Kilduff left with mixed feelings after Dundalk draw in Galway

Dundalk FC manager Ciaran Kilduff admitted to mixed feelings after his side shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

The Lilywhites, still searching for their first win of the campaign, took the lead in the opening half through Gbemi Arubi. Galway, however, struck twice before the hour mark to turn the contest in their favour, before Bobby Burns salvaged a late point for Kilduff’s side with a goal against his former club.

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Dundalk may feel the opportunity to claim all three points slipped from their grasp, though there was also relief in avoiding defeat — a result that would have left them in the bottom two of the Premier Division after five games.

“It’s a strange one to dissect,” commented Kilduff. “I think going in at half-time, we felt like we’d dealt with a lot of their aerial threat quite well and things like that.

“But we spoke at half-time about what was coming and about maybe weathering a storm, and we didn’t do that. We conceded from probably a long ball centrally that we didn’t deal with very well, and then from a set piece, which is very frustrating for us as a group.

“But I suppose to respond and find a way back — I think we hit the post there and then had a couple of half chances where we probably could have snatched it. We’ll just have to take the point and move on.

“They reacted and then we obviously reacted. The subs coming on for us made a huge impact as well. But look, it was difficult. It was a difficult pitch to manage at times for both teams.”

The draw in Galway marked Dundalk’s fourth stalemate in five matches. While they were denied victories by late equalisers in their opening two fixtures against Derry City and Drogheda United, Kilduff’s side have shown a measure of resilience in recent weeks, scoring late levellers themselves in draws with Shamrock Rovers and, again, in Galway.

“We’re probably finding a way not to lose games, which is a good trait. We picked up a late point in Tallaght and picked one up there again after falling behind.

“But we’re disappointed, obviously, to have thrown away a leading position that we had. I suppose there’s probably more disappointment and frustration than anything else.

“Both teams were huffing and puffing and it looked like something could happen at any moment. I think it was probably a good game for the neutrals — probably not for the supporters of both teams — because it was on a knife edge.

“We’ve come up to this division and we’ve scored a lot of goals already, but we’re probably disappointed with the ones we’re coughing up and conceding.

“It probably cost us a little bit tonight as well, especially that period just after half-time where we’ve gone from leading the game to suddenly finding ourselves chasing it. That’s probably just not good enough and I suppose that leads to frustration.”

While each point gathered contributes to Dundalk’s early-season bid to keep clear of trouble, Kilduff will be keen to see his side begin converting draws into victories. An opportunity presents itself on Friday night when bottom-of-the-table Waterford visit Oriel Park (kick-off, 7:45pm).

“We’ve picked up a lot of points on the road, but look, we want more than that. We came down here hoping to get ourselves into a position to win the game, and that’s the next step for us.

“As I said, we’ll take the point and bring it back to Dundalk. But obviously the objective was three points, so we probably fell a little bit short tonight. We’ve another game next week and a three-game week after that as well, so hopefully we’ll pick up some more points there and do everything right to make sure we achieve that.”