Dundalk look towards crucial Cobh clash

Dundalk FC will be eager to retain their position at the top of the SSE Airtricity League First Division when they travel to face Cobh Ramblers at St Colman’s Park this Friday evening (kick-off, 7:45pm).

A first defeat of the campaign would see The Lilywhites relinquish their lead, slipping to second place behind Cobh, while third-placed Bray Wanderers—who held Dundalk to a 2-2 draw in their previous outing—will also look to close the gap as they host Athlone Town on the same night.

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Victory for Dundalk, in what will be their first league visit to Cobh since 2007, could prove decisive—potentially opening up a six-point lead in the race for automatic promotion to the Premier Division, should Bray also fail to win their match.

“When you stand back, we started this season struggling to get a licence,” reflected Dundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff. “Now we’ve had two back-to-back top-of-the-table clashes.

“That’s where we want to be. We obviously wish we were more points clear, and we feel like we’ve dropped points along the way, but so do they, and so does every team.

“I don’t think you’ll ever find a quote where I told you this was going to be easy. It’s far from easy, and we’re learning that in previous weeks. I can tell you it won’t be easy in Cobh either.”

Looking ahead to this week’s clash with a Cobh side riding a five-match winning streak, the Dundalk boss added: “It’s never going to be easy. Cobh are a good team.

“We’ve seen them here; we beat them 1-0. I’m sure they’ll be trying to turn that down there on us. They’re full of confidence—they’ve won five on the bounce themselves now. It tees up for a great game.

“As I said enough times, there’s going to be competition the whole way until the end of the season in this league. There’s not much between any of the teams on any given night—anyone could beat anyone. We’re going down there to give them our best, and hopefully it’ll be enough.

“They have really good players,” he continued. “We had the hardest off-season. We struggled to get a licence. We lost nearly 20 players.

“We’re going with young lads, and we’ve no entitlement to anything here. You’re seeing us going down playing a really good Cobh team—players who’ve played for Shelbourne last year, players who’ve played at the top level in the Premier Division.

“There’s huge depth in what we’re coming up against. We’re in a battle, we’re in a fight. From the day I met John Temple, from the day I was speaking to Chris (Clinton) and all these lads in the background, it was always ‘we’ll need to have the stomach for a fight.’ That’s exactly what we’re going to have to do, week in, week out from now—and it starts this week in Cobh.”

After serving a suspension for the Bray encounter, Aodh Dervin returns to the squad for the trip to Cobh, while goalkeeper Enda Minogue is also back in contention following an 11-match absence with a broken finger—having marked his return with 90 minutes for the U20s in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Drogheda United at Oriel Park, his first taste of action since February.

However, Sean McHale remains a doubt after picking up an ankle injury against Bray, and Harry Groome, who missed that fixture entirely due to a knee issue, could be sidelined once again.

“Not great, I don’t think,” said Kilduff, reflecting on McHale’s condition after the defender was forced off against Bray following an unnecessary challenge from their captain, Kilian Cantwell.

“He’s not the type that would come off unless it was something bad. His ankle was fairly swollen, so he’s probably going to need a scan.”

Providing an update on Groome’s status, Kilduff said: “We were hoping he would be available (against Bray). He’s actually seeing a specialist, so we’ll assess him.

“We’ll get that report, and hopefully he’ll come back in, but he’s still having a bit of an issue with his knee, so he probably has a bit to go.”