the following week use them it will spell more trouble for Dundalk.

Enda Minogue lined out in goals for Dundalk. Conor O'Keefe and Sean Keogh were the two full backs. Mayowa and Vinny Leonard were the two centre halves.

Daryl Horgan played on the left wing while Leonardo Gaxha was on the right. Aodh Dervan and Harry Groome were the two centre midfielders. Eoin Kenny played behind striker Dean Ebbe.

Andy Parraschiv replaced Ebbe on 75 minutes. With four minutes remaining Keith Ward replaced Harry Groome while Muhammad Harris replaced Leonardo Gaxha.

Two minutes into injury time Sean Mchale who was injured in an early pre-season game replaced Sean Keogh. The Dundalk youngster had an excellent game.

It was good to see McHale back on the pitch though. He is only 18 years of age also. But he is a top class player and is on loan from Pats.

Dundalk also had a new signing on the bench, but did not use him. 18 year old Shane Tracey comes to Oriel from Bohemians. It was all Dundalk in the first 15 minutes of the game.

Daryl Horgan had a shot on goal that Mathew Connor tipped around the post for a corner. Aodh Dervan then got a great cross into the box.

There was nobody there to finish the ball home. Kyle Robinson had a long attempt on goals after 15 minutes for Athlone. It was saved by Minnogue.

Dundalk had the chances to go ahead in the opening 20 minutes but failed to take advantage. But they went ahead on 36 minutes when Aodh Dervan's corner was headed home by 16 year old Leonard. It gave he team a great lift.

Eoin Kenny came much more into the game in the second half. He curled a superb effort that was just wide of the post. Daryl Horgan was then involved in a great move with Kenny.

His cross put Gaxha in for a goal. He mistimed his effort and made a bags of a clear cut effort. It was a sitter that was badly messed up by the Dundalk winger.

Daryl Horgan then had a good shot saved by the Athlone keeper. Eoin Kenny was unlucky again minutes later. Mathew Connor's poor goalkeeping allowed Kenny in. He shot wide in front of an empty goal.

Athlone were camped in Dundalk's half for the last 15 minutes. However, they failed to get the all-important equaliser. Dundalk should have been leading by two or three.

They were very lucky Athlone did not get what would have been a shock equaliser. But this can happen when a side is only a goal to the good coming to the end of a game.

Match programme

Dundalk's match programme was excellent. It was well worth the money. It was produced and written up by former club media officer Keith Wallace.

Keith has now undertaken some of the responsibilities attached to this role. He has a team of two young people who are also doing a great job.

However, I did meet three season ticket holders before the game who were very disappointed that they failed to get a match programme.

Supporters who bought their match tickets online or who had season tickets could gain immediate access to the stand or ground.

However, if they wanted to buy a programme, they had to stand in a long queue where people were buying a match ticket. The only place you could buy a programme was from the same outlet you bought your match ticket.

The three season ticket holders waited for a while in the queue to get the programme. They could not wait any longer as they were getting soaked in the rain.

They headed to the stand minus a match programme. The club must revisit this problem as they could be losing a very valuable income source. They should just sell the programs from a different outlet in the ground.

Ciaran Kilduff

Ciaran Kilduff told me after the game that the result was a big win and that Dundalk had achieved their objective. ''There were plenty of positives to take from the game.

There was also a lot to work on following the display. It was an important win in that we have now got our season up and running.

We were very happy with the supporters. They always turn out in large numbers. That was never going to be a problem. The reception the team got was great from the start. The players were able to tap into that energy and it helped a great deal.

We wanted to deliver three points and we did. We could have made it a bit more comfortable for ourselves. But our lads dug in to a man to find a way to win the game after we had missed a couple of good chances.''

''Vinny took his goal so well. He was Man of the Match in the Drogheda game. With Sean McHale just recovering from injury we needed Vinny for tonight.

We contacted the Irish camp in Spain to see if there was any chance of getting him home. We got the nod and Vinny arrived home late Wednesday from Spain.

He did very little training on Thursday. He got a much needed massage from the club physio to loosen out any muscle tightness, he may have been experiencing.

We got him ready for tonight. We were getting frustrated in the first half as we were not taking advantage of the six or seven corners we got.

But we got it correct in the 36th minute when Aodh swung in his corner from the right. It caught their defence totally on the hop. Vinny got his head to the ball. The rest is history.''

Mayowa Animasahun

Mayowa was very happy after the game with Dundalk winning. ''We probably could have put the game to bed earlier than we did. But what matters is that we got the win and the three points.

The electric atmosphere with the fans really carried us for the first fifteen minutes of the game. When the buzz got lower from the fans, they did come more into the game.

The goal from Vinny just nine minutes from the break was top-class. He is one of the young lads here who is going to have a very bright future.

I played against Rovers this time last year in Tallaght. I told Vinny that Andy Boyle said he would look after me. That was before the game.

This time round I told Vinny I would look after him. The roles were reversed. And Vinny shined tonight. I am really delighted for him.

Long may it continue. He is a great prospect. The size of him for his age. He came back in the off season a much bigger player. I am only 21.

So we have a very young central defence. But I have gained a lot of experience over the past few seasons. I would like to pass that experience on now. Both Vinny and myself are both learning on the job. We are both learning as we go.''

''We need to learn to put teams away earlier than we did today. But on the other hand, we did have a clean sheet. That is massive. If you do not concede, you can not lose.

They did put a bit of pressure on us late in the game with the long balls. But it was to the credit of the defence that we dealt with both them and the set pieces.

This is a huge plus. As without a solid base you can not really do too much. Being able to rely on a good defence is massive''.

Aodh Dervin

Aodh Dervin says the game was a hard battle. ''You could see in the last few minutes the way they were pinning us back. But at the same time, we created so much that we could easily have won by four or five.

It's a great start. But we will not be getting carried away. We started like a house on fire. Then we fizzled out a little. But then we got the goal.

Fair play to Vinny. Coming up there like a man and scoring. He is only 16. It was a good night's work. You could see how fit we were. We just need to build on that.

When I took the corner that produced the goal, I was just aiming for an area. I knew the two centre backs would be coming up for the corner.

It turned out that it was Vinny that struck gold. He did very well to get away from his marker. So fair play to him. We need to put the chances away that we had in the second half.

But at the same time, defending what we had, for a new team, is a great sign of possible things to come. Look it's positive. It could have been four or five. But we still have three points at the end of it''.

Finn Harps

Dundalk travel to Ballybofey next Friday night to take on Finn Harps. They will be very eager to get the win having lost their opening league game.

Harps manager Darren Murphy says that everybody wants to be competitive in the First Division, as it's the aim of all teams to get a place in the Premier Division.

There has been huge investment in Kerry, Cobh and Athlone in the build-up to the new season. UCD will always be there or thereabouts despite their defeat on Friday night.

Then you have one of the biggest teams in League of Ireland Football, Dundalk. They got off to a great start last Friday with the win against Athlone.

It's a tough Division. But for every bit as hard as it is to get out of the first Division, it's equally every bit as hard to stay in the Premier Division''.

''The difficult thing for a club like Finn Harps has been trying to keep our players. We lost a few players from last season. Our leading goal scorer from last season has moved to Ballymena United.

I have young Anto Dodds who has come in on loan from Pats. Young Gavin Hodgins has come in on loan from Shelbourne. We have been able to acquire the services of Darragh McGuinness a young under 19 international from Stoke City.

So we have been able to acquire three exciting young Irish players. Hopefully, they will do a good job for Finn Harps and can also kick on in their own careers''.

Harps also signed a new striker in Gradi Lomboto at the weekend. He was with Galway United last season and scored 13 goals in two appearances for their under-21 side last season.

The Finn Harps boss says he is confident that the tall striker will provide a threat to any defence including Dundalk's.

''Our fanbase is very good. We do not usually get too many away fans at Ballybofey. But with Dundalk now in the First Division as a neighbouring club, we will get a good crowd from there next Friday night.

We average around 1,400 at Finn Park every week. We have a lot of people working on getting our plans for a new stadium over the line.

Hopefully, the new Sports minister Charlie McConallogue, who is a Donegal man will look upon us in a favourable light. Everything is in place for the new stadium. We are just waiting for the green light''.

''I think we will find it difficult to compete in the league this season. Cobh will be the dark horses to win the league. Mick McDermott the Cobh boss is a very astute manager.

He is a very good friend of mine. He had much success with Irish League side Glentoran. He has made some really good signings.

But we are very much aware that along with Cobh, this season you have one of the most Iconic clubs in Irish sporting history in Dundalk.

They are our first home game of the season next Friday. You probably couldn't have written the script. We had to play Kerry away on Friday.

They are the furthest club away from us. Now we have the team who are closest to us in Dundalk.In a way you could say it's a local derby game. We look forward to seeing Dundalk at Finn Park on Friday.''

''We have a lot of time and respect for the people at Dundalk FC. The job they did behind the scenes to keep the club afloat when it nearly went out of business was magnificent.

I am sure they are striving to see Dundalk getting back to the Premier Division. But it's going to be a very tough journey for them. It will be tough because it's such a tough Division.''

Meanwhile, it's emerged that former Dundalk FC Director of Operations Brian Gartland has signed for local junior club Glenmuir United.

Brian will be playing in the NEFL North East Football League. Brian is also assistant manager at St Pats where Stephen Kenny is the first team boss. Pats are the bookies' favourites to win the Premier Division this season.

Have a good week. Please remember to look after each other. And of course, be very careful out there.