The Commentary Box: Dundalk are hoping to sign three more players in the window

The FAI Cup draw last Thursday threw up possibly the tie of the first round, with First Division leaders Dundalk being drawn at home against the bottom side of the Premier Division, Sligo Rovers.

The game will be played on the week ending 20th July. Dundalk supporters did not have to wait for long to see who they were being drawn against. The Oriel Park side were the first team drawn with Sligo being paired against them.

READ NEXT: Louth GAA club | Division Two round-up

The general reaction among supporters that I have spoken to has been favourable. As long as it was a home draw, most supporters were happy.

I was hoping for a home draw against Drogheda and knocking them out at their first attempt at defending the trophy, they won last year. Instead, they were drawn at home to Leinster Senior League side Crumlin United.

The Drogs will breeze past the Dublin non-league side. Many in Dundalk feel confident that their team can get through to the next round, with a win over Sligo.

The Showgrounds side are rock bottom of the Premier Division. They have only managed to win three games out of 18 played. They have drawn three and lost twelve.

Sligo have only 12 points and are in deep relegation trouble. They have scored 22 goals and conceded 34. They have a goal difference of minus 12 and are just a point behind second from bottom Cork City.

If they can get that spot then they would have a chance of avoiding the drop automatically. But they are 11 points behind the third from bottom place which would ease relegation worries entirely.

It really is a shame to see Sligo in trouble. They are a true example of a community-based club. Much of the income they collected over the years has gone back into capital spending such as vastly improving their stadium facilities.

But they got good news recently from the government and will see the Showgrounds being given financial support to upgrade it entirely.

It's such a pity that previous owners of Dundalk FC did not follow in their direction and make some attempt to upgrade Oriel Park.

The current owners are forward-thinking and will soon be installing a new floodlighting system, and upgrading the toilets in Oriel. The club have got a grant of approximately 69,000 euro for the toilets upgrade.

This upgrade is so badly needed. I have said it over and over again in this paper that Oriel needed this upgrade. Now at least it is on the horizon. The new floodlight system is so badly needed.

It's only when you see a game on LOITV that you realise how poor they are. So it's great that these two infrastructural projects are on the horizon.

When you walk into the Showgrounds in Sligo you can see where the club has invested money in infrastructure. You can not see the same in Oriel bar the Youth Development Centre that was built by former owner Gerry Mathews.

In fairness to Gerry, he spent a lot of capital during his ownership of making, Oriel an all-seater stadium. When part of the roof of the main stand was blown off in a storm, he used his own money to repair the damage and ensure the new season could go ahead.

The upcoming cup tie at the moment can be billed as the First Division leaders against the bottom side in the Premier Division. Three seasons ago Dundalk were struggling in the Premier Division.

They went to Wexford in 2022 and came very close to being knocked out. They put up a shocking display. They went behind twice. But to be fair they did draw level.

In extra time they were heading for penalties when Robbie Benson struck for a late goal to put Dundalk through. Dundalk were knocked out by first Division Waterford in the next round.

They were beaten by three goals to two. Then manager Stephen O'Donnell kept his team in the dressing room of the RSC for nearly an hour and a half after the game.

To me, it was a pointless exercise. Dundalk were very poor on the night. It was the former Dundalk skipper's first year in his two and a bit years as Dundalk manager.

2022 saw Dundalk qualify for the Europa Conference League by finishing in third place in the league that season. That was a great achievement.

In 2023 Dundalk were drawn away to the First Division Leaders Galway United in the cup. Dundalk were having a poor season. But they were not in danger of relegation.

Everybody in Dundalk laughed at me when I predicted that Galway would win. They did. And they won by four goals to nil in Eamonn Deacy Park. It was seen as a massive cup shock.

But Galway were managed by John Caulfield. They also had a very experienced side. They had new owners who were pumping good investment into the club. It was no shock.

I am mentioning this game and others as they involved Dundalk playing First Division teams in the Cup in recent times. Twice Dundalk were knocked out by the teams from the First Division.

The loss of goalkeeper Ed Ginnity to Shamrock Rovers was a huge loss to the Showgrounds side just before the start of the season. But this is a very tough game for Dundalk.

One could not compare the game to the Dundalk Galway game of 2023. Dundalk are a much more inexperienced side than that Galway team.

Sligo may be weaker on paper than the Dundalk team of 2023. However, in practice, there is a difference. And that's where I see the possibility of  Sligo having the upper hand.

There is a vast difference in quality, skill and strength between the Premier Division and First Division sides. Dundalk are hoping to sign three more players in the window.

Should they be successful, then maybe the gap between the sides can be closed. But with home advantage and Dundalk being underdogs, the pressure will be very much on Sligo.

I think the Premier division side should edge it. But if they do it will be just by a whisker. Oriel should be packed to the rafters. In the past in 1988, we had one of the most exciting cup clashes between these sides.

The game went to a replay before it was sorted. Sligo were at home and went one nil up. Dundalk seemed to be on their way out of the FAI cup until Michael O'Connor pounced with 10 minutes remaining, to ensure the game went to a replay.

The relief among the Dundalk fans was palpable that day. Dundalk deserved their draw. And it took manager Turlough O'Connor's brother to ensure the game went to a replay.

Four days later the sides clashed again. Sligo were not having the best of seasons. Dundalk on the other hand were well in contention for their first league title since 1982.

It was a terrible night for a football game. Sligo stunned the huge home crowd when they went into a shock 2-0 lead. The Oriel Park pitch was holding up very well in the incessant rain.

This was due to the great attention it got from the best groundsman the League of Ireland had ever seen in one Mickey Fox. Mickey is another Lillywhite legend.

He turned up for work every morning at seven am and never left until seven in the evening. Of course, he never got out of Oriel until well after 10, on weekday match nights.

On Sundays, he would be home at seven pm if there was a home game that day. In the old days, all League of Ireland games were played on a Sunday.

With Dundalk two nil down at halftime, manager Turlough O'Connor had to weave his magic. He did and Dundalk came out of the traps from the kickoff.

They got the three goals that won the Oriel Park side the right to go through to the last 16. Dundalk went on to win the cup that year courtesy of a John Cleary penalty early in the first half.

To be honest it never looked like a penalty. It was great beating Jim McLaughlin's team and also silencing Derry City supporters who vastly outnumbered Dundalk fans that day.

But as I saw skipper Joey Malone lift the cup my memories went back to beating Sligo in the Round. I will also never forget my journey to Sligo that day. I was driving on my own.

There was no dual carriageways in those days. Just south of the village of Annyala, a hunting dog came out through a hedge. A woman travelling to Limerick on her own struck the dog and it died instantly.

It was not her fault. Somebody who was in charge of the hunt asked the woman if she was ok when she clearly was not. He lifted the poor dead animal and put it into the boot of the car.

I always wondered what would have happened had the main hunt shot across the main road. I do not know if it did or not. The man from the hunt was gone as quickly as he had arrived.

I spoke to the poor woman who had accidentally hit the dog. I told her where she could get help in Castleblayney. After that incident, I drove to the Showgrounds for the Sligo game.

Every game has its own story. That Dundalk team of course went on to do the League and Cup double that season. They had to come back from two nil down in a game against Derry City to stay in the League race.

That game will live forever in the annals of Dundalk history. Dundalk got three goals in the last 12 minutes to stay in the league race.

A draw against Pats in the final league game of the season saw Dundalk clinch part 1 of the double. A few days later Turlough O'Connor collected the FAI cup.

Dundalk won the cup the hard way that season. They were drawn at home against Cork City in the quarter-finals. They could only manage a scoreless draw.

The replay was held in Turner's Cross three days later in Cork. The bookies had Dundalk at 10/1 to do the double. It was a gruelling game. But Dundalk won it by one goal to nil.

Dundalk played Sligo in an FAI Cup final in 1981. It was Jim Mclaughlin's last cup final as manager of Dundalk. It was a very strange game if my memory serves me right.

The game was played in a gale-force wind. Dundalk went ahead against the northwest team, in the first half with a freakish goal. They say if your name is on the cup then you will win it.

Well, Dundalk's name was on the cup that season. They went ahead with one of the freakiest goals I have ever seen. A corner from the right took a wicked twist in the wind and steered the ball directly into the net.

Sligo were stunned. The corner and goal came from the boot of John Archbald. The goal that sealed it, was a wonder goal from Mick Fairclough. Mick was a terrific player.

I just remember him going on a great run through the middle, doing a one-two with one of the midfielders. His run to the edge of the penalty area was out of this world.

His shot was unstoppable and gave the Sligo keeper no chance. For the third time in Jim McLaughlin's reign, the cup was to cross the River Boyne in Drogheda on its way to Dundalk.

Dundalk got a massive reward for beating Sligo. They beat Fram Reykavik of Iceland comprehensively in Round One of the European Cup Winners Cup.

In round 2 they were drawn at home in the First Leg at Oriel Park against Tottenham Hotspur. Amazingly there were over 20,000 people at the game. That would never be allowed today.

Oriel would maybe be let a maximum of 3,000 for a European game now. Spurs took the lead with a great goal from Garth Crooks. But Mick Fairclough brought the sides level with a magnificent individual goal.

It was a game that Dundalk went toe to toe with the English cup holders. In the end, the game ended 1-1. Dundalk were not given a chance by the British media.

But the Irish media had become familiar with Dundalk as a force in Europe under Jim McLaughlin. The second leg at White Harte Lane in London was as evenly contested as the game in London.

In the end, Spurs won the game by a goal to nil. Spurs players and officials had been given a massive fright. Glen Hoddle gave Dundalk nearly a complete chapter in his autobiography. Had Spurs been knocked out by Dundalk, there is no doubt he would have lost his job the next day.

Dundalk also met Sligo Rovers in more modern times. In 2019 They were chasing an FAI Cup, League Cup and League treble. At the end of September that year they met Sligo in the FAI Cup semi-final at the Showgrounds.

Dundalk beat the North Western side to reach the FAI Cup final for the fifth year in a row. It was the first time in the club's history to make the final five years in a row.

Shamrock Rovers were the only other side to make it to a cup final five years in a row. That was between 1929 -1933 and six finals between 1964 to 1969.

Dundalk were beaten in the 2019 final on penalties by Shamrock Rovers. Having beaten Sligo in the semi-final, Dundalk won the League and League Cup that year. It was heartbreaking to lose out on the treble to penalties.

Derry City supporters actually celebrated in the Bogside the day Rovers beat Dundalk, as it meant they continued to be the only club to do the treble. That was of course under Jim McLoughlin.

Vinny Perth guided Dundalk to the League title and the League Cup that season. Perth is a man who has never got the credit he deserves for guiding Dundalk to those trophies in 2019 nor indeed for all he did for Dundalk while he was here. He was an excellent manager.

Vinny of course was also Stephen Kenny's assistant in the glory days. Dundalk reached the cup final for the sixth year in a row in 2020.

This time they won it by gaining revenge on Shamrock Rovers for the defeat in the final, the year before. Dundalk won three cups in the six finals they appeared in succession.

The 2020 cup-winning side was led by manager Filippo Giovangoli. There were no fans in the ground. This was when the COVID lockdown was in full force.

The FAI Cup has been given much greater prestige this season than it has got for many years. The winners will gain direct entry to the Europa League. Up to now, it was the Europa Conference League.

The team that wins the cup are also guaranteed 700,000 euro from UEFA.RTE have been given the TV rights to cover the competition.

This season, they will broadcast six ties live including the two semi-finals and the final They will start showing one game from the last sixteen clubs in the competition.

The national papers are also agreeing with what I said at the top of this article. The Dundalk, Sligo game is the tie of the round. For the first time since Dundalk were relegated by Derry last season, we will see the Dublin media out in force at Oriel.

Ciaran Kilduff and his team will deserve their share of the limelight having battled their way through the First Division this season and maintaining an unbeaten record.

But the Sligo game is not until the week ending the 20th of next month. There is a lot of football to be played until then. Dundalk could be off the top by the time Sligo arrive.

But Ciaran Kilduff will not allow his young side to take their eyes off that. Daryl Horgan, Aodh Dervin and Peter Cherrie will also keep Dundalk fully focused on the promotion chase.

But on a final note. Remember Dundalk are the second most successful team to win the cup. They have won it twelve times.

Dundalk players all enjoyed their week off last week. But they reassembled in Oriel on Sunday for training as phase two of the season begins. Dundalk take on UCD in the league next Friday.

They are fifth in the table and out of the automatic promotion chase. But they are still very much in the promotion play-off chase. They always do well in Oriel.

Dundalk beat them in the league game at Belfield. It will be another tough game, as all are in this division. Conor O'Keeffe will miss the game as a result of the head injury he picked up in the Cobh game a few weeks ago.

Sean McHale may well return. He sustained a bad ankle injury which kept him out of the last three league games before the break. 17-year-old fifth-year student Luke Mulligan may well start.

He brought Dundalk back from the dead in Wexford to score a goal in the last minute to give his side all three points. He was also magnificent in the right full position.

A new star was born for Dundalk that night. Dundalk should beat UCD on Friday and keep Dundalk's promotion push on course.

Dundalk will play Treaty United at Oriel the Friday following the UCD game on 20th June. Then it's off to Donegal to play Finn Harps in Ballybofey three days later on 23rd June.

Meanwhile, it's back to Oriel on 27th June when Dundalk will play Cobh Ramblers in a pivotal automatic promotion clash. The next time Dundalk will face Cobh After this game in Oriel is on the last game of the season in Cobh.

Dundalk would want to have promotion signed, sealed and delivered before then. They will not want to be looking for anything going into that last game.

Thus they will have three of their next four games at home in Oriel. It gives Ciaran Kilduff's team a great chance to pick up s lot of points potentially in the initial phase at the start of part two of the league season.

There is all sorts of speculation that some of Dundalk's young players will be snapped up by UK or European clubs at the end of the season. These players have yet to sit their Leaving Cert.

Take it from me, they should complete this exam. It is their foundation stone for the rest of their lives. Vinny Leonard is being tipped as being one of the players who is being looked at by clubs outside Ireland.

Sean Woods, Sean Spaight and Luke Mulligan are rumoured to being on the radar of clubs outside Ireland as well. I think all of Dundalk's young players will still be here next season This is just my opinion. But I think I will be proved correct.

On a footnote to the Dundalk -Spurs European Cup Winners Cup game at Oriel, there was a recording made of that game. Pat Darcy who is a brother of former Senator Jim Darcy showed me a recording of some of the game way back in the late 1980's.

Pat was the media officer of Dundalk FC during the Jim McLaughlin era. The commentator was a well-known supporter of the club Nicky McCourt. Pat Darcy emigrated to Germany in 1990.

I am sure Pat may well still have that precious videotape. But I do not know. Maybe Nicky has a recording of the game. Nicky did a great job at the commentary.

I am very surprised with a talent like that why he did not pursue even a part-time career as a sports broadcaster. Nicky also did a fantastic video of the Dundalk homecoming when they did the double beating Derry in the final in 1988.

It was a masterpiece. There are copies of that tape floating around. I would like to think the club have a copy of it. But I don't know.

On a final note to that Spurs game, I remember my first cousin Jimmy Reilly played for Dundalk that night. He played very well on the night. Jimmy was a very talented player.

He emigrated to London not long after that game. No, the Spurs were not chasing his signature. He was just one of the many Irish who were forced to emigrate because of the very bad economic situation in this country throughout the 1980s.

Jimmy was from Park Street. His brothers and sisters still live in Dundalk. Jimmy is an Uncle of well-known Louth Ladies GAA footballer Rebecca Carr.

Sadly she has been out through injury for some time. Hopefully, she is close to a full recovery to that injury. Rebecca is a great all-round sportswoman. It's back to football, next Friday for Dundalk. See you all at Oriel for the UCD game.

Have a great week. Look after each other, please. And remember to be very careful out there.