Leonard “enjoying his football” at Dundalk

Ciaran Kilduff has stated that, to his knowledge, no approaches or expressions of interest have been made by other clubs concerning 17-year-old defender Vinnie Leonard.

Leonard, who will not turn 18 until next March, has been a linchpin in Dundalk FC’s backline this season, playing a pivotal role in their ascent to the summit of the SSE Airtricity League First Division table.

The Meath native made headlines on the opening night of the campaign, becoming Dundalk’s youngest-ever League of Ireland goalscorer in a 1-0 victory over Athlone Town at Oriel Park, and came close to netting his third goal of the season in Friday’s goalless draw against the same opponents away from home.

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Poised to represent the Republic of Ireland at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar this November, Leonard has also been integral to a resolute Dundalk defence that has recorded eight clean sheets this year.

While Kilduff admits he is “not surprised” by the speculated interest from clubs across the water and in Europe for one of his most prized young talents, he maintains that no official contact has yet been made.

“We’re too busy training and getting ready for the games,” the Dundalk manager told The Democrat. “Vinnie is enjoying his football here, he’s playing, and he’s contracted to the club, so there’s nothing that I can actually report on.”

Reflecting on The Lilywhites’ frustrating 0-0 stalemate with Athlone, Kilduff remarked:

“We always want to try and win every game; it’s always the objective. For large periods we were quite good, and we looked like we were going to try and win it, but when you’re trying to win it so much and you’re not getting that final ball, not penetrating and putting the ball in the net, you leave yourself open to potentially even losing the game.

“There’s definitely an element of frustration in it, but it wasn’t an application thing. There were a lot of good phases; we just couldn’t seem to capitalise on them. It feels like two points dropped.

“We’re seeing that more and more every week,” he added. “We even saw it last week in Longford; teams are playing deep against us, they’re happy with a draw.

“It’s going to take a moment of quality, like a free-kick or a set-piece or something, just to pick that lock. When they come out, you hopefully pick them off then.

“The first goal tends to be the hardest, and it proved to be that way. We got into their penalty box a lot; we just couldn’t seem to get that clean-cut opportunity that was going to give us the advantage.

“There were positives out there in terms of our build-up play, but not converting the opportunities that we are creating. They weren’t plentiful, but we were definitely in positions to create more.”

The blank drawn in Athlone marked the first time in Kilduff’s 16 competitive matches at the helm that Dundalk failed to find the back of the net, with the manager emphasising that opponents are increasingly difficult to break down owing to their defensive approach.

“We’re getting to that point, and it’s a different challenge than we had in the first round now because teams are frustrating more.

“At the end, they’re running down the clock and wanting less time than four minutes (added on). Teams are happy to take a draw against us. There’s a compliment in it somewhere, but it doesn’t feel like that tonight.

“We have to be better in those areas, higher up the pitch, but all in all, it’s another point on the board. We’ve two big games coming up now with Bray and Cobh next as well.

“We’ll just keep going. We’ve had some good nights and had some great results. Tonight is another point on the board, but it was obviously not the three we wanted.”