The Commentary Box: Dundalk didn't had any razor-sharpness in front of goal

Dundalk blew a great chance last Friday, to open up a big gap at the top of the First Division when they went down to a 2-0 defeat against Bray Wanderers. The game was played in beautiful summer sunshine on an excellent astroturf pitch.

Cobh were beaten by Treaty by two goals to one. The results mean Dundalk remain four points clear at the top. But Bray are now just six points behind Dundalk and are right back in the automatic promotion challenge.

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Treaty United are also still in with a chance as well. The maddening thing about Friday was that Dundalk should have won this game comfortably. They totally dominated the game. But it was the same old story as it is nearly every week.

They just could not convert the chances that were created. And believe me, there were any. But if a team can not score goals, they do not deserve to win games. That's how it was on Friday night.

Four weeks ago I said to Dundalk boss Ciaran Kilduff that he could forget about getting automatic promotion unless he gets a striker. I said he needed a striker in the window.

If he did not get one, Dundalk's hopes of going straight back up would be very much in doubt. Kilduff replied he had a number of players who can score goals.

He was right. But he has not got the one player who can convert the plenty of chances that Dundalk are creating.

On Friday night Bray had just two chances and took them. They took the lead from a Max Murphy penalty with two minutes to the break. Bray sealed the game two minutes into injury time at the e

nd of the game.

Billy O'Neill played Danu Kinsella Bishop in with a great pass. The out-rushing Enda Minogue was left totally without a defence as Bishop got past him to slot the ball home to the back of the net.

But Dundalk can certainly feel hard done by over the penalty decision. Having looked at the incident back on LOITV it is clear that Billy O'Neill was if even fouled that It was clearly outside the box.

The referee Declan Tolland made a howler of a decision that could make or break Dundalk's season. It should never have stood. Where was the assistant referee or even the fourth official?

For Ciaran Kilduff, he was unsure as it was too far for him to make a decision. I am sure that he knows now that Dundalk were the victims of daylight robbery.

For Bray to go ahead just two minutes from the break was massive. For Dundalk to go behind at the break by a goal that should never have stood, changed the whole complexion of the game.

The penalty that should never have been, meant Dundalk were left chasing the game for the entire second half. As Dundalk's challenge petered out, it was written in the stars that Bray were always going to pounce for a second goal.

That they did in injury time. Dundalk had 23 shots. 9 corners. Bray had 3 shots. Two on target. And 1 corner. The stats speak for themselves. To have such control, to have so many efforts and not score, Dundalk deserved nothing from the game.

When Bray did move forward, they did look sharper. They had a goal disallowed in the second half that was offside, but that exposed all the frailties in the Dundalk defence.

Mayowa was badly missing in the centre of the defence. That takes nothing away from Sean McHale who replaced him. Sean is an excellent player. It just seemed a night when the Dundalk defence failed to be the usual uncompromising force they are.

They seemed tense and shaky at times. Even for the penalty that was not and yet given, the ball should have been cleared out of the defence. You must avoid any touch on the player you are tackling.

It's unclear if there was contact. But there was uncertainty in the defence. Billy O'Neill should never have been near that ball, had Mayowa been there.

But I am mystified as to why Dundalk just never had any razor-sharpness in front of goal. They have players that can score goals. They did not get a look in on Friday.

Dundalk came into the game on the back of wins over Cobh and Kerry. There was only one change to the team that played the week before in Kerry and won 4-0. Mayowa was injured in a training session last week.

He picked up a suspected hamstring injury. If that materialises after a scan this week, he could be out for some time. Full Back Conor O'Keeffe has been out injured with a head injury.

It had been hoped he would soon return. It now appears he will be out for longer than expected. Youngster Luke Mulligan was not even in the squad on Friday.

It's presumed it must have been an injury that kept the 17-year-old out. That has not been confirmed.

Dundalk lined out as follows. Enda Minogue goals. Sean Keogh and John Ross Wilson two full-backs.Two centre halfs Sean McHale, and Vinny Leonard. Midfield Aodh Dervin.

Harry Groome. Eoin Kenny. Daryl Horgan. Two front men Gbemi Arubi and Dean Ebbe, Once again Ebbe was allowed to roam in the forward line and back to midfield.

He was very effective and a number of times brought out the best in Bray keeper Jimmy Corcoran. He had an outstanding game and was Man of the Match.

Sean Keogh was booked in the first half. If he got another yellow card he would have been sent off. His next yellow card will result in a suspension at any rate.

So Keogh was replaced by Paraschive at the break. Declan McDaid and Keith Ward replaced Arubi and Kenny on 61 minutes.TJ Molloy replaced Harry Groome on 87 minutes.

Dundalk started so well. A one-two between Arubi and Ebbe nearly let Dundalk in. The ball was cleared. Eoin Kenny went close on 12 minutes as did Harry Groome with a great effort from 20 yards.

Daryl Horgan then set up Harry Groome. His effort was saved well by Corcoran. Sean Keogh then curled a corner in from the left. The ball looked as if it was going in.

Somehow Jimmy Corcoran plucked the ball from the underside of the crossbar and tipped the ball out for a corner.

Eoin Kenny cut the Bray defence wide open with a great solo run at speed. Eoin had the goals at his mercy. His shot forced Corcoran into another great save, But this was one where Dundalk should have scored.

Sean Keogh was then booked for a needless foul. One more booking and he faces a three-match ban. Bray then in a rare attack into Dundalk territory saw Billy O'Neill being fouled by Sean Keogh.

The referee gave the penalty. He was clearly not up with the play. From where I was I could not tell. But TV evidence clearly shows the referee made a dreadful mistake.

Billy O'Neill was clearly not in the box. Max Murphy stepped up and shot home the ensuing penalty. That was just three minutes from the break.

Andy Paraschiv replaced Keogh at halftime. Aodh Dervin was moved into the right fullback position. Paraschiv operated from midfield. Dervin had a quiet game by his standards.

But now his cutting edge in the centre of midfield was missing. Dundalk were unlucky not to level just a minute after the break. Eoin Kenny got in a great cross from the left.

It was met with a terrific header by Dean Ebbe. Jimmy Corcoran pushed the ball onto the post. Horgan got a cross in. Again Ebbe's header was saved by Corcoran.

Harry Groome had an effort that was not far away.JR Wilson came close as Jimmy Corcoran saved. Vinny Leonard was then moved up front by Ciaran Kilduff late in the game.

It left Dundalk very exposed. But they had no choice. Declan McDaid curled a ball that looked bound for the net. It hit the wrong side of the net. Ebbe missed a great chance with ten minutes remaining.

Bray had the ball in the net with six minutes remaining, with the Dundalk defence all at sea. It was a sign of things to come. Bray came close again as the clock was running down.

Max Murphy pumped in a great free. Kilian Cantwell saw his header at the back post pushed away by Enda Minogue. Dundalk had a great chance to level when they won a free kick on the edge of the box.

Keith Ward failed completely to take advantage of the chance. He got the ball around the wall. But the power was so weak in his effort, that Jimmy Corcoran saved easily. If I were Kilduff, I would have been furious with Ward for missing such a gilt-edged chance.

Three minutes into injury time came the second goal for Bray. Billy O'Neill played a great through lob that outfoxed the Dundalk defence. Danu Kinsella pounced on the loose ball.

He rounded Minogue and slotted the ball into the empty net. Bray had won the game 2-0. They deserved their win. They were much sharper in front of goals. Like so many other games this season, Dundalk could simply just not score.

They were completely blunt in front of goal. This problem has been there all season. Dundalk have on most occasions been able to get around this problem, by being on target enough to keep winning.

Their luck ran out in Bray as it did in Ballybofey three weeks ago. They need somebody who can put the ball in the net almost at will. They have not got such a player. Luke Mulligan was badly missed on Friday.

He can operate anywhere in defence. The quicker he returns to the squad the better. He must have been out through injury.

Former Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny was at the game in Bray on Friday. He left with five minutes remaining. But he was mobbed by a huge group of kids who wanted to get their photo taken with the former Republic of Ireland manager.

Stephen stood and got selfies taken with the entire group who looked for a photo with him. Not one kid or adult were left disappointed. They got their photo taken with a great manager.

I really hope he can turn things around at Pats. He was never given a chance as international manager. He was vilified by elements of the Dublin media. He had not got the squad available.

He will turn Pats around. To me, he will always be the greatest manager Dundalk ever had along with the late great Jim McLaughlin.

There are a lot of former Irish managers who would not have taken time out for selfies with kids. Stephen Kenny is a man who has class written all over him. I wish Pats all the best for their game in Europe this week.

Ciaran Kilduff told me after the game that he was very frustrated with the result against Bray.

"I do not want this to be the headline, but parts of the game saw us having loads of chances. We could not put the ball away. We lost 2-0. If you do not put the ball away, you will be punished at this level.

"We flagged it all week that Billy O'Neill caused huge problems on the right. He did that tonight. He was involved in the incidents for both goals. For the penalty, there was pressure being put on the referee and the officials.

"Listen, he gave it quickly. I was too far away. I did not see it. We could have had a couple ourselves that might have been given on another night. But they weren't. And their penalty incident was.

"There is no point in us dominating games like this if we can't put the ball in the back of the net. That is the most important part. The game turned out as we anticipated. We had a lot of control of the ball.

"We did have some great spells of play. Their keeper was also outstanding. He took off some top-class saves. That's what they needed on the night. We will do the usual. We will go in and watch it back.

"We probably had two of the best chances and lost two nil. For a long time during the game, I  thought this was Finn Harps all over again.

"We put Vinny up forward in the last few minutes. But we were just caught on the counter then and lost 2-0. We just have to take our medicine and we are frustrated.

"Bray are now a big threat to us. They always have been. Tonight they have beaten us two nil. They have blown the race for the automatic place for promotion right open. Bray drew 2-2 with us in the last home game.

"We have always had respect for everyone we have played. But I think that result is a reality check for our group tonight. If you can not be clinical and deal with opposition attacks then you will always struggle to win.

"In most other games we have been clinical. We may have won some games by a single goal. But we did win. Tonight the ball would just not go in and we got caught on the break.

"Putting the ball in the net is the bread and butter of the game. We have a lot of players coming up with goals. It was not just one player who could not come up with goals tonight.

"Next Friday we have Sligo in the cup. It's different from the league where our main aim is to get automatic promotion. We are going to try and go out and win the game. We will be taking this game very seriously.

"When we saw the draw we looked at it as a chance to compare ourselves against Premier Division teams. Nothing has changed. We had a bad night tonight. But we still hope to be a Premier Division team in a couple of months.

"I went down last week to the Showgrounds to see them play Shamrock Rovers in the league. They had a lot of our former players from last year. I was just keeping an eye on them.

"But the cup is a nice distraction for us from the challenge of promotion every week. We are still four points clear at the top. That's the frustration.

"If we had won we would have been seven points clear with Cobh losing. We would have got that daylight we are looking for against the chasing pack. But we did not get that.

"I am monitoring one or two other players to try and sign. But they are with other clubs. So you are kind of hoping that their availability changes.

"We are a first Division club. We are not in a position of paying fees or anything like that. We are just hoping that certain players become available.

"I have spoken to them. Some of their availability is due to change in the coming weeks. If that does not work out we still have options. We have had a couple of players in on trial with us this week. I am not in a position to give names. Not just yet.

"On The injury front, Conor O'Keeffe has had a mild setback. He has a head injury. We are looking for Conor to have a speedy recovery in the coming weeks.

"Norman Garbett is just a week away from returning to playing. Mayowa hurt his hamstring in training during the week.

"He will have a scan on Monday morning. We are hoping that it's not too serious. I would not say the problem has anything to do with the pitch. He picked up a hamstring injury in Ballybofey at the start of the season. That was on a grass pitch."

I asked the Dundalk captain how he felt losing a game that they dominated and deserved to win. "But we did not win. You get what you deserve in football. And you deserve what you get.

So we were beaten 2-0. That's the way the game went. They put the ball in the net twice. We had enough opportunities to win this game. But we did not take them.

It's a disappointing loss to stomach. On the balance of play, we should have won. But there is only one thing that matters. That is goals. They got two. We did not get anything. The Bray keeper was very good tonight with a couple of top-class saves. If you look at the all-round play and general performance we were good.

There was a lot of very good stuff from us. But the game is about putting the ball in the net. We did not do that today. It was not lack of effort.

We just did not make it in the final third. We did not make it in the final third. That was the difference ultimately. Look, we are really really disappointed.

We can take the positives and learn from the negatives. We had an opportunity to go seven points clear, given Treaty beating Cobh. That opportunity is obviously gone now. Which is disappointing.

All we can do is look at things game by game. On the balance of today and other games, there are a lot enough of good things. But obviously not enough.

"There were some really good performances. But as I keep saying, it's about putting the ball in the back of the net. The responsibility for us not scoring tonight does not fall on our strikers.

Any lad who has to play up front has to put in a lot of work. It's what goes in from right through the team that produces the goals. There is an onus on the wide players and every other position right way through the team, to produce, create and score.

There are enough bodies in that team to score goals. If any player wants to play for Dundalk, they must work and work and work. It's always difficult for a striker.

It can be a very lonely position at times. Teams can sit in at the back and saturate the defence. So the striker's role is never an easy shift. I would not lay all the blame on any strikers that we have. And I would not say that we need any strikers either.

We have got very good strikers. Getting goals is a team thing. It's not an individual thing at all. It's a Dundalk FC thing. And getting goals is something we need to be better at going forward.

"The cup game next Friday is a diversion from the weekly challenge of battling our way out of the First Division. The game against Sligo is going to be a very tough game.

It's going to be a very different challenge. It will be a good game for us and one that everybody is looking forward to. But first things forward, we need to learn from tonight.

We need to take the positives and the negatives from the Bray game. We can go back at a less emotional moment and put a bit of rationale on tonight's defeat.

Enda Minogue says he felt that Dundalk had dominated the game. "We thought we dominated it. I don't know if the first goal was a penalty. I am not too sure. Billy O'Neill was in the box and once he has turned, the referee is going to give the penalty.

I know Max the penalty taker. I knew the side of the goals where he was going to take the penalty. It's very frustrating. It was just one of those nights where we dominated and had the chances. But we just could not put the ball in the net.

I have to say that Jimmy Corcoran was top-class in the goals for Bray. He pulled off some super saves. He was fantastic. He was very good. A two-nil defeat is not good enough for a team like Dundalk.

We hold ourselves to a certain standard. I hold my hands up for the second goal. There was a mix-up in the box between myself and one of our players.

It happens when your team are pushing for a goal. You just need to own the ball. We are not going to blame anybody for the result. The gaffer says there will be no fingers pointed at anybody.

This season was never going to be easy. We all knew that before we kicked the first ball in our game. And there will never be an excuse to lose 2-0. When we lost our first game against Finn Harps a few weeks ago it was a weight off our backs.

"Obviously, we bounced back with two good wins against Cobh and Kerry. But we have lost tonight. This leaves us with two options. We have to get back on track. Next week we play Sligo in the cup.

The first thing you do when you lose is to get back on the horse. We will concentrate on the cup game. After that, we will concentrate on who we have in the league the week after. Everything is fresh when we walk off the pitch tonight.

We will look back at it of course with the manager. But we are not happy at all with the way the game went tonight. In football sometimes you just have to take a step back and each player takes a look at themselves. You have to ask yourself, did you do enough tonight? If the answer is no the player must fix it for next week.

"The quality and the determination is still much there to get us promoted. We will never change our beliefs on that. We know the group we have. We have some missing players. But they are still around the group.

Everybody are around each other and driving ourselves on. So we are all in a very good place. I just think that about tonight was just about another bump in the road. We just have to fix it.

The fans have been fantastic in Kerry last week and this week in Bray. Tonight they kept chanting our names throughout the entire game. It's a pleasure to play in front of them. Next week's game is in the cup against Sligo.

It's another competition we want to win. So we want to win the Division One title and the cup. In 2002 Dundalk were relegated. But they went on to win the cup. Who is to say that in 2025 Dundalk can win the Division One title and go on and win the cup."

Well, Dundalk will need something special if they are to beat Sligo next week in the cup at Oriel. Last night Sligo beat high-flying Derry City in the league at the Showgrounds.

The game was played 24 hours after Dundalk. Sligo have gone on a decent run of form lately and have signed very well in the window. They are the Premier Division team. They are the favourites. I think they will advance.

But in the cup who knows? Dundalk are the second most successful team ever to win the cup. The priority has to be promotion. There must be a 100 per cent concentration on that aim.

It emerged this week that LOITV has received 850,000 Euro for their APP that covers all League of Ireland games in both the men's and women's leagues. For 99 euro fans can watch their own team and others.

That is for the year. But the project could be gathering a lot more money. Many people have turned to the Fire Stick and Dodgy Box to get the services of SKY TV and other companies that charge.

Unfortunately, LOITV can be got for free on the Fire Stick. They are losing a lot of revenue.90 euros for the entire season to watch all games in the League of Ireland is very good value.

But many households find it very difficult to pay the monthly subscription of 130 euro in most cases to SKY. They have been forced to look elsewhere to get the service. Many are now buying it illegally.

I respect that this is wrong and is illegal. But I have one message to Sky. Why do you not allow Irish consumers the right to opt out of some of the sports packages?

You charge all of us here for all your sports channels. In the UK if a consumer does not like the SKY Tennis channel or the motor racing channel they can opt out.

In Ireland, if a consumer opts for the Sports package they must take all of them. Thus putting up the bills for the Irish consumers. This is not fair. It's unjust.

Finally Drogheda United have received an injection of 2.4 million euro from owners Trivela. The matter got attention when it was filed with the Company registration office last week. Drogheda lost 0.8 million euro in the 2024 season.

It's a welcome boost for Drogheda after losing their place in the Europa Conference competition this season as another of their owner's teams also qualified for Europe.

Pat Hoban has signed a 2-year contract with Glentoran. He moved from the Brandywell to the Oval for an undisclosed fee.
Have a great week. And please be careful out there. And look after each other.