Kilduff rues two points dropped as Dundalk are held to Treaty draw

Dundalk FC manager Ciaran Kilduff was left lamenting a missed opportunity, as his side were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Treaty United in the SSE Airtricity League First Division—a result that felt more like two points lost than one gained.

After a subdued and cagey opening half at the Markets Field, The Lilywhites finally broke the deadlock in the 69th minute, as captain Daryl Horgan prodded home to give Dundalk the lead.

However, their advantage proved short-lived, with Yousef Mahdy restoring parity for the Limerick outfit just nine minutes later, leaving the sides to share the spoils.

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It marked the second occasion this season that Treaty denied Dundalk victory, having fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at Oriel Park in March.

Remarkably, at the time of writing, they remain the only team to have taken points off The Lilywhites in the 2025 campaign.

“It was similar to the last time we played them,” Kilduff said to The Democrat following Dundalk’s latest stalemate against Treaty.

“That feeling comes from getting yourself in front and then letting it slip from there. I think we had a lot of positives tonight as well. We created some good chances—just felt a little bit of a disappointment, like the last time.

“The lads are working so hard. That’s eight wins and two draws so far this season. When you zoom out, it’s great. Obviously, there’s a bit of frustration and disappointment.

“We’re never going to celebrate a draw. We came down here to win the game. We got ourselves in front, and we didn’t win it from there. As a collective, we feel like we left two points behind.”

He added: “Treaty set up to frustrate, and they did that to a point. We were moving the ball around, couldn’t break them down, and were trying to figure it out. We did have chances—a couple of headers, their keeper made a few saves—and we kind of felt like it had come.

“We made the triple substitution, and then it opened up the game for us a little bit. People picked up different positions, and we got ourselves in front.

“Second half, I felt like we looked very threatening, and we created more clear-cut chances—the goal, Leo (Gaxha) has one late, and Eoin Kenny had a header over the bar.

“This is a tough division. Teams are well able to frustrate. They’re big, physical, strong boys. It’s not a nice night down here or anything like that, so credit to them—they frustrated us for long periods. We’re just disappointed that when we did break through, it wasn’t enough to get us over the line and win the game.”

Both sides came agonisingly close to snatching all three points in stoppage time, only to be denied by moments of goalkeeping brilliance—Peter Cherrie thwarting Mahdy at one end, and Corey Chambers producing a superb save to deny Leo Gaxha at the other.

“That’s probably the highlight of the game,” reflected Kilduff. “In the first half, it was more tepid, and there were not really many chances, but as soon as we scored, the game opened up, they came out a bit.

“They scored, and then we went after them a little bit. It was a great finish to the game. Either team could have won it in the end; we’re disappointed it wasn’t us.”