The Commentary Box: Ciaran Bond will be sadly missed by all

The sporting world around Dundalk got a terrible shock at the weekend at the news of the sudden death of the former Dundalk FC chairman, Ciaran Bond. Ciaran was chairman of the club in 2012 and 2013.

He was the most forward-looking chairman the club had in the modern era. Ciaran died last Saturday night. I got to know Ciaran around 2010. He was instrumental in the club takeover from Gerry Mathews in 2012.

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Paul Browne and Andy Connolly were heavily involved in the takeover. Ciaran was appointed chairman. It was Ciaran who was determined to take Stephen Kenny to Dundalk.

Ciaran persuaded Paul Browne and Andy Connolly to go to Donegal with him and have talks with Kenny.

Ciaran would not take no for an answer to make the move for Kenny. The three drove to Donegal without even knowing whether they would be able to meet Stephen.

Well, they did meet him, and they did do a deal with him. But it would never have happened but for Ciaran Bond. That was in December 2012. In 2013, Stephen Kenny guided Dundalk to second place in the league.

In 2014, he guided them to the league title. He went on to win three other league titles and two FAI Cups. The European games will live forever in the minds of Dundalk supporters.

Media-wise, Ciaran was the most approachable chairman I ever came across. He would never refuse to do an interview. Sadly, his links with the club as chair ended after only two years.

He was a great backer of the move of Dundalk FC to the DKIT and a new stadium. Ciaran had great plans for the move. But the club decided not to go for the move. Yes, it would have cost money.

But there were grants available. The club missed out on a state of the art all seater stadium. Instead, the GAA made the move for the pitch and are now in the final development of a fantastic all-seater stadium.

Ciaran Bond was ahead of his time. It's a great pity that those around him would not listen about the viability of such a project.

I last saw Ciaran or Skinny, as he was well known as, at the Drogheda game in Oriel last Friday week. He had a huge smile on his face and said he had great confidence in manager Ciaran Kilduff.

With that, he went up the steps of the stand. I was not to know I would never see him again. Ciaran was a qualified teacher. He did not stay too long in that profession. He will be sadly missed by all.

It's been a difficult week, both on and off the pitch, for Dundalk in relation to matters. Off the pitch, Dundalk have had to deal with the coverage of the destruction of the Oriel Park astroturf surface by Drogheda United supporters last Friday week.

The story was on all the national radio stations' key programmes and in the papers. It drew widespread political condemnation by the minister for Sport, who himself was at the game in Oriel.

At one stage, Minister O'Donovan cut off funding for any astro turf project that was either pending or in progress. The reaction was understandable, such was the disgust he felt what he had witnessed in Oriel.

Opinions soon changed, and funding was freed up quickly for astro pitches. At the time of the announced ban, it only affected one astroturf project pitch that was in progress.

The damage caused to the pitch is estimated to be around 70,000 euro. Work on the damaged part was due to start yesterday, Monday and expected to finish by Friday at the latest.

Dundalk have been able to train on the non-affected area of Oriel Park and have not had to use the facilities of Muirhevnamor FC.

Manager Ciaran Kilduff was eager to move on to the team's performance on the pitch when he spoke to me after the Pats game in Inchicore.

Dundalk were beaten convincingly 4-0. But what happened at Oriel last Friday week against Drogheda can not be forgotten about.

And I know that is not what Ciaran Kilduff wants to do either. He wants everybody to learn from what I see was one of the darkest nights for League of Ireland soccer in a long time.

Drogheda have agreed to cover the costs that will cover the repair work to the pitch. Drogheda also said in a statement that some supporters involved in the trouble have already been sanctioned.

Drogheda were hit by a four-game away fan ban by the FAI. They were also hit by a travel ban on supporters going to Dundalk for the rest of the season.

But this is, in effect, just a single game as the sides will only clash in the league at Oriel just one more time. Drogheda have accepted their punishment.

They say they are currently working closely with Dundalk regarding the necessary pitch repairs. They emphasised they would be covering the full cost of the repair to the damage caused.

Drogheda say they will continue to work with the Gardai and  Dundalk during the investigation into the trouble. Drogheda say their supporters are the heartbeat of their club.

And they say they represent the overwhelming amount of people who love and support Drogheda. And they added that this is done with pride, passion and respect.

Meanwhile, the FAI have moved to bring in tougher security measures following what happened in Oriel.

Clubs applying for a licence next year must have proper CCTV systems set up in their grounds to identify possible trouble makers. They also want sniffer dogs deployed at all grounds to try and catch the pyros.

The Minister for Sport says that football fans need greater protection from yobs. He says that his focus is on the 12-year-old child that was injured by flares in Oriel.

He says that what happened at Oriel was a total violation of a health and safety protocol. He says there were absolutely zero health and safety rules attached at Oriel at the Derby game.

The minister added that it was completely reckless and was totally without precedent. He says it was only for the grace of God that nobody was injured.

Next week, he added that it could be somewhere else. The minister wants the FAI to come to the table with meaningful proposals around the health and safety of all patrons who want to go to games and enjoy them. I have a number of opinions on what is being said and what has to be done.

Firstly, Drogheda had to face some type of ban on their fans going to games. But it's idiotic to ban them from away games if they are not being banned from home games as well.

I believe that the punishment should have ended up with Drogheda playing behind closed doors at Sullivan and Lambe Park for four games.

This would really have taught supporters and the club that behaviour such as happened at Oriel is totally unacceptable.

I have no problem with the 15,000 euro fine on Drogheda either. I also want to see those behind the violence being charged and facing a court appearance.

As the week went on, it really annoyed me when I heard some people say that only a handful of people were involved in the violence.

It could clearly be seen that the rate and number of flares that were being thrown onto the pitch was large and that there was a much greater number of people involved in the pyro attacks on the new Oriel pitch.

LOITV footage should be sought by the Gardai, along with other photography taken on the night, to identify the troublemakers. It's being said that many of the flares that Dundalk supporters bring into Oriel are brought in by young children.

They can not be searched by stewards. The only people who can search them is a member of the Gardai. Thus, Gardai must be deployed now at all games throughout the year to carry out searches.

I have often heard that cannabis is smoked in the Shed, too, during games. It would be great if these people could be caught and the substances seized.

People ask how the Drogheda fans got their armament of flares into Oriel. It was either because none of the flare throwers were searched or that it was children and young people under the age of 18 who brought the flares in.

There is also another issue that must be addressed by the Dundalk board of directors. The violence at the train station, where so-called Dundalk fans attacked Drogheda supporters, was an absolute disgrace.

I've seen fresh video on social media that I did not see before. Many of those involved from the Dundalk end can clearly be seen.

Surely this must be investigated by Gardai. Anyone sanctioned by the courts for this attack should face a long ban from games at Oriel.

Dundalk as a club can not do anything about taking legal action against these people. But they can sanction them if found guilty in the courts.

For far too long, numerous owners of the club were well aware as to how Dundalk fans brought flares into Oriel. I have a feeling that security at the next game in Oriel will show a different approach to this problem. 

On the field, Dundalk crashed to their first defeat of the season at Inchicore in Dublin. They badly missed the injured Mayowa and the suspended Vinny Leonard.

Vinnie was suspended after being sent off at Tallaght yesterday week. John Ross Wilson seemed out of sorts. I do not understand why the manager did not use Sean Spaight.

He would have been a big strength to the defence, which was totally non-existent the entire night. Gbemi also did not start. Aodh Dervin seemed out of sorts for some reason. Daryl Horgan was also not the same player that usually turned up.

Pats were in front on 20 minutes when Ronald Palmer turned the ball in after a scramble in the Dundalk box. The game was over as a contest five minutes later.

Sean Hoare headed home a corner at the far post. He was totally unmarked. It was his first goal against Dundalk since he left the club four years ago.

It was Jamie Lennon's corner to the far post that found Sean Hoare for the goal. Eoin Kenny played well for Dundalk. He nearly scored midway through the half. His 29-yard effort was tipped over superbly by Joseph Anang in the Pats goal.

Pats were three up on 48 minutes. Zack Elbouzedi drove the ball to the net from a corner. It came from James Browne.

The Dundalk defence failed to clear the loose ball. Aiden Keena got Pat's fourth on 82 minutes, rifling home after a great cross from  Ardee man Kian Leavey.

Keith Buckley disappointed at midfield. He has been excellent in the opening games. Robert Cornwall and Harvey Wilson were also disappointing at centre half.

The manager made five changes from the team that drew against Shamrock Rovers. Dundalk looked very tired at times. Pats played with such strong intensity. Dundalk could just not hold them.

There was nearly 4,600 supporters at the game. There was a terrific atmosphere. Last time I was in Inchicore, all I could hear was the group The Monkeys singing Cheer Up Sleepy Jean. That song has disappeared into the vaults of time, at least when Dundalk play there in future.

Conor Kearns was in goal. The two full-backs were Robert Burns and John Ross Wilson. Two centre halves, Rob Cornwall and Harvey Warren. Midfield Aodh Dervin, Daryl Horgan, Keith Buckley, Tyreke Wilson and Eoin Kenny. Striker Danny Mullen.

Sub Conor O'Keeffe for Robert Cornwall.Gbemi Arubo for T Wilson, Harry Groome for Keith Buckley, Ronan Teahan for  Aodh Dervin, Declan McDaid for Eoin Kenny.

Next Friday is a massive game for Dundalk. They play Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park. If Dundalk are to avoid getting into a battle at the bottom, they must beat teams like Galway.

Galway pulled three points clear of Dundalk when they beat Sligo in a massive game for both teams. Despite Friday's defeat by Pats I think Dundalk can get the points in the west on Friday.

I spoke to Ciaran Kilduff after the game. He said he was very disappointed after the result. "It's been a tough week for us, obviously. We had the draw in Oriel last Friday, followed by the draw in Tallaght.

We did make a really good account of ourselves tonight. We were really just not able to stay at those energy levels.

It felt like our intensity levels, so soon after us being in the Premier Division, may have been affected, especially against a team like Pat's, who have such high intensity levels.

There were goals which were very disappointing. Vinnie Leonard was missing badly at times tonight. We are still trying to figure out our teams. Obviously, Vinnie has been excellent.

Conor O'Keefe is just coming back, and we were missing Mayowa again through injury. That's no disrespect to the lads who came in tonight. They were just thrown in.

Even Harvey has been thrown in, as he was suspended for the first two games. Rob has also been thrown into the deep end, even though he has played a number of minutes already.

"JR has just played three matches at this intensity, which he has not done for a year and a half. Tonight was the end of our honeymoon period in terms of this league being so unforgiving.

I have a feeling that we may have some other tough nights coming down the line. They are not planned for. We wanted to come here and try win the game. But we were far away from doing it.

That was not the objective. It was to be on the front foot and to be aggressive. I thought we did that for the first ten to fifteen minutes. But we gave away some soft goals.

We are coming after teams. That approach happened on Monday against Rovers. It dropped down a gear tonight. It was not done intentionally. We just could not sustain our usual levels and the way we wanted to play. They had the quality to hurt us.

"Mayowa is close to returning, Luke Mulligan does have a bit to go as well. Vinnie only had the one-game suspension to serve. But he has a little bit of a niggle as well. Leo Gaxha is not that far away.

I think he will be back to full training in the next week as well. I hope Vinny will be back for the Galway game. He has had an issue with his leg. He is getting medical care.

He is just making sure that he will be fit for Friday. The Galway game next Friday is a six-pointer for us. We have a couple of games coming up that we will be approaching with full focus.

The reality is that we were exposed a little bit for our shortcomings with the intensity of this Division. Three games in a week was a lot.

It was not planned like this. We probably just struggled a bit with this game and the Rovers game on Monday coming so soon after each other.

"The attention in the national media the club got over the past week because of what happened in the Drogheda game had no effect on us at all. It's long forgotten about for me.

We have been hearing about it, and it has turned into a bit of a saga. But as I said on Monday in Tallaght, we were just happy to be in our bubble, having games to distract us.

I made my point clear on the flare incident at the time. It should never have happened. It can not happen again. We are training in Oriel despite the damage that was done to the Carrickmacross end.

The repair work on the affected area will be done in the coming week. The pitch should be fully repaired by the middle of next week.

"I signed another keeper this week because Conor Kearns is on loan. When we play Shelbourne, we will only be left with one available goalkeeper. There is the reckoning that he may become our first team keeper at some stage.

But we are only seeing him in training at the moment" When asked about the possibility of a Peter Cherrie return. The manager smiled and said Peter will always be around.

Thus, can I take it that Cherrie may yet return as he did last year. I have a sneaking suspicion the manager will call on the popular Scot to return if things begin to get really tough.

Dundalk skipper Daryl Horgan told me he was very disappointed after the result in Inchicore. "Yes, it was very disappointing. There is not too much to say except that it was so disappointing.

There were moments out there tonight where we have to be better. Moments are what have killed us today. There was some good stuff from us as there will always be.

But there were moments where, instead of fixing them, they were allowed to fester. On another night, we could have scored a number of goals. The name of the game is this the level we are at now. And we must take our chances when they come.

"We must move on. We have got 32 more games left. We can not just sit down and feel sorry for ourselves. We must get up and be ready for next Friday. Next week's game is important.

But our games are all important. You get the same three points for a win in every game. We need to take the learnings out of that game tonight. They were so clinical. Pat's were good, and we were off it.

So it may have looked different than it was. But look, Pat's are a very good team. But all the teams are good. It's a very competitive league. We know that we must be at it 100 per cent for every single game. We were just off it today.

"The incidents at Oriel against Drogheda had no effect on us whatsoever tonight. That will be solved by people who are way beyond us. Personally, I was very disappointed with the incidents.

It was a case of a couple who spoiled it for the majority. It was a great game. The amount of damage that was done is heartbreaking. What can you say. It was vandalism.

But there is nothing I can do about it. I just have to wait and see what is going to happen from above. Hopefully, it will be sorted. And that there will be learnings in the future.

Former Dundalk manager and now Pats boss Stephen Kenny says that before the game with his side, Dundalk have had a great start to the season.

He told me that the Oriel Park side were so unlucky not to win two of their three opening games in the league. I suggested to the former Dundalk boss that he must be really proud at the way his son has progressed so well in the past 12 months.

Stephen said that he doesn't get much of a chance to see Eoin play as his games are on at the same time.

"But I think Ciaran Kilduff has done an excellent job with Eoin. Ciaran has done a brilliant job at Dundalk overall. Getting that team promoted and now competing at the top level, Ciaran has been great.

Eoin is learning from great professionals like Daryl Horgan. Daryl is a phenomenal professional. So if Eoin listens to Daryl, he is going to go a long way.

"I do get a chance to see Eoin, of course, on occasions. I was at the game in Tallaght last Monday, when Dundalk were playing Shamrock Rovers.

If he listens to Daryl, he will be fine. Daryl has 17 caps for the Irish senior team. I gave him a few of those. Daryl is an incredible player.

"It's magnificent to see Dundalk back in the Premier Division. I was really thrilled to see that. I was delighted. Absolutely delighted. The fact that Eoin was in that team made it so special for me.

And I was really delighted that Ciaran Kilduff was the manager. He was a special player for me when I was boss at Dundalk. He scored some of the most high-profile goals.

Ciaran is brilliant. I think he has a great future ahead of him as manager. And it was great to see Daryl captain the team that got promoted.

"I will, of course, be keeping an eye on Dundalk over the season. And do not forget, we must play them another three times at least this season. Dundalk will do well this season. Do not worry about that.

Even tonight, although Pats won 4-0, Dundalk had a lot of efforts. They have a lot of good attacking players. Their four front players are very good. I have seen Eoin playing for the Northern Ireland under 21 team in Belfast.

Eoin was born at the Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry. He played with Foyle Harps in Derry when I was managing Derry City. When we came to Dundalk, he played with Rock Celtic. My other son, Fionn, played with Quay Celtic.

"Anyway, they have a lot of really good players in Dundalk. And the supporters need not worry. They will be fine this season."

Have a great week. Look after yourself and your loved ones. And please be careful out there.