The Commentary Box: Dundalk were by far the better team

Dundalk got their first win in the Premier Division since they were promoted with a resounding 5-0 win over Waterford at Oriel Park on Friday night. Last time Dundalk got a win in the Premier Division was in May 2024.

They beat Drogheda United 4-2 at Oriel Park. Jon Daly was the manager that night for Dundalk. Ironically, he was Waterford's manager on Friday night.

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Dundalk's scorers on the night were Ronan Teahan on the half hour, Declan McDaid on 42 minutes, Daryl Horgan on 86 minutes and two goals from substitute Eoin Kenny on 90 minutes and seven minutes into injury time.

But the game was marred by a horrific injury to Dundalk keeper Conor Kearns on 77 minutes. Kearns came out of his goal to the edge of his box as he tried to narrow the options for Padraig Amond.

When I saw him come out so far, I knew he was in trouble positionally. But that all blurred into insignificance when the Dundalk keeper fell to the ground.

He had picked up an injury to his knee. He badly dislocated it. It was a purely freak accident. He fell awkwardly as he seemed to pull something in his leg.

Whatever caused him to fall, Conor was in terrible agony. Nobody pushed him. As I say, it was a freak accident that could happen to anybody. The medics were out quickly, and one could see the situation was very serious.

The incident happened on 77 minutes. The game was delayed for 17 minutes. Dundalk's number two keeper, Enda Minogue, was not on the bench.

He had been injured in training on Thursday. Peter Cherrie came on as a substitute, and the goalkeeper, who is now in his 43rd year, had no problem taking on the role again.

The nature of Conor's injury was not known after the game. But it looks as if he will be out for quite some time. It was clear from both sets of players that Conor was seriously injured. He clutched his knee as he went down.

The 27-year-old was an integral part of the Shelbourne 2024 league-winning team. He did pick up an injury last season. This led to him losing his place to Dutchman Wessel Speel. Conor opted to go to Dundalk on loan this season.

He was brought in by Ciaran Kilduff to be the backbone of the Dundalk defence with an aim to keeping Dundalk in the Premier Division. Ironically, goalkeeping coach Peter Cherrie returns. He played 18 games in the First Division last season.

He took over as number one keeper from Enda Minogue after he picked up an injury. Now he once again will take the number one goalkeeping slot. To be honest, I can not see Peter being dislodged from that place, even when Conor returns.

He was only in the goal for two minutes when he took off a terrific reaction save in the box. Barring a disastrous run in the goals, Cherrie will be there for the rest of the season.

The manager made five changes from the team that drew against Galway the week before. Mayowa returned to the centre of defence. He had been out with a hamstring injury since the first game of the season against Derry City in the Brandywell.

Harry Groome started as did Danny Mullen, Tyreke Wilson and Declan McDaid. Vinnie Leonard also missed the game as he recovers from an illness.

Aodh Dervin, Gbemi Arubi, Eoin Kenny and Rob Cornwall were not in the team. Rob was not on the bench. It's thought he may have been injured. The other three were on the bench.

Thus, Dundalk lined out as follows. Conor Kearns in goals. Two full-backs, Robbie Burns and Tyreke Wilson, two centre halves, Conor O'Keeffe and Mayowa. Midfield: Daryl Horgan, Ronan Teahan, Keith Buckley, Declan McDaid. Striker Danny Mullen.

Subs Cherrie for Kearns 90 mins. Dervin for Groome 74 minutes.Kenny for McDaid 88 minutes.Arubi for Mullen 88.Tracey for Teehan 96+8. Dundalk were much more settled at the back than they have been.

Robert Burns continues to impress at full back. He is the best attacking full-back I have seen in Oriel for some time. Ronan Teahan got his first goal for Dundalk. He was excellent.

Mayowa added so much to the centre of the defence. Nothing got past him. Declan McDaid put in an excellent shift and got a class goal in the process. For me, Daryl Horgan was once again the man of the match for me. He played all over the park and was superb. He also scored a great goal. Eoin Kenny came on as a late sub. He got two top-class goals.

Two weeks ago, Stephen Kenny told me how delighted he was at how Eoin was progressing at Dundalk. He said that Daryl Horgan was a massive positive influence on Eoin. That influence shone again on Friday.

The former Republic of Ireland manager also said that Ciaran Kilduff played a huge role in Eoin's progress and development. There was a scout at the game who works for Luton Town.

He knows Eoin well and his style of play. He was a regular visitor to Oriel last season. But he can only have been impressed at the way young Kenny has developed in the top tier of League of Ireland soccer.

Declan McDaid was very solid on the wing. His goal was out of this world. Ronan Teahan impresses week after week. Ciaran Kilduff had spoken in pre-season about how exciting a player Ronan was.

Well, he was 100 percent correct. His goal was awesome. But the injury to Conor Kearns worried the Dundalk players much more than the joy derived from the winning of the game.

They had seen Conor in agony on the ground. They had to endure the hold up of seventeen minutes of seeing their keeper being treated by the medics. It must have been torture.

Dundalk were by far the better team from start to finish. The lead goal came after 30 minutes. Daryl Horgan swung a cross in from the right. Ronan Teahan rose majestically to get his head to the ball.

It ended up in the right-hand corner of the net. Conor Carty spurned a great chance to level for Sligo. It was game over on 42 minutes. Once again, Daryl Horgan created the goal. He sent Declan McDavid away on the right.

McDaid moved to the edge of the box. He spotted Stephen McMullan off his line. The Dundalk winger delightfully chipped the ball over the head of the former Warrenpoint goalkeeper. The ball ended up in the centre of the net.

Stephen McMullen is a top-class keeper. But he is going through a spell of form that is below the high standards he sets for himself. Stephen will recover from what happened on Friday. It's only a matter of when, not if.

Dundalk got their third goal with twenty minutes remaining, given that there was 17 minutes injury time to be played. It was Horgan who made his way through and shot home.

Dundalk got their fourth goal on 90 minutes when Eoin Kenny danced his way through the Waterford defence. He shot home at the far post.

The fifth goal came on 97 minutes when Aodh Dervin's shot looked goal-bound. But Eoin Kenny was in the right place to knock the ball in and ensure it did not go wide.

It was a great win for Dundalk. They played some very attractive football as they went on the hunt for their first win of the season. Waterford are bottom. Dundalk moved into fifth place.

Last night, Dundalk played Sligo Rovers. Let's hope Dundalk got another win. But Sligo are formidable when they are on song. Next Friday, Dundalk go to Dalymount Park to play league leaders Bohemians.

Bohs are formidable opposition as well. And Dalymount has become a very intimidating place for away teams. Dundalk can expect no favours, nor will they look for any.

But if they can play like they did last Friday, I think they can get something from the game. Bohs won their last two games up to Monday by a single goal.

On Friday night, they scraped past Galway with a goal three minutes from time. The previous Friday, they beat Waterford by a single goal away from home. It was a very soft goal that Waterford conceded.

Bohemians have splashed the cash over the summer months. They are now a very wealthy club. They signed 10 new players that have transformed them into a major force.

They are managed by former Dundalk assistant manager Alan Reynolds. Their assistant is Stephen O'Donnell, the former Dundalk boss. Reynolds never impressed me as an assistant manager.

He was only at Dundalk for a very short spell. Stephen O'Donnell was an excellent player at Dundalk. He was and always will be a legend. But as a manager, he never really brought the club to its full potential.

O'Donnell stayed on in 2024. But for Dundalk on and off the pitch, things went from bad to worse. Stephen O'Donnell was sacked after just eight games by new owner Brian Ainscough.

The club had very little or no money. They finished bottom of the table. The club were on the point of bankruptcy. Indeed, the club nearly went out of existence in September 2024. They were brought back from the brink. 

In Division One, they won promotion. Now they are back in the Premier Division. But Dundalk FC need a major financial injection to ensure that the it never faces a point where it could go out of football again.

The club must go out and actively seek shareholders who have the money to ensure the club is financially stable for years. The Dublin media are boasting that it is the Dublin clubs who are dominating Irish soccer.

They are saying the league title is already guaranteed to go to one of the Dublin clubs this year. Dundalk are the one provincial club that has stymied Dublin's dominance of Irish soccer. They can do so again.

But the club needs new investors along with the existing ones. If Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers can do it, why can't Dundalk? Both clubs have needed Europe, yes, for most of the finances. But they have a good share structure as well.

Dundalk boss Ciaran Kilduff was a happy man that Dundalk got their first win of the season. But he emphasised that the injury suffered by goalkeeper Conor Kearns had completely overshadowed the win.

"We are all just gutted for Conor. He is a great character and such a positive influence among the team. He has been great for us this season. The incident happened on the far side of the pitch from me.

"But what I do know is that he badly dislocated his knee. Injuries like that can happen on a grass or astro pitch surface. It can happen anytime and anywhere. It was just an unfortunate incident.

"Tonight we got our first win. We have had some really good performances since the start of the season. Tonight, we finally got the win over the line. It all came together on the night.

"We were excellent in the first half. We went in two-up. I was a little disappointed that we did not get more in that half. We are the newly promoted team.

"I set my stall out earlier this year with the lads, that we are trying to take on anybody, and anyone and that we were going out to win. I was delighted for all of the players for getting that win, and the manner in which they did.

"Our first goal was terrific. It was a great cross from Daryl Horgan. The header from Ronan was sublime and hit the centre of the net. We had plenty of chances to go ahead earlier. But it was great to get that goal.

"Declan McDaid got the second. What a chip over the head of the keeper and into the net. He is such a talented player. Again, the goal was set up by Daryl. He is a fabulous player. I referenced the three players we had up front.

"Declan McDaid, Danny Mullen and Daryl Horgan. They all played in the Scottish Premier League. They are top-experienced players. They possess the quality to do something special at any given moment, and they did.

"Then, Daryl got the third for us. And Eoin got the last two, coming on so late in the game. I was delighted for him. He is an excellent player.

"Vinnie Leonard was missing again tonight because he has been suffering from quite a severe virus. But he is well on the road to recovery. He will be back after the international break.

"It was key for us to get a win here tonight. It was only our second home game of the season here. And last season, we prided ourselves on our home form. We will be doing the same this season as well."

Eoin Kenny has been one of the best players in the Dundalk team over the past 12 months. On Friday, he scored two more key goals.

"I am delighted with the win. I was really disappointed not to start. But with the size of the squad we have and the Friday, Monday games, the manager decided to rotate. We play Sligo on Monday. I know I came on late in the game.

"But to get two goals in such a short time at the end will hopefully put me in a strong position to start the Sligo game. I just want to say first of all that what happened to Conor was terrible. The whole team wish him a speedy recovery.

"I hope everything goes as smooth as possible. I also want to say, fair play to Peter Cherrie for coming on. He has been such a great servant to this club. And he made another great save after only being on a minute, so late in the game.

"I thought I was only going to get a minute or two playing when I came on. But then I got 20 minutes as a result of the injury time due to Conor getting hurt. I had the time to get the two goals.

"But both came so quickly, not long after I had come on. The first goal came about after myself and Gbemi had a good one-two. I saw Stephen McMullen coming out. But I knew where to put it, and that was inside the near post.

"The second goal came about after a great strike from Aodh Dervin. I know that many people thought it was Aodh who got the goal. But I put my foot out and guided the the ball to the net to ensure that it went in. I got it at the far post. I had to make sure that it went in.

"I was delighted to get two goals. I just want to get as many goals as I can this season. We were very unlucky to have only one home game in our first five. Tonight was only our second.

"We have been very competitive in most of our games, bar the Pat's games. We feel that we left some points behind in our other games. I thought we left points behind us in the Drogheda game.

"To all the fans who came back tonight to support us, I would really like to thank them. Hopefully, we played some football that people will want to come back to see. There can be unique nights here. It is a very special place.

"When you go up the Divisions, it is obviously a totally different level. Players have to up their levels themselves. You are playing against excellent players, although, like today, it did not work out for Waterford.

"I have great respect for their manager, Jon Daly. You really have to up your game against Waterford.

"Tonight, you saw Declan McDavid scoring even though he was playing out of position. When you have Decky scoring, and Daryl added to Ronan, the competition just pushes you on further and further.

"Ronan Teahan is a great young player. He is a great player to have on your team. Daryl Horgan is a special leader. He leads by example as well. Just watch the way he plays the game. It is a great group to be a part of.

"I think it's a bit too early saying that we are fifth in the table. You know that yourself, Gerry. We may be fifth. But as we said, we probably feel we have left points behind us. We just want to move forward and kick on."

If the reports are to be believed in pre-season, Dundalk nearly lost Ciaran Kilduff to Waterford, as a result of uncertainty at top level in the club. Thank God it was sorted. Ciaran Kilduff is an excellent manager.

He can guide Dundalk to great things. But I repeat, for Dundalk to get back to the top, the club, like any in the League of Ireland, they need more financial investment.

This club has so much potential now. But to get sustained success, you need to have as much finance as possible. And clubs can never have enough.

The Republic of Ireland senior manager watched Dundalk for the second week in a row. He was in Oriel last Friday night. The week before, he was at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway. There were close to 3,000 people in attendance at Oriel on Friday.

Have a great week. Please look after yourself and others. And remember to be very careful out there.