The Commentary Box: Dundalk dominated again

Dundalk ended any hopes Bray Wanderers may have felt they had of finishing in the automatic position for promotion when the Oriel Park side disposed of them easily enough. Ciaran Kilduff knew he had to guide his team to victory.

That was after Dundalk dropped four points in their last two games. The Oriel Park side remain six points clear of second placed Cobh with five games remaining. That includes a final game at Saint Coleman's Park on the last day of the season.

READ NEXT: Dundalk and District League round-up

So they must keep more than three points ahead. Dundalk gained ample revenge on a Bray side who had beaten them 2-0 in July. On that occasion, the Oriel Park side dominated. But they could not put the ball in the net.

This time, Dundalk dominated again. But they had Gbemi Arubi, who scored twice, and Eoin Kenny to get the other goal. Dundalk did concede a late goal. But they ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.

Manager Ciaran Kilduff left regular keeper Enda Minogue out of the side for the second week in a row. Peter Cherrie was once again outstanding. He took off three great saves that inspired confidence among the Dundalk defence.

Vinny Leonard was back from his midweek ventures with the Republic of Ireland. Vinny was top class. There is no doubt he will be heading for pastures new at some stage. He commanded the centre of defence with Mayowa, who was superb as well.

Eoin Kenny was another player who was away on international duty who returned back to Oriel on Thursday. Eoin played for the Northern Ireland under-21s in midweek. On Friday, he was superb against Bray.

This young man improves every game that he plays. He scored Dundalk's second goal and created their first. He linked up so well with Gbemi Arubi for one of his two goals. Eoin played behind Gbemi at times and also ended up on the wing.

Dundalk were forced to play without the injured Daryl Horgan. He damaged his calf muscle injury against Wexford the week before. But to be honest, this Dundalk side were so good that Daryl was not missed. Daryl will be out for the next few weeks.

With only five games left, one wonders will he be out for the rest of the season. Dundalk had three changes in the side that played against Wexford the week before. Vinny Leonard was back in the side along with Eoin Kenny. Shane Tracey also started.

I was amazed to see Norman Garbett drop to the bench. He had a great game against Wexford the week before. Dean Ebbe was also dropped to the bench, while, as mentioned, Daryl Horgan was out injured.

Dundalk's starting eleven were Goals Cherrie, 2 full backs Wilson and O'Keeffe, 2 Centre backs Leonard and Mayowa. Two centre midfielders, Dervin and Groome. Two wingers, Declan McDaid and Eoin Kenny.

Shane Tracey was given the job to link up with Gbemi in front of the midfield. But often Kenny could be seen in that position with Tracey on the wing. With 15 minutes remaining, Dundalk made three substitutions.

Ebbe, Garbett and Paraschiv replaced Groome, Tracey and Kenny. Minutes later, Dundalk made two more changes. Luke Mulligan replaced Conor O'Keeffe, while Keith Ward replaced Declan McDaid.

Bray and Dundalk came into the game having met three times. Bray won one of the games, as did Dundalk. The other game ended in a draw at Oriel. Bray came into the game on a good run of form.

The previous week, they had assured themselves of a place in the playoffs with an emphatic win. Speaking to Bray officials before the game, they were still confident of getting the top spot in the league if they could beat Dundalk.

I just could not see where this confidence was coming from as Dundalk were 10 points clear of them with six games remaining. Now, after their defeat at Oriel and with just five games remaining, there is no way they can catch Ciaran Killduff's side.

This was a game packed with incident. Dundalk could have been in front as early as three minutes. Aodh Dervin's pinpoint cross into the box found Mayowa. He headed narrowly over. Bray were clearly shaken by how well Dundalk penetrated their defence.

Dundalk found a way through again four minutes later. Eoin Kenny pumped in an excellent cross from the right. Gbemi Arubi rose high to head home.

It was a terrific goal. Defence, midfield and attack were working so well for Dundalk. The goal from Gbemi was terrific. The ball from Eoin Kenny was sublime.

Declan McDaid was having a great game for Dundalk on the wing. He had a shot saved well by the Bray keeper Jamie Corcoran. Eoin Kenny then went close with another stinging effort.

Peter Cherrie took off a great save when Alan Kizenga's shot looked bound for the net. Peter got his hands on the ball and kept the Dundalk defence intact. McDaid came close again as  Dundalk continued to fire on all cylinders.

Gbemi came close again in a one-on-one with Jimmy Corcoran. The Bray keeper took off a great save. Bray broke with Dundalk in all sorts of problems. Vinny Leonard chased a Bray striker deep in the Dundalk defence.

In a wonderful tackle, he blocked the Bray attack promptly. Not only that he went on a great run into the Bray half. He beat three players on his run.

It looked as if he was going all the way. It took a great tackle by Rhys Bartley to keep the Dundalk centre half out. The move showed how Kilduff has instilled the attack mode into his side. Vinny has scored three goals this season. For a centre half, this is an excellent record.

Bray came close again with fifteen minutes remaining in the half. Billy O'Neill is a top-class striker. Out of nothing, he fired in a spectacular shot that looked bound for the net. Somehow, Peter Cherrie took off an amazing save.

The veteran keeper was throwing the years away. It seemed as if we were looking at the young Cherrie when he arrived at Oriel, all those years ago. Dundalk needed a second goal as Bray were showing they could be ever so dangerous.

With 11 minutes remaining, there were two balls on the pitch. A number of players were confused as to which was real ball. Harry Groome knew. Dundalk won a throw-in out on the left.

Groome saw Arubi was totally unmarked. He controlled the ball and fired the ball to the net. It was a great goal from Gbemi. His second goal eased the growing nerves among supporters, and Dundalk went in at halftime with a solid lead.

Dundalk went three nil up nine minutes into the second half, when Eoin Kenny broke clear from the Bray defenders. His shot was always going to be a goal. Before that, Aodh Dervan had been booked in an incident in the middle of the park.

That now brings him to ten bookings. He is suspended for the Longford game next Saturday. Bray pulled a goal back with ten minutes remaining after a rare mistake by Declan McDaid. Max Murphy was not on long as a substitute.

He squared the ball to Harvey Warren. He shot past Peter Cherrie, who had no defence in front of him, with Dundalk caught on the hop.

Four minutes before the goal, Dundalk made five substitutions. The changes seemed to change the shape of the Dundalk team considerably. Bray went at Dundalk smelling blood, as if they felt they could make as good a comeback as Treaty did at Oriel very early in the season.

But Dundalk were not going to let a Treaty style revival. Billy O'Neill went close with a good effort. But Dundalk did very well to see out the game without conceding any more goals.

I just feel it was not a good idea by the manager to make so many changes all at once with just fifteen minutes remaining, as it did disturb Dundalk's rhythm. But in fairness, Dundalk won the game in style and now travel to Longford to take on the Midlanders next Saturday.

Gbemi Arubi and Eoin Kenny were my men of the match. Gbemi has a real flair for goals and has all the makings of being an excellent striker in the Premier Division. He has scored in key games since the window.

His biggest goal was the one he scored against Cobh to give Dundalk a vital win against their closest rivals. Dundalk had seen their lead cut back to a single point just before that game.

The win opened up a gap again, and it's one that Cobh have failed to narrow since. Dundalk have only five games left between themselves and automatic promotion. It's still a huge mountain to climb. Anything could go wrong.

Daryl Horgan, Aodh Dervin and Ciaran Kilduff have been able to prevent their players from getting carried away. With Longford away, UCD at home, Athlone away, Finn Harps at home and Cobh away, these games stand between Dundalk and automatic promotion.

Longford may be second from bottom. But they are only five points off the playoff spots. Finn Harps have been playing very well. They beat Dundalk during the summer at Finn Park.

That was the last time Dundalk suffered a league defeat. And they have only been beaten twice. They may have hammered Athlone recently at Oriel. But in their first meeting at Oriel Dundalk just won by a single goal.

In the last game played in Athlone, the sides played out a scoreless draw. Dundalk play UCD in their next home game. Like Finn Harps, they are in the hunt for a playoff place. UCD always prove to be difficult opposition for Dundalk. That won't be any different on 26th September at Oriel.

The Finn Harps game will prove to be very difficult. Dundalk will once again be without Vinny Leonard, Eoin Kenny and Sean Spaight. They will all be away on international duty just as they were last Friday week.

Look at the difference Eoin Kenny and Vinny Leonard made to the side last Friday. Dundalk can not afford to be without any of their first-team players for the final run-in. But they will be.

The final game of the season will be against Cobh in County Cork. Dundalk fans face a 440-mile round trip if they decide to go to this game.

If Cobh are just three points behind Dundalk going into that game, then Dundalk are in some bother. However, they do have a better goal difference of plus eight at the moment.

If they can hold that difference or indeed improve on it, then they should be ok. But let's hope it does not come down to that.

Dundalk must not look over their shoulders and see what Cobh are doing. They should just look after themselves. If they can continue to do that, then they will be ok.

Ciaran Kilduff says he was delighted with the win on Friday. I spoke to him in a detailed interview after the game. "It was a bit of a dampener to concede the goal.

But Daryl came into the dressing room and lifted spirits by saying the win must be enjoyed. There is always pressure in these games. Gbemi's goals in the first half were so significant. Eoin getting the goal in the second half was something special.

Getting the first goal after nine minutes really settled the nerves. Last week, we just huffed and puffed at Wexford and failed to score in the game. We were convincing tonight.

I remember in Bray during the summer, we controlled the game. Yet we failed to score after creating numerous chances. They had two chances and got two goals. We were good tonight, and we were dominant.

We also got the goals at key moments. The only disappointment was, we could have had an even more convincing scoreline. There was a bit of confusion over the second goal, because we had it high up the pitch.

It was more frustrating that when we had it, the referee blew. When they had it, that did not happen. But Harry managed to get high up the pitch. His throw-in to Gbemi was great. He fired in a great strike, which put us two up at such a critical time.

"Eoin Kenny has had a very special week. He has played for the Northern Irish under-21s against Georgia in Georgia. His team got the draw. He was only taken off after 82 minutes. Then he comes home here on Thursday.

"Tonight, he provided a great assist for Gbemi for the first goal. Then he scores the third,16 minutes into the second half. I am delighted for him. He got a great reception tonight, as he is a great local favourite.

"With the three lads away on international duty and also knowing Daryl was not going to play, it was a very challenging week. Shane Tracey was excellent tonight. Daryl will not be back. He will be out for a few weeks with the calf muscle injury.

"Aodh Dervin is also suspended for the Longford game after getting booked tonight. We will react the same way as we did this week in our preparations for the Longford game. We will also prepare the same way. But for our final five games, it will be all about getting the best teams on the pitch as we can.

"It's never easy to go down to Longford. Myself and Ken went down there a few weeks ago for the Wexford game. Longford were very good in the first half. They had a man sent off with Wexford, then coming back strongly.

"It took an 80th minute goal here from Eoin Kenny to win the game in the first round of the league. We also fell behind to them in their last visit to Oriel, before we went on to have a convincing win. Longford have caused us problems this season. So we will have to prepare properly.

"On choosing between Peter Cherrie or Enda Minogue, we will decide on that game to game. Peter has been top class for us. He has been a safe pair of hands. It will be hard to take him out after his excellent performances in the last two games.

"Enda is only coming back from an injury. So both will be pushing each other for the number one spot. Both Enda and Peter have a great relationship. Peter has been such an amazing help to me since I arrived here.

"He loves the club. I kept him on in a coaching role. But he has, in fact, played 15 games for us now, as a result of Enda's injury. Peter is a coach and a player for me. He is also a leader in the dressing room.

"Sometimes, it may blur the lines. Tonight, he was very assured. The only disappointing thing that happened was the goal we conceded. But Peter was in no way at fault for it.

"There is a bit of tension building now, as we know we are getting very close to something. I am not feeling the pressure, nor is Ken. We are too busy with the lads. Bray was our sole focus tonight. After tonight, Longford are our sole focus."

Eoin Kenny says it was a great result against Bray. "We knew a win was so important for us. They are a top young side. We are all very pleased winning in the manner as we did.

"We were disappointed with the result against Bray in the summer. We did miss a lot of chances in that game. But the performance of Jimmy Corcoran had a huge influence on the fact that we did not score that night.

"We also gave away two cheap goals that night. All we can do now is focus on ourselves. Bray are a very good team. But we played some exciting football tonight, which is great.

"I think the fans saw us play the exciting football as well, and I hope it was nice to watch. For the first goal, Harry just saw me out on the right. He played me down the line. Gbemi has great pace.

"He was in front of the defence. Usually, I try and take a touch and try to beat my own man. But I put Gbemi straight in. It's a rare occasion that he fails to take a chance. And he scored.

"As long as we can keep up that partnership, we can keep on scoring goals. It really was key to get that first goal. We saw against Kerry how hard it is to come back from being behind.

"To go in front meant they really had to come out and attack us. Gbemi's goal also eased that little bit of tension around the whole ground.

"Gbemi's second goal was top class. The quick throw-in by Harry into the box saw Gbemi just bury the ball to the net. His left foot finish was tremendous. I think we just played with a real freedom. That's the manager's style.

"To me, the freedom is the important factor. That really helped me to enjoy tonight. For my own goal, which was the third, I was in an unnatural position on the left side.

"I played Shane in. He has great skill. His return pass took a bounce. I was able to shoot past Jimmy. Jimmy is a great keeper. I was really happy with it. The goal turned out to be a great finish.

"I was away with the Northern Ireland under twenty one team for the past week and a half. We were away on a week's training camp in England. We flew out to Georgia and drew 1-1. Georgia are second seeds in the group.

"So I think that overall we were satisfied with the result. We went behind early. But we clawed our way right back into it. I nearly played the full game.

"That was only on Tuesday. It was a great experience to see another country in international football. I was delighted and really enjoyed the week. But it also really killed me that I was not able to play last week against Wexford.

"This was the first game that I have not played in all season. I was watching it in the room with a few of the lads. I was disappointed we did not get the win.

But as far as travelling with Northern Ireland, I had a great time away. It was a marvellous experience. As far as tonight's game is concerned, it was an important result. We have five games left now.

"Without sounding boring, we just have to take each week at a time. There are by no means easy games, especially away from home. Longford have caused us problems this season.

"They have scored goals against us. The last time we played in Longford, the game was scoreless at halftime. We did go on to win three one. I have just played two games in four days. So I will just rest up for the next couple of days."

Dundalk have beaten Longford each time the sides have met this season. On 21st March, Dundalk beat Longford 2-1 in Oriel. On 26th April, it was a convincing win in Longford with a 3-0 win. The last time the sides met was at Oriel.

Dundalk won 4-1.
There was good news last week with Leo Gaxha signing an extension to his existing contract. The talented midfielder will be at Oriel again next season.

It was great to see the club host the Green Ribbon campaign in support of mental health awareness. Led by Sea Change, the campaign's primary goal is to end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health in Ireland.

Shamrock Rovers Legends will be in Dundalk on 27th September. They play Doolargy FC in a charity match at Clancy Park, with a kick-off time of 3pm in Dundalk.

The game is being played to raise funding for autism. It's in aid of its early intervention, Tullydonnell. Stephen Bradley will line out for Shamrock Rovers. The Shamrock Rovers boss is sure to draw the crowds.

Fair play to him and all the players on both sides for taking part. I have not been given any other information as to what other players are taking part.

Finally, two former Dundalk greats attracted all the headlines and attention in the top game in the Irish League at the weekend. The game between Linfield and Glentoran was played at Windsor Park.

The game finished 1-1. Chris Shields scored from the penalty spot for Linfield. Pat Hoban scored from the penalty spot for Glentoran. Hoban was also awarded Man of the Match. Stephen Kenny attended Friday night's game at Oriel Park.

Have a great week. Please be careful out there. And remember to look after each other,