The Commentary Box: Arubi’s timely strike lifts Dundalk but questions remain up front

Gbemi Arubi was a hero for Dundalk when his superbly executed header right on half time, proved to be the turning point against promotion chasing Cobh Ramblers in the heart of the rebel county.

Dundalk have been struggling of late and went into the game having secured just one win in five games, drawing the other four. Cobh went into the game on the back of five straight wins.

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But Ciaran Kilduff’s men came to the town of the Titanic’s last landing point before heading on the ill fated journey which saw it sink in mid Atlantic, with a steely determination they were going to get the points.

And that they did. In defence they were as excellent as they were in midfield.

But the team continues to have that lack of added steel upfront where they have opportunities but can not convert. They did get two top class first half goals, that I am sure delighted Ciaran Kilduff.

But they also had chances to put the game beyond Cobh’s reach which they failed to capitalise on. This could have resulted in more points being dropped. The manager needs a striker and quickly. I am not being hard on Eoin Kenny.

He is a very young player who can improve considerably. If the manager wants my advice and I am sure he does not, I would tell him that Eoin needs individual coaching and plenty of it.

He needs to be taken aside and helped. The Dundalk striker can and would greatly benefit from this. There are others who can benefit from such coaching as well.

Vinny Leonard, Sean Keogh and Mayowa would all benefit. I suppose I could say it about all the players. They are so young. Dean Ebbe needs some individual help and attention as well.

He is a very talented striker. But he is just not delivering as well as he could. At this stage, he is a veteran. He is just not doing it as well as he can. I’m sure the coaches can work on this.

He does remain Dundalk’s leading goalscorer. Sean Keogh has been top class at full back as has seventeen-year-old Vinny Leonard. They need the special attention of the coaches as well.

They need it for their development as players. Mayowa is another player I feel needs to be taken aside and get the extra coaching. He is only 22.

But he can give away the silliest of free kicks in the most dangerous of areas. He has the potential to be a top class defender. I do not know what happens at training in Oriel.

It’s not my business. If the players mentioned above are getting the individual attention they need, then that answers my point. Shane Tracey and Andy Paracshiv are also players that need more help in the area of player development.

Eoin Kenny reminds me of a young Ryan O’Kane who now plays for Shelbourne. I went on about it for a few years that Ryan needed that little bit of extra attention, which would help his confidence and develop him as a player.

I always wondered if Stephen O’Donnell’s coaching staff ever gave young Ryan that extra bit of help. He may have. But I was very disappointed that Ryan was not given the game time he so much needed last season under Stephen O’Donnell.

O’Donnell only lasted eight games. Ryan could have contributed more over the whole season. At times he was just left on the bench by other managers as well.

He came on as a sub in the last 10 minutes of a game. There were times he was getting a game. I can only guess that it must have been hindering his confidence.

Jon Daly used Ryan a lot more for much of the second part of the season. Then he just seemed to disappear off the radar. Daly was a help to Ryan. How much I do not know.

I’m sure Stephen O’Donnell was for the two full seasons he was boss and the eight weeks he had in charge last year. But the constant chopping and changing would not have helped his confidence. This happened under all four managers last season.

I felt his move to Shelbourne this season would benefit him greatly. So far he has yet to make a first team appearance. But I feel he can only benefit from his move to Tolka from Oriel.

One journalist has said two weeks in a row that a return of Pat Hoban would greatly benefit Dundalk. But the all time highest goal scorer for Dundalk will not be returning. He is under contract with Derry, until the end of the season at least.

Something tells me he has another season after that. Pat has also missed a lot of the current season through injury. He is on the mend and has returned to training.

Dundalk would also just simply not be able to afford him. The same reporter who mentioned Hoban hinted that Dundalk could sign former striker Cameron Elliott.

With all due respect Cameron is not the answer. He was a huge disappointment during his time here. He scored just a single goal over three seasons.

His time here showed that he was not what Dundalk was looking for. So it’s back to the drawing board. Gbemi Arubi has shown great potential in his two appearances with Dundalk.

He got the late goal against Bray, that preserved the club’s unbeaten record and he scored a top class goal in Cobh, that was to prove to be the winner.

One last note on all of this. If Dundalk could even convert a quarter of the chances they create in games they would be runaway leaders of Division one.

Enda Minnogue returned to the side for the first time in 10 weeks. Enda broke a finger against Kerry in Tralee. At one stage it seemed as if Enda was in serious difficulty in the Cobh game, after he took off a terrific save.

It looked as if Enda would have to come off and the fear was that he had suffered a recurrence of his hand injury. This had kept him out for 10 weeks.

Peter Charrie seemed to be getting ready to come on. In the end Enda resumed and there was no dramatic entrance for Peter Cherrie. Enda was in difficulty at times with an injury.

But he played on and it seemed as if he had overcome the difficulty by the end of the game. Kieran Kilduff was full of praise for Enda at his post match press conference.

But he never referred to any injury being picked up by his goalkeeper. So let’s hope that Enda will be okay for the Kerry game in Oriel on Friday.

Cobh had a much older team playing against Dundalk. For example in defence they were twice as old as the Dundalk defence.

The Cobh media wondered if this would be an advantage for them. They soon found out that it would be the young defence of Dundalk that would win out.

There were major injury concerns about Dundalk central midfielder Harry Groome. It was expected that he would miss the game after picking up an injury against Bray.

Harry did not train all week. But he was able to turn out at Saint Colman’s Park. He was fine and once again played a pivotal role in helping Dundalk to another three points.

Harry was working so hard in the engine room of Dundalk on Friday in central midfield. The other part of the Dundalk engine room in midfield Aodh Dervin had a good game.

He was just hacked down a number of times by the Cobh players. Eventually Aodh himself was booked. He could only take so much. He was just returning from a suspension.

He caused the Cobh defence quite a lot of problems. Aodh created opportunities. His work rate contributed greatly to the fall of the Ramblers empire for now.

Daryl Horgan was my man of the match. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Cobh defence for the entire night. He forced the Cobh keeper into a number of saves, before scoring a key opener for Ciaran Kilduff’s men.

Daryl rolled back the years, as he looked like the player who signed for Dundalk in 2014. He created many scoring opportunities that simply were not taken up by the Dundalk players.

Horgan’s goal on 38 minutes tilted the game in Dundalk’s favour. The intensity of Dundalk’s play was very impressive. It was no surprise when Dundalk got the second goal in injury time in the first half.

Cobh were the bigger threat in the first period of the second half. They did get a goal back early on. But they just could not break down the dominant Dundalk defence.

Enda Minogue took off a few good saves. But Dundalk got the points and maintained a four point lead at the top. The team bus arrived in beautiful sunshine.

They left in the dark of night conscious that they had earned and deserved three important points. Ciaran Kilduff made four changes to the team that drew with Bray the previous week.

Minogue was back for Cherrie after being given the all clear that his broken finger had healed. Shane Tracey was left out of the side. Aodh Dervin came in for him.

Gbemi Arubi started as a striker. He was the man who got the winner for Dundalk. Eoin Kenny was left on the bench. Dean Ebbe was also on the bench.

Sean McHale is out with an ankle injury and will not be back in the team until after the break. Sean is a huge loss to the team. But he will be back.

Sean Keogh played his 30th league game for the senior team after transferring from the academy squad last season. He was in action for just two minutes when he was fouled on the right-hand edge of the Cobh box.

He turned the ball round the two man Cobh wall. The ball came crashing back off the Cobh post. The home team were under a lot of pressure as Dundalk continued to come at them in waves.

Cobh’s Griffith had a shot well saved by Minogue. Leo Gaxha went on a great run down the right. He found Horgan. He shot weekly at the Cobh keeper.

Cobh were well in the game from midway through the first half. Bergary went close for Cobh from a Shane Griffin cross. Leo Gaxha was playing his 60th First Division game.

He caused Ramblers a lot of trouble. I can not understand why Leo is not a Premier division player. Dundalk did not get their first corner of the game until the 28th minute.

Cobh had a massive injury blow when Cian Bergery had to limp off injured. Cobh only got their first corner of the game until 32 minutes. Cobh’s leading scorer missed a clear header opportunity as he was free in front of goals.

Dundalk hit the front on 38 minutes when the ball came to Daryl Horgan following a pass from Arubi. Horgan controlled the ball before firing an unstoppable shot to the top right hand corner of the net.

It was as if an earthquake had hit Cobh. It was an awful time to concede a goal. A couple of minutes later, Enda Minnogue went down injured.

He looked to have injured his hand again. Peter Cherrie was getting ready to come on. But in Lazarus style fashion, Enda rose quickly and was okay.

Dundalk killed the game off as a contest right on half time. Horgan’s cross from the right split the Cobh defence in half. Arubi rose high to head home. Thus Dundalk were two up at the break.

For the second week in a row, Gbemi Arubi scored a vital goal for his team. It was an excellent goal and shook Cobh to their foundations. Arubi had set up Horgan for the first goal. Horgan returned the favour for Gbemi’s’s goal.

Dundalk knew they would be facing a difficult second half, as they expected Cobh to throw everything at them. It did not exactly turn out that way.

Six minutes after the break Mayowa gave away a needless free near the edge of the box. Shane Griffin took the free. It was inches away.

Three minutes later, Keith Ward gave away another needless free in much the same place as Mayowa had. This time the Ramblers scored.

Shane Griffin turned the ball around the Dundalk wall and into the top left-hand corner of the net. There was nothing Enda Minogue could do, but pick the ball out of his own net for the first time this season.

At this stage Cobh were in complete control. Keogh saved Dundalk after he cleared the ball off the line with Minogue beaten. Ciaran Kilduff then made three key substitutions which allowed Dundalk get more control of the game.

Dean Ebbe replaced Gbemi Arubi, Eoin Kenny replaced Keith Ward and Andy Parashev replaced Harry Groome. Groome did so well for Dundalk.

He had not trained the entire week, because of an injury he picked up in the Bray game the week before. Vinny Leonard once again starred for Dundalk at the back.He went close for Dundalk, when his long range effort looked to be on its way in.

It was just over. Daryl Horgan continued to be a thorn in the side of Cobh. He set up Ebbe, only for the striker to shoot weekly into the arms of the Ramblers keeper Paul Martin.

Eoin Kenny, playing out on the wing, found Leo Gaxha. His shot was cleared off the line by a Cobh defender, Eoin Kenny was put in the clear by Andy Parachiv.

The Blackrock youngster was unlucky to see his shot saved. Aodh Deervin then had an effort from 25 yards to go narrowly over. Dundalk were well in control.

Shane Tracey got himself in the clear. He shot narrowly wide from a very difficult angle. The referee played nine minutes of injury time. Dervin and Mayowa were booked.

Three minutes into injury time, Cobh looked to have levelled the game when Cian Coleman unleashed a powerful effort. Somehow Enda Minigue was able to take off a terrific save with his feet. Shane Tracey had earlier replaced Leo Gaxha.

It was a terrific performance by Dundalk given how much their form had slumped recently. Manager Ciaran Kilduff engineered a good win. The three substitutions early in the second half stabilised Dundalk and cancelled out the Cobh challenge.

This was a massive statement from Ciaran Kilduff’s side. The Dundalk boss did have a difficult decision to make as far as the goalkeeping position was concerned when he had to choose between the inform Peter Cherrie and the first team keeper Enda Minnogue.

It was the correct decision to put Minogue back in the goals. Cherrie has proven that he is still a top class keeper at the age of 42. But Enda is the first team keeper.

The manager’s respect for Peter Cherrie and the trust he has in him has grown even more. Kilduff’s decision to register him as a player before the start of the season was a

precursor to supporters at showing how good a manager he is.

It’s a real pity that Ciaran was not in charge last season. He would have used Peter Cherrie as his first team keeper for the season if he had seen that the keepers signed were just not up to the job.

The first ever national mental health research report amongst players in the League of Ireland was launched last week.

The research report titled ‘Mental Health in the League of Ireland A Study’, is a product of collaboration between the FAI, the Players Football Association of Ireland and the South East Technological University Ireland.

Conducted throughout the 2024 season, the primary aim of the report was to examine the prevalence of Common Mental Health Disorders amongst players in the Men’s Premier Division and the First Division along with the Women’s Premier Division.

The results produced are preliminary, as part of a process to be peer-reviewed and published.

In line with much emerging research across other European Leagues, the report details the prevalence and demographic factors such as age, gender, education levels, playing positions and more.

While attendances, coverage and engagement levels continue to rise across the League of Ireland, the report aims to contribute to an increase in player health, wellbeing and long-term performance.

Some of the key findings of the report found that 63 per cent of players met the criteria of at least one symptom of a Common Mental Disorder.

Players with the lowest level of education e.g. Junior Cert reported the highest rate of anxiety depression. Goalkeepers were more likely to report a Common Mental Disorder than any other position players have on a team.

The more experienced players were less likely to report anxiety and depression. But they reported higher scores for adverse alcohol use.

The report also shows that Full-time Professionals were the least to have symptoms of a Common Mental Disorder less than Part-Time and Amateur players.

The report also showed that players who reported feeling burned out were significantly associated with being at risk of developing Common Mental Health Disorder.

Speaking at the launch of the report Doctor Ciara Losty, Researcher and Lecturer at SETU said that: “Undertaking prevalence research for common mental health disorders in football is crucial for a number of reasons.

“By identifying the scope of the issue within footballers, prevalence can help us to understand how widespread mental health disorders are amongst Irish footballers.

“By recognising the proportion of players affected, stakeholders can better gauge the extent of the problem. Mental Health often remains a stigmatised topic in sport.

“Research helps to bring attention to the issue, destigmatising it and encouraging open conversations among players, coaches and management about mental-health well being. Mental health is crucial for the long-term career sustainability of players.

“Research can provide insights into factors that impact players’ mental health, helping to prevent burnout and career-ending issues.

“Overall, prevalence research is a step towards creating an environment where players’ mental health is prioritised leading to healthier, more successful players in Irish football.’’

The primary recommendation of the report is for it to be viewed as a crucial first step in a process that will identify and propose the highest standards of preventive and supportive measures to protect the long term mental health of players in the League of Ireland.

The report highlights the importance of raising awareness of common mental disorders in football and encourages even greater commitment from all stakeholders to support Irish football in its promotion of player care, ensuring that those struggling with mental health issues can access support.

It’s great that such a report has been made. For too long, the mental well being of people has been ignored. My fear is that this report does not just end up on a shelf as so many reports do.

The other fear is that mental health supports are so poor on the ground, how do the people who have produced this report expect them to have access to a qualified therapist? And the therapist must be qualified.

We all know someone who has tried to access the system but who were forced to wait too long to get help. Sadly many of these people have taken their own lives.

But at least the report will highlight to all in football what our players may be going through. It places a big responsibility on the owners of clubs to be on the watch out for issues such as bullying across the whole spectrum of their club.

I mention bullying as it can do so much damage to a human being no matter what age they are. Sadly bullying is alive and well right across our society. In a football club the owners must have zero tolerance for it and for everybody connected to their clubs.

The managers of the teams within a club must be on the look out for bullying and all sorts of other issues. Players must also be on the watch out and ensure nobody is left feeling isolated.

It would be ideal if all clubs had their own counsellor. It may be just a case that they come in twice or three times a week and that they can be contacted outside these times in emergency cases.

Everybody needs to realise that it is okay to feel they are not okay. If they can do that it’s the first step in the battle. We have lost two prominent figures within our club through suicide.

One was Maxi who died last September. He was loved so much by everybody and was such a great character that his death shook the club to its core. Maxi was a very kind human being.

We also lost Harry Taaffe through suicide nearly five years ago. The 5th anniversary of his death is coming up shortly. Harry’s death just as Maxi’s shook the club to its core.

His family and relatives will be broken-hearted for the rest of their lives just as Maxi’s. We all get on with our lives. But the families are left to grieve for the loss of their loved ones.

They will never get over what has happened. They will adjust. Re player mental health, I have said it before and I will say it again: they must have a qualified counsellor or therapist who they can talk to. They do not have to be feeling suicidal to seek out a therapist. Not at all.

But to all clubs I plea that they make sure this report never lands on a shelf. It must be the template around which our players' welfare is a major matter of concern and one which will ensure there is a process within a club to carry it out.

But I also feel strongly that a mental health welfare plan should not be for players alone. It must be for all employees within our clubs.

Have a great week. Kerry come to Oriel next Friday for the first time. Again it will be very evenly contested.