Kilduff savours sweet revenge as Dundalk overpower Bray

Ciaran Kilduff admitted there was a touch of revenge in the air on Friday night as Dundalk FC swept aside Bray Wanderers with a 3-1 victory, keeping their advantage at the summit of the SSE Airtricity League First Division to six points.

At Oriel Park, The Lilywhites effectively extinguished Bray’s faint hopes of automatic promotion before the hour mark, surging into a commanding 3-0 lead before The Seagulls could offer only a late consolation 10 minutes from time.

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For Kilduff, the result carried a particular sense of satisfaction. Ever since Dundalk’s 2-0 defeat at the Carlisle Grounds in July—a match he has consistently maintained was among his side’s finest performances of the campaign—this fixture had lingered in the background, and on Friday his players delivered their answer in emphatic fashion.

“I was really, really aggressive with my prep for this game,” he told The Democrat afterwards. “I wanted to win it. We owed them one. They hurt us out in Bray; we were the better team. They also hurt us here—they were down to 10 players and went 2-1 up, and then Gbemi (Arubi) scored late, if you remember, in the last home fixture.

“They were the last team to beat us in the league, so all of that led into a night where it was easy to motivate—these were the last team to beat us, they hurt us on a night where we played well. We turned them over tonight. It was convincing, and it was convincing in Bray, but we lost, but thankfully tonight we got the win.”

The victory extended Dundalk’s unbeaten run in the First Division to eight games, with Gbemi Arubi striking twice to bring his season tally to nine. Eoin Kenny, under the watchful eye of his father, Stephen, who was in attendance, continued his remarkable form by adding his fifth goal and fifth assist in as many outings.

Kenny, who produced a man-of-the-match display, had only rejoined the squad on the eve of the fixture, fresh from earning his first cap for Northern Ireland’s U21s in a 1-1 draw away to Georgia in the opening game of their European Championship qualifying campaign.

“He’s had a special week,” said Kilduff. “He’s played for the Northern Irish U21s, then he’s come home. They got a good draw. He was delighted. He played 82 minutes, he was telling me, and put in a really good shift, as he always does. He came home here tonight, gets an assist early and scores in the second half, so I’m delighted for him.

“He got a great reception. He seems to be a good local favourite for obvious reasons, but his performance tonight deserved it. The week he’s put in, in terms of playing away, travelling home Wednesday, Thursday training and playing Friday, it’s been brilliant.”

Vinnie Leonard and Sean Spaight were likewise on international duty with the Republic of Ireland U17s, rejoining training on Thursday after a 3-0 friendly victory over Turkey in Prague. While Kilduff expressed his delight at the achievements of his young talents, their absence inevitably disrupted preparations for the clash with Bray.

“It was challenging,” he admitted. “We had to adapt. Shane Tracey came in, he’s been out for a couple of weeks, and we were watching training all week to see who looked ready, and I think we picked the right lads for the night.

“Aodh Dervin is suspended next week. Daryl (Horgan) won’t be back, he’s a few weeks to go yet, so we’ll be reacting again this week to what we have. With five games to go, it’s trying to get as good a team out on the pitch, and the best players on the pitch, as we can.

“I’m delighted,” he added. “We know there’s a bit of tension building, and we’re getting close to something. This was a tough game tonight, as will next week, so it’s a nice feeling to win.”

When asked if he was beginning to feel pressure, he replied: “I’m too busy with the lads. They’re a brilliant group, and we’re trying to block out any noise. It’s game to game. We concentrated tonight, for the first time in a while, where we were solely going, we just want to beat Bray, and we did that. And now we’ll go back to thinking about the league, but job done for tonight.”