Dundalk manager lauds the influence of Gbemi Arubi

Ciaran Kilduff lauded the influence of young forward Gbemi Arubi, after the 20-year-old delivered a match-winning performance in Dundalk FC’s 2-1 victory over Cobh Ramblers at St Colman’s Park in the SSE Airtricity League First Division.

Arubi, who had come off the bench to score a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser against Bray Wanderers just a week earlier, was rewarded with his first League of Ireland start.

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Preferred ahead of Dean Ebbe and Eoin Kenny, the promising striker justified his manager’s trust in emphatic fashion.

He first turned provider, setting up Daryl Horgan for the opener in the 38th minute, before rising brilliantly to head home Dundalk’s second on the cusp of half-time — a goal that ultimately proved decisive.

“That’s all I ever wanted for Gbemi,” manager Kilduff said afterwards. “He forced my hand. I had similar conversations with Keith Ward.

“ I’ve had similar conversations with Enda (Minogue), with Peter (Cherrie), with every player in the team. Sometimes I’ll make the call on it, but most of the time they pick the team if they’re banging down my door.

“If I had said at the start of the year, Vinnie Leonard, as a 16-year-old when I was signing him in the office, was going to start 13 of the first 15 games, he would’ve said, ‘I’m ahead of schedule.’ Vinnie has made himself undroppable at times and that’s what players have to do.

“Gbemi has come in. He’s had a couple of setbacks, injuries and stuff like that. At times you’d be looking for him to do more, even in training and the opportunities that he was getting, but Gbemi is 20, so he’s just a young player as well. He has good weeks and then other weeks where he’s probably not so good, but he trained really well this week.

“I’ve been a striker, and when things aren’t happening, you get confidence from a good goal or a big goal. He was excellent tonight leading the line.

“He was a real handful, disrupting things, and even in the build-up for Horgs, he’s done well. He’s entertained the centre-half, he’s laid it off, and Horgs has done the rest.

“Then he’s got on the end of a cross and he was brave up against the goalkeeper, so from a centre-forward’s point of view, I couldn’t be prouder of him and I’m delighted for him.

“He deserves it, he’s been patient. I haven’t just given him opportunities, he’s had to earn them. In recent weeks, he’s really been training well, obviously coming off the bench and probably scoring the biggest goal of the season for us last week, and then he’s taken it into tonight, so hopefully he can keep that going.”

Reflecting on Horgan’s opener, Kilduff remarked: “We’ve been pushing Daryl on that — can he be the man when we need him to be? He always has been for me over his career, when I’ve played with him or followed him.

“We needed that tonight — a moment of just pure brilliance — and that’s what it was. It gets us going, it settles everything down.

“If you look back at the game, we scored twice, we hit the post, and we’d about three one-on-ones there in the second half, so we’re probably wanting to be a little bit more clinical with things, but I’m delighted with the lads to go two up.”

Enda Minogue marked his return in goal for Dundalk after an 11-game absence with his fourth league appearance, but the Knocklyon native could do little to stop Shane Griffin’s 55th-minute free-kick, conceding for the first time in a Lilywhite shirt.

“Enda gives us so much,” said Kilduff. “It’s great to have Enda back. Obviously, Enda signed for the club and started without conceding a goal.

“I laughed with him in there — that’s the first time he’s picked the ball out of his net, and you can’t really blame him too much for it either.

“He’s had a great start to his Dundalk career. He was excellent — his kicking tonight, some of his handling, and his punching.

“He’s working closely with Peter (Cherrie); there’s a great little goalkeeper union going on there. It’s hard to split them up sometimes, but they’re working hard, and you can see that between Peter and Enda’s performances so far this year.”