The Commentary Box: I have a major concern about the Dundalk defence

Dundalk went into the west last Friday night and came away with a point. They scored late to level. But they could also have won it, coming close right at the death. They led this game from an early first half goal.

But early in the second half, they were guilty of surrendering their lead to gift Galway two goals. When Dundalk were good, they were very good. When they were poor, they were very poor.

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I have a major concern about the Dundalk defence. For the second game in a row, they were, at times, all over the place. They gifted Galway their goals. Midfield was good and bad at times.

Daryl Horgan was my man of the match. I thought he was superb. Once again, he rolled back the years. He caused the Galway defence no end of trouble down the wing. Eoin Kenny was also top class at centre midfield for the length of time he was on.

Gbemi Arubi was another player who was top-class. He scored Dundalk's first goal. I do not know why he was replaced with 20 minutes remaining, as he always seemed to be the only player who could create a goal out of nothing.

Vinnie Leonard was so badly missing at centre half, as was Mayowa Mayowa, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury picked up in the opening league game of the season against Derry City.

Vinnie has missed the last two games. He was suspended for the Pats game eight days ago.

On Friday, Vinnie was out as a result of a bug he picked up. The two central defenders are key to stabilising the Dundalk defence. That just was not there on Friday. Ronan Teahan had a good game for Dundalk.

He is a great prospect in midfield for Dundalk. He sliced open the Galway defence at will. But the defence remains a major cause for concern. They are continuously finding the highball into the box, very difficult to deal with.

Goalkeeper Conor Kearns continues to punch the ball clear when it comes into the box. Instead, I would rather like to see him catching it.

When he has to clear the ball with his foot, he seems to just put it in the same place on the pitch. The on-loan Shelbourne keeper does not inspire me with a whole lot of confidence.

He has conceded goals in the five league games to date. To be fair to Conor, he was by no means responsible for all goals. Anything but.

However, he seems to be part of contributing to the instability to what is a very porous defence. Dundalk have taken the lead in some of their games.

But they have been hauled back on occasions by the concession of very soft goals. The team is putting all of its energy into scoring. The lead is quickly taken from them by the concession of an easy goal.

Ciaran Kilduff must tighten this defence up considerably and now. Conor O'Keeffe was pushed into the centre-half spot from the start. It did not really work out for him. He was much better when he was played out to full back.

Rob Cornwall also was not at his best at centre half for the second game in a row. He is a very talented player and can do much better. Bobby  Burns and JR Wilson were effective enough at full back.

Dary Horgan, Ronan Teahan and Eoin Kenny were superb. Aodh Dervin was not his usual effective self in the centre of midfield. Bobby Burns was excellent as an attacking full-back.

Gbemi Arubi was so inventive and good while on the pitch. He combined so well with Daryl Horgan. One of these moves led to his goal.

Ciaran Kilduff made three changes in the 70th minute of the second half, and it worked. At that time, Dundalk were behind. Aodh Dervin was replaced by Declan McDaid. Eoin Kenny was replaced by Danny Mullen.

Gbemi Arubi was replaced by Harry Groome. Dundalk really upped their game after that. They levelled and were very unlucky not to win it at the death. I can not understand why the manager did not use Sean Spaight.

He is an underage player. But he is a highly talented player. I think he could do better in defence than some of the defenders he has. Another player who has the talent to do well is TJ Molloy.

The manager is very impressed with his recent goalkeeping signing. He says he is impressing in training. Is Ciaran Kilduff thinking of bringing in the new keeper? As his number one. I don't know.

Of course, Enda Minogue is the number two keeper. I just do not see him being used as a number one. But maybe he will be.

Would Kilduff do the unthinkable and bring Peter Cherrie back again? I do not think so. He will rightly back his current keeper and see how he settles in the next few games.

But Kilduff has to sort out the defence. It is gifting goals. His defence must become like Fort Knox. Nobody must be able to get past it.

And Dundalk must also stop developing a habit of going back into their shell and letting teams come at them, once they lead. On Friday, no sooner had Dundalk gone in front than Galway began to get a grip on the game.

The concession of two early second-half goals was a disaster. I was far from impressed at the way Galway were able to get back into the game.

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson was an interesting spectator at Eamonn Deacy Park. Fair play to the Irish manager for going out to see League of Ireland games.

Stephen Kenny did when he was boss. Very few, if any, before Stephen Kenny bothered.

Galway enjoyed the early exchanges. But to be fair to Dundalk, they grew stronger as the game moved on. There was a good move between Kenny and Horgan. It just failed to work out.

This Dundalk team have made a habit of giving away some silly frees near the box. And they did that again on Friday night throughout the game. Dundalk controlled the first 20 minutes of the game and looked very good at times.

They took the lead on 12 minutes. Daryl Horgan once again rolled back the years with a great run to the byline. He put in a great cross. Gbemi Arubi met the ball with his head.

It was a glancing header that left the Galway keeper in no-man's land. Once Arubi got his head to the ball. It ended up in the left-hand corner of the net. Conor O'Keeffe gave away a silly free on the edge of the Dundalk box minutes later.

Aodh Dervin then had a good effort. It was only inches away. Jimmy Keohane was put in a corner on the left. Conor Kearns punched the ball away. He should have caught it.

Eoin Kenny was having a good game at midfield. He managed to break through the Galway defence. His effort finished with a weak effort at the Galway keeper.

Dundalk were playing into a strong breeze. But they were the better team in the first half. But the game took a turn in favour of Galway when Kris Twardek came on as a substitute.

He immediately caused the Dundalk defence a lot of trouble. The team were on the back foot until the break.

Twardek again really caused Dundalk a lot of trouble in the early stages of the second half. Placed on the wing, he was causing Dundalk a lot of trouble. Galway levelled on 51 minutes.

A terrible mistake by Conor O'Keefe allowed Stephen Walsh in. There was always only going to be one outcome. The Galway man easily put the ball past Conor Kearns and into the net. This goal should never have happened. Dundalk were also allowing Galway to come at them. They seemed to be sitting back. Dundalk had lost the ball on the halfway line. The Dundalk defence and the midfield went missing at this critical period. Galway were in front four minutes later. They won a free on the left-hand edge of the box. Jimmy Keohane put the cross in on the left. Kris Twardek totally unmarked headed home. It was no surprise. Dundalk were completely out of it.

But the game took another twist when Ciaran Kilduff made three changes with 20 minutes remaining. On came Declan McDaid, Harry Groome and  Danny Mullen. Dundalk pushed Galway back in the last 18 minutes of the game.

Daryl Horgan pumped in a great corner on the left, and the ball was cleared out to Bobby Burns. He shot home from 18 yards. Dundalk deserved their equaliser.

Danny Mullen was very unlucky not to get a winner when his header came back off the crossbar. That was the last real chance of the game, and it ended in a one-all draw.

The result left Dundalk with four points from their opening five games. They should have more points on the board. They should have beaten Galway on Friday night. It was two points thrown away, not one gained.

On Friday night, they play Waterford at home. Waterford may be behind Dundalk. But believe me, they are a good team. They were beaten at home by Bohemians by one goal to nil.

Bohs goal was very bizarre. It was a case of bizarre and bad goalkeeping. Dundalk are well capable of getting the points. Let's wait and see what happens. But Waterford will be a serious challenge.

Ciaran Kilduff says they spoke about the aerial threats that were coming into the Dundalk box at halftime.

"We did not deal with the long ball for the first goal, nor the set piece, which is very frustrating. We could have snatched it near the end. We hit the post. We will take the point and move on.

"They reacted to our goal and went ahead, and then we reacted and got the equaliser. It was a difficult pitch for both sides. We are finding a good trait of not losing games.

"We did the same in Tallaght. But we are disappointed to have given away a lead after we went 1-0 up.

"Both teams were huffing and puffing throughout the game, and anything could have happened at any time. The game was on a knife-edge for the neutrals. But both sides really wanted to win the game.

"That period just after half-time was just not good enough. We conceded two goals. We have picked up points on the road. We have to work on that.

"Our next two games are at home. We will be looking for two wins. It will not be easy. But we will be determined to get six points from the two games."

The manager recognises the same problems that I am talking about. Kris Twardek's goal should never have happened. A free comes in from the right-hand edge of the box. Twardek is left totally unmarked.

He had the simplest of tasks to score. Dundalk had been leading the game. In the space of a few minutes, they were behind. There were no defenders marking Twardek.

Where was the goalkeeper? He should have stopped the ball in the air before Twardek got it. But he did not. Nor did any defenders. It was a nightmare of a goal to give away.

It meant that Dundalk were chasing the game for most of the second half. When they should have been looking for a lead again.

Bobby Burns' goal near the end was so good. The way Horgan slipped the ball to him from the corner kick, and the way Burns struck it. It was simply sublime.

It gave the Galway keeper no chance at all. And fair play to Dundalk. They were very unlucky not to win it near the end when Danny Mullen hit the crossbar.

On Saturday night, Sligo Rovers showed their true potential with an excellent 2-1 win over Drogheda. Sligo were excellent.

Most pundits have Sligo down as relegation candidates. Well, after Saturday night, maybe they should think again. I can see this Sligo team move up the table quickly enough.

It was their first league win of the season. They are second from the bottom. Dundalk have the same points as Sligo but have a better goal difference. Waterford and Dundalk are the only teams who have yet to win a league game this season.

Dundalk have only lost one. But the draws, which give only a single point, are killing them. And if Waterford were to win on Friday, Dundalk will drop to bottom place. I think Dundalk will get the win against Waterford. But it will not be easy.

Dundalk then face Sligo at home. This will be one everyone is expecting a home win. I am not so sure Ryan O'Kane will be returning to his old home venue. I am sure he will have mixed feelings about the game.

But of course, he will be out to help Sligo get the points. He played a pivotal role in helping Sligo knock Dundalk out of the cup last season. They won 2-0. I remember Ciaran Kilduff after that game being so disappointed at being beaten.

He was hoping Dundalk would get a good run in the competition. I felt it was best they were out of it,t so they could concentrate on promotion. I was right. But I could really understand the manager's disappointment.

Jon Daly returns to Oriel for the first time since he was in charge of the Dundalk team that were relegated in 2024. Jon was in no way responsible for Dundalk going down. They would have gone down anyway, as they were in such serious financial difficulty. They possibly might not have even survived in football were it not for the rescue package put together to save the club by John Temple and the FAI.

In that terrible season of 2024, Dundalk had four managers and four goalkeepers. Whatever about managers, the goalkeepers that year were very poor. They contributed to Dundalk's poor form, which led to them being relegated.

But it was the people who ran the club as successive owners in the preceding years before John Temple that must bear some of the responsibility of getting the club into serious financial difficulty up to the time they were relegated in 2024.

But for Chris Clinton in season 2024, Dundalk could have gone to the wall as well. Thus, there were heroes behind the scenes who helped Dundalk to survive in 2024 and 2025. And there are heroes today. The supporters are also the real heroes.

Prior to 2024, Dundalk FC should never have been ebbing closer and closer to bankruptcy. It was. But all of that is for another day.

I have to remember when I make criticisms of the current team that this club has been built back from nothing into a Premier Division club. A lot of people have helped make this happen.

One man that has brought Premier Division football back to Oriel in such a quick time is Ciaran Kilduff. I might have differences of opinion with him this season. That's football. We all have differences of opinion.

But when it comes down to everything, I have to say that Dundalk are so lucky to have a talented manager who has brought Dundalk back from the abyss.

In one season, we are back in the Premier Division. He has had to build a new team two years in a row. And he is working very understandably on a much tighter budget than most other clubs.

Kilduff knows how to read the game so well. He knows the right players to sign. He knows how to put a cohesive team together. But he is facing a looming dilemma.

If his defence continues to leak goals, what does he do? The  Dundalk defence just simply can't continue to do this. He will take action. I have no doubt. But he must do sooner rather than later.

Dundalk's new pitch has been fully restored to the right standard. This was after the significant damage that was done to it against Drogheda three weeks ago.

Drogheda have agreed to pay the repair bill, which is believed to have run to around 70,000 euro. But security must be tight at Oriel for the Waterford game.

There will have to be searches that are effective for both Waterford and Dundalk supporters for this game. Gardai are the only people that are legally able to search the younger supporters.

The older supporters who want the fireworks brought in give them to the younger supporters, as they know they will not be searched. This stops on Friday night.

Dundalk supporters said goodbye to one of their great chairmen of the club last Thursday. Ciaran Bond passed away suddenly last Saturday week. His wake took place at his home on the Avenue Road in Dundalk on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ciaran's funeral mass took place in the Redemptorist Church last Thursday. His burial took place in Dowdallshill cemetery. Over the three days, there was a big turnout by Dundalk supporters and Ciaran's friends and, most importantly, his family.

I wish to extend my sympathy to Ciaran's family, who have suffered a huge loss. May Ciaran rest in peace.

Get up to Oriel on Friday night to support Dundalk. Vinnie Leonard will return. This game against Waterford is a critical match.

I hope you all have a safe and happy week. Please be careful out there. And look after yourselves and each other.