Dundalk FC set for tough Treaty test

Dundalk FC resume their SSE Airtricity League First Division campaign this Friday evening with a testing encounter against their bogey side, Treaty United, at Markets Field in Limerick (kick-off, 7:45pm).

Sitting six points clear at the summit, The Lilywhites enter the final quarter of the season with just nine matches left to play; however, their path begins with a familiar challenge: Treaty, a side they have failed to overcome in three previous meetings this year.

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The run-in will culminate on October 17th with a potentially decisive trip to second-placed Cobh Ramblers, but first all focus turns to Limerick.

“We can only really look after ourselves and win the games that are in front of us,” manager Ciaran Kilduff told The Democrat. “We’ve got nine games left this season, and we will try and win them all, but every game is a banana skin.

“You’re seeing mad results in every division in football. There’s actually not that much between the top teams, the mid teams, and the bottom teams in our division.

“It’s the same in the Premier Division. Getting over the line in every game between now and the end of the season is the priority, and long may it continue.”

Dundalk arrive at this fixture in scintillating goalscoring form, striking one fifth of their season’s 50 goals in back-to-back home victories at Oriel Park — a 4-1 defeat of Longford Town followed by a 6-1 dismantling of Athlone Town.

“It was all that finishing clinic I was doing in the background,” Kilduff quipped. The former Dundalk striker quickly added, “No, listen, it’s confidence. These are young lads who were feeling under pressure playing for Dundalk early days, and they’re finding their feet now.

“We’re still only 27 games in as a group, and we’re learning. You’re seeing lads for the first time — I mean, Rohan Vaughan has only arrived, JR Wilson is only here a month or so, Declan McDaid, Norman (Garbett) has come on for some of his first minutes. We’ve loads of great stories unveiling before our eyes, and we just have to keep riding this wave.

“Of course, early days we were looking to score more goals, but then we weren’t conceding as many. Now we’re leaking a few too many, but football is never perfect. The attacking players are really stepping up the last couple of weeks, and I’m delighted for them.”

With four goals in his last seven appearances, Gbemi Arubi looks undroppable up front, yet Rohan Vaughan’s late two-goal cameo against Athlone has presented Kilduff with a welcome selection dilemma.

“When you’re looking at that game, I had selection issues from the start,” he said. “You’re bringing lads on who are hungry, going, I want to be in next week. I have confidence all over the group now, but what you’re seeing is a great group.

“I’m watching Rohan get a second goal; I look behind me, and Eoin Kenny and Daryl Horgan are celebrating like they scored. It’s a great group, a great vibe, and a great culture brewing here within the club.”

The Lilywhites had no game over the weekend following their second-round exit from the Sports Direct FAI Cup.

Bray Wanderers’ third-round defeat to Finn Harps — a tie that, had Bray prevailed, would have necessitated the rescheduling of Dundalk’s September 12th fixture — guarantees no further interruptions to the campaign, though Kilduff conceded the brief pause was welcome.

“There’s some lads out there that were on their last legs for the last couple of weeks,” he admitted. “A lot of similar players in similar positions needed a little bit of time down, to put them on ice a little bit, so I was happy to put the brakes on them. But there’s no lack of focus and no lack of direction; there were a few knocks and bruises that needed to be addressed first.”

Next comes the trip to Markets Field to face Treaty, a side with whom Dundalk have shared three draws this season.

While they have never suffered defeat against the Limerick outfit, their only encounter prior to this year was a 2021 FAI Cup tie, edged 1-0 after extra time.

“We’ve a team to focus on when we come back, a team that we’ve failed to beat — which is a great incentive to have after a break — but we’ll just focus one game at a time.”

Meanwhile, it is understood that Liam Burns’ long-standing association with the club is set to conclude. A long-serving figure, Burns twice assumed the role of caretaker manager last season and had remained this year as part of Kilduff’s coaching staff.