Dundalk FC manager admits there was a sense of settling old scores

Dundalk FC manager Ciaran Kilduff admitted there was a sense of settling old scores as his side unleashed a measure of revenge on Treaty United with a resounding 7-0 victory in Limerick on Friday night.

Treaty had been the only team to deny Dundalk victory in this season’s SSE Airtricity League First Division, holding them to draws in each of their previous three meetings.

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But in the fourth and final encounter, The Lilywhites made emphatic amends—racing into a 4-0 lead by half-time before completing a ruthless seven-goal rout.

The result marked Dundalk’s most emphatic League of Ireland win since 2018, when they dismantled another side from the Treaty county, hammering Limerick 8-0 at Oriel Park—on that occasion too, they were four goals to the good by the break.

For a league win of such magnitude away from home, one must look back to 2016, when Dundalk crushed Finn Harps 7-0 in Ballybofey—a night when Daryl Horgan, Friday’s hat-trick hero, also found his name on the scoresheet.

“They’re a team that took six points off us this year with three draws,” Kilduff reflected afterwards. “We were really, really hungry and determined to get those f***ing points tonight and make that scoreline as convincing as it was.

“They hurt us, and we wanted to hurt them tonight. They’ve hurt us three times, and all late heartbreak goals—90 minutes, 2-0 up in Oriel, 2-2; 1-0 up in the 93rd minute; 1-0 up down here and conceded late. So they’re a team that definitely hurt us, and they were a team that we definitely wanted to potentially right a few wrongs.

“It’s only a game of football. We have a lot of respect for them as players and staff, but there’s no point in lying. Of course, it was something that we bought into coming into the game—that this was a team we failed to beat, the only team in the division that we haven’t beaten so far.”

With five successive league victories, Dundalk have matched their best winning streak of the season, first set between March and April.

Remarkably, The Lilywhites have struck 21 of their 57 league goals during this current run, 17 of them arriving in just the last three outings—a surge of firepower that has delighted manager Kilduff, who is relishing his side’s newfound cutting edge in attack.

“We were clinical and we were hurting them,” he said. “No one plays well all the time, and we’ve probably played better. I actually thought one of our best performances of the season was our 2-0 defeat in Bray, where we did everything but score. Tonight it was good without being brilliant, but we were clinical, and it puts a gloss on things.

“I can’t lie to you, 28 games ago we were bankrupt and looking like we were going to the wall, and we didn’t have a licence. Now I’m critiquing a 7-0 win, so we’ve come a long way, but we haven’t won anything yet. There’s still a bit to do, and we are the ones entrusted to do it. But that’s a good night’s work, and we take confidence over the last couple of weeks.”

While Dundalk find themselves in a strong position at present, the criticism directed at Treaty manager Tommy Barrett by sections of the home crowd on Friday night offered Kilduff a stark reminder of how swiftly the mood in football can turn.

“A big win next week for them, whoever they’re playing, and it lifts everyone again. It’s week to week, but obviously that’s a hard scoreline. I’m imagining the locals back in my day with Dundalk when we had defeats. They were rare, but when they came, they were received with criticism, and fans are entitled to do that.

“Tommy has been around, he’s done a great job. They’re still in the playoffs. That’s what we were saying in preparation. These are a team who will have an ideology that they want to be in the playoffs this year and potentially get to a playoff final and get promoted.

“So I don’t think you can beat them with that stick yet. It was a tough night, and I know their recent form hasn’t been great, but to be still in the playoffs at this point of the season, I don’t think it’s anything to be getting on the manager’s back about just yet.”