The Commentary Box: Dundalk must focus on Derry game

I have never known the weather to hit a start to Dundalk's season. We were all looking forward to the start of Dundalk's return to the Premier Division. This was for the game against Shamrock Rovers at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin on Friday night.

But the east and north-east coast had been hit by incessant rain for thirteen days in a row. I knew that if it continued, this game would not go ahead. Then on Thursday, we were hit by a storm of 24 hours continuous rain.

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There was no way a pitch would survive rain like this. Tallaght Stadium has one of the best, if not the best, pitch surfaces in the country.

The first supporters were alerted to the fact that the game was in doubt came, when it was announced on Virgin Media Sport on Thursday night during the rugby that there would be a pitch inspection at Tallaght Stadium the next day at 11 am.

Virgin Media Sport said they would show the Derry City v Sligo Rovers game instead if the Dundalk game was called off. Well, a pitch inspection was held last Friday, and the game was called off. Parts of the pitch had large puddles of water on it.

It was clear that the game would not be allowed to go ahead. It was the most sensible decision. I had told a friend of mine I did not see it going ahead with the continuous rain three days before it was due to go ahead.

Fair play to the powers that be and the two clubs involved. By six pm on Friday evening, the announcement came that the game had been rescheduled for Monday, 23rd July. Kick off is at 8pm in Tallaght Stadium.

In one way, it was good news for Dundalk. Vinnie Leonard will be fit by then. He has missed the pre -season through injury. He has a quad problem. Centre half Harvey Warren is serving a two-match ban.

This was after he was sent off in the promotion play-off for Bray against Waterford last season. Those two games will be served by then, as Dundalk will have played Derry City and Drogheda United before the Rovers game.

I remember a few years ago when Dundalk played Sligo Rovers in the Setanta Cup final at the Tallaght Stadium, there was a rain storm. It came during the game. The pitch was destroyed as it was cut up so badly.

Why the referee did not abandon the game, I will never know. Jerseys for both teams had to be replaced twice as they were covered in muck. In the end, the referee allowed the game to continue.

Sligo deservedly won the game. How the grounds staff in Tallaght were able to repair the pitch, I will never know. It did come back to the great pitch it is today, within a matter of a few weeks.

So Ciaran Kilduff must bring his players down from the tension and highs of looking forward to their debut return to the Premier Division. Now the manager must focus on the Derry City game next Friday at the Brandywell.

So Dundalk will make their debut return to the Premier Division against a team they have always had a good record against. In the past couple of years, that has changed.

It was Derry who put Dundalk out of their misery in 2024 and relegated them. Derry are the richest club in the country. They have brought in 10 new players and have let as many go in the close season.

They have already won the President's Cup, beating Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght. They beat Sligo Rovers by two goals to one on Friday night in their opening league game of the season at the Brandywell.

They struggled badly in the first half and went in one-nil down at the break. But they came back in the second half and got two goals to win the game. Sligo made the fatal mistake of playing five at the back in the second half.

They allowed Derry to have the freedom of the Brandywell.In the end, they conceded two late goals. It was heartbreak for Sligo, as Derry snatched all three points at the end.

The Derry media were in full flow as the game started. One said that the league was split into three. They said the top teams were Derry City, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne.

These, he said, were the clubs with the money and were well ahead of the other clubs. In the mid-table region, he named Bohemians, Pats, Drogheda and Sligo Rovers. He named the bottom three as Dundalk, Waterford and Galway.

I find this insulting, and the Derry media man may yet have to eat his words. Derry have not won the league since 1996. Their owner, Philip O'Doherty, has poured no end of money into the club. They have failed to win the league.

This season they will have to spend about six weeks at Celtic Park GAA grounds in Derry as a new grass pitch designed on the way the one at the Aviva is made for the Brandywell.

It will be the best playing surface in the country. But they play their first four home games and more at the Brandywell.

The four games are all in a row, on Friday night, the Derry media man said the owner had put so much into the club that nothing but winning a league title will do this year for him.

He said that Philip Doherty wants the league title. Well, this person should look at the way their owner's money has been wasted so far, as they have failed to win the league title in the seven years he has owned the club.

Derry only really impressed in the last fifteen minutes of the game on Friday. It will take them time to gel, and they will.

But the way some of their media have looked at Dundalk as a bottom club and relegation candidates is very insulting to a club that have usually come out on top against them.

The Derry media have shown an arrogance about Dundalk. I certainly do hope Ciaran Kilduff engrains this into his side and use it against Derry on Friday. They must make this a real sporting battle. It's the battle of the Foyle in Derry.

Can Dundalk even get a draw? I think they can. Dundalk can become a force in the League of Ireland. But it will take time. The Derry supporters are some of the most decent in the league. But when they turn against you, they really turn against you.

If Dundalk can frustrate them on Friday night, they will turn on their team. Dundalk could actually get a result. The banter between Dundalk and Derry supporters is always good.

But there is a group of youths who live in an area near the Brandywell. A number of years ago, they attacked the Dundalk FC official supporters club official bus with rocks and missiles. There were injuries.

Since then, Dundalk do not run an official supporters bus to the Brandywell. This is very sad.

I remember another night when a young boy from Dundalk was hit over the head by this outside gang. He was looked after very well by Derry City and their doctor.

I remember another time when I was commentating in the Brandywell. An elderly man turned around to me in the stand.

He told me to shut up and called me a Free State. I was incensed with his comment. But I continued my commentary to the end. Dundalk hammered Derry.

I remember another incident when Kenny Shields was the Derry manager. We were in his office, and he was doing a post-match press conference. Dundalk had knocked Derry out of the cup after a replay.

Kenny was not happy with the referee and also made a reference to a Dundalk player. I brought what he said up with him. He was not happy with the question. He asked me who I was. I told him.

He said he did not know me and asked that I be removed from the office where the press conference was. I was duly removed. I had done nothing wrong. All I did done was just ask him to do was clarify what he had said about a Dundalk player.

To be fair, he did clarify what he had said I was happy with that. He said he was not saying anything against the Dundalk player. But I was led out of the press room.

I like the Derry media. They also have the best club Media Officer in the country by far. I hope Friday's game goes off well without incident.

But Ciaran Kilduff can motivate his players by proving to the media that they are not one of the worst teams in the country. That's what the Dublin and Derry media are saying.

Vinnie Leonard has yet to sign a contract with any  UK club as his 18th birthday approaches. The Dundalk centre-half still has clubs chasing him.

It looked as if he was going for a 700,000 euro transfer fee to Norwich late Tuesday night as the deadline came close. Then he got a call from Fulham late in the night. It has made him think again what club he will opt for.

Until Vinnie decides, his move will be delayed. Wherever he goes, the club will get 700,000 euro plus add-ons. Vinnie will also get a lot out of the deal. Whatever happens, he will be with Dundalk until July at least.

The Dundalk FC Supporters Trust held their AGM last Tuesday night. The members were told that 100,000 euro was collected by the Trust through members joining the organisation.

The Trust paid 70,000 euro to Dundalk before Christmas. This allowed Dundalk FC draw down the grant money for the new artificial pitch and the new flood lighting system.

Work on the pitch is complete. Work on the flood lighting is now all but complete. Chairman Gerry Lennon has called on the Dundalk public to get involved in the Trust.

The Trust always needs more members. The money given will be used for infrastructural projects at Oriel as more grants become available.

I think the trust has in many saved Dundalk this season. The money they had was invaluable for the club to get a licence. The people in charge of the Trust, however, can not afford to rest on their laurels.

They must relaunch a new financial drive for members. They must also get in contact with existing members.

As it is, the supporters of the club, I am sure, would be prepared to contribute more finances. They must be approached directly by the people at the top of the Trust.

The death took place last Wednesday of  Danny Hale, a great Dundalk goal-scoring legend in the mid 1960's. Danny was a striker for Dundalk in the great 1966-7 league-winning team.

It was the Alan Fox team that stormed the league and won Dundalk their first title since 1933. Danny scored over 300 senior goals during an illustrious career.

Born in Waterfoot County, Antrim in 1841, Hales 13 season career was defined by clinical finishing and record-breaking achievements at five of Ireland's most prominent clubs.

He was an amateur international for the north. Danny played for Cliftonville, Glentoran, Crusaders, Dundalk, Derry City and Ards.

Cliftonville paid tributes to Danny on Friday. He was a former captain for Cliftonville. The current club captain is Danny's grandson, Rory Hale.

He broke down in tears in Saturday's Irish Cup after he took the free that put a Cliftonville player through to score the winner and put them through to the quarter final of the cup. Another of Danny's grandsons, Ronan, was also a star in the Irish League.

Crusaders expressed profound sadness on Danny's death. He was inducted into the club hall of fame in 2023.

He scored 153 goals for Crusaders. The season before he arrived at Oriel Park, Danny got 55 goals for Crusaders. It remains a club record for a single season.

Danny joined Dundalk in1966. He was the spearhead of the historical 1966/67 treble-winning side. His side won the Shield, the League and the Top Four competition. He scored 26 goals for Dundalk that season.

The following season, Danny helped Dundalk to qualify for Europe again by ensuring they came second in the league title. He departed Dundalk for Derry City in the summer of 1968.

They were playing in the Irish League at that time. He scored 45 goals in all competitions for Derry in the 1968/69 season. In three seasons with Derry City, he scored more than 100 goals.

Danny maintained close contact with the game after his retirement and played a strong role in Newington. He took on the job of temporary coach and later became honorary President of the club.

Dundalk, in a statement,  said that they were deeply saddened by the death of Danny. He won the Dundalk FC club Player of the Year award in 1967.

During his two-year spell at Dundalk, he scored 43 goals in 81 appearances. He finished his playing career with Ards. And as I said, he retired with over 300 career goals to his name.

I am proud to say that I remember seeing Danny play with Dundalk as a very small child. I remember seeing him scoring for Dundalk in the Donegan Cup at the Lourdes stadium.

This was an annual competition played between Dundalk and Drogheda once a year. The competition finally disappeared. Decades later, the Jim Malone Cup appeared.

It is played in memory of the former Dundalk chairman, who was instrumental in getting Drogheda United's application for league membership in the early 1960's ratified.

Danny Hale was a player who had all the skills Pat Hoban has. I have no doubt that Danny would have broken Joey Donnolly's record that Pat eventually beat.

Sadly, another former Dundalk player died at the age of 71 on Saturday evening. It was Damian Byrne, who only stayed at the club from August 1974 to the end of November 1974.

Damian's stay at Oriel Park always stands out clearly in my mind. He scored twice against Home Farm at Tolka Park at the end of November. It was the first game Jim McLoughlin had taken charge of the Oriel Park side.

I was just a kid and was in the Lourdes hospital in Drogheda. I remember my dad calling to the Lourdes hospital on his way home to Dundalk to tell me about Damian scoring and how happy Jim McLaughlin was to get off to such a good start in his job.

Two days before this, the Old Dundalk Shopping Centre was opened by Gay Byrne. It's long since gone and has been replaced by a large Tecso store. Damian was signed by John Smith for Dundalk.

Caretaker manager Peter Watson had Damian under his charge. When McLaughlin took over, Damian was gone by the end of November 1974. He spent 20 years as a player in total, playing for a number of clubs.

Damian started with Home Farm and spent three years there. In 1974, he was only a few months at Dundalk before he went to Drogheda.

Damian spent nine seasons with Drogheda. He made 214 appearances for the Boynesiders. He scored 43 goals for them. Damian was moved from his striker's role while at Drogheda to playing centre half.

He excelled in his new position. Damian moved to Ards of the Irish League in 1975. spent three seasons there. He made 47 appearances for the Irish League club.

In 1987, he joined Shamrock Rovers. He only made three appearances for the Hoops before he moved to Pats also in 1987.

He stayed with the Inchicore club until 1993. He made 109 appearances for Pats and scored twice for them. Damian made 451 appearances for clubs in total and scored 61 goals.

He took Drogheda to their first FAI Cup final. They were beaten. Damian also captained Pats in 1990 and led them to their first league title in 35 years.

He also led Pats to winning the Leinster Senior Cup in the same season. Damian was a terrific player, with his career spanning three decades. He also won the Soccer Writers Personality of the Year Award in 1990.

Realistically, Derry should beat Dundalk next Friday night. They started their league campaign with a win and also beat Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght in the President's Cup.

Dundalk have yet to play a competitive game. That's what will make this game so difficult. Derry have 10 new players in their squad. Four of them started against Sligo.

While Derry are the richest club in the country, Dundalk are one of the clubs that do not actually have much money gathering dust.

But we have to be just thankful we even have a club, seeing the state it was in, not even two years ago. This is why I would appeal to any supporters who are not in the Trust yet to join.

Bohemians and Derry attracted a crowd of over 21,000 to their game at the Aviva. The idea by Bohemians to opt for the Aviva was a massive success.

Last season, the two clubs met four times in the league. The games were split equally between Inchicore and Dalymount. The total crowd from the four games was 19,000.

I am really looking forward to returning to the Brandywell next Friday night. I really will have something to say to the Derry media. Have a great week. Look after yourself and each other. And remember to please be careful out there.