The Commentary Box: One of Dundalk's best performances was against Bohs

Dundalk resume their Premier Division campaign in the League of Ireland when they take on Shelbourne at Tolka Park in Dublin.

The Good Friday game promises to be a hugely entertaining one with both teams playing attacking, entertaining football. It should be a thriller. The game also marks the end of the first round of the league.

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Dundalk are in mid-table, having lost just one game in the campaign so far. Dundalk have played five away games so far. Friday will be the sixth. They have only had three home games.

Yet Ciaran Kilduff's men have more than held their own in the top division, despite having just been promoted. One of Dundalk's best performances was their last game they played, just before the break.

That game was against Bohemians at Dalymount. Bohs were League leaders and had not conceded a goal there so far this season.

Dundalk went a goal down, but came storming back to snatch a point. They could and would have deserved all three points. Gbemi Arubi drew Dundalk level with the Phibsboro side. He missed a great chance to win it for the Oriel Park men.

But it was a great result and gave Dundalk the belief, if they did not already have it, that they can take on the best in this division. But Ciaran Kilduff knows that it will be a long, hard season.

He knows that even though Dundalk are performing well, they must keep that up. A bad spell and a lot of injuries could see Dundalk fall back down the table and possibly drop into a play-off or relegation crisis.

Kilduff has taken great heart from his side's start. But he is well aware that a lot of football must be played before Dundalk can ensure they have a successful season.

A success to me for Dundalk would be to avoid the play-offs. But I do know that they are good enough to finish high up the table. They have the ability, strength and belief to qualify for Europe.

Whether they can do it remains to be seen. When the Bohemians' game finished, players, staff and the manager were able to get a small break. I doubt if Ciaran Kilduff got any time off, bar Saturday and Sunday.

The players were back in Oriel a week ago today as they returned on a Tuesday. One of the biggest worries the manager had before the break was the number of players he had out injured.

Dundalk were missing eleven players for the Bohemians game. Nine had injuries. Two had viruses. The break should see a reduction of the injury problem. However, some will be out for some time. Conor Kearns is out for the rest of the season.

Dundalk would not have been able to use Conor for Friday's game, even had he been fit. Dundalk have him on loan for the season from Shelbourne. Thus, he would not have been able to play on Friday in any case.

Enda Minogue has done well in the two games he has played in since he came in for Conor. I really hope he does well on Friday. This would further cement his confidence, as he fights to stay in the first team.

Dundalk were due to get international clearance for a new keeper as back up to the loss of Conor Kearns over the past week.

It will be good for Enda to know that he has a keeper in the background who can, if needed, compete for his place in the first team. It will ensure that Enda Minigue must keep to his very best to hold onto the number one position.

It was all go for the Dundalk players first thing last Tuesday as they look forward to the end game of round one of the league and prepare for round two.

Ciaran Kilduff and his staff were waiting for them, and they must have wondered did they get a break at all. It went so quickly. The Dundalk manager spoke to me about the importance of the Shelbourne game on during the week.

"I think that it's a massive game, particularly as it comes straight after the international break. We did have a nice bit of momentum coming into the break. We had very good, positive results and performances.

"Shelbourne, for their part, have been playing very well. They moved into fourth place in their last game with a good away win against Sligo at the Showgrounds.

"We certainly will not be getting it very easy against Shelbourne in Tolka on Friday. They will be a hard side to beat in Dublin. But you can look around at all the teams and see, there is not much difference between those in the Premier Division.

"We are probably a hard team to beat in Oriel. They are obviously a hard team to beat in Tolka. We drew with Bohs at Dalymount in the league 10 days ago. All of the teams are anxious to protect their home record.

"Shebourne will be anxious to do that against us. They went through difficult times a few years ago when in the First Division. But now they are a major force in the League of Ireland.

"Two seasons ago, they won the Premier Division and had a very good year last season as well. They had a great run in Europe last season.

"Thus, there is no doubt they will be difficult opposition. Shelbourne came up from the First Division not so long ago. They quickly established themselves as a major force.

"We are coming up against a number of former top-class Dundalk players. Sean Gannon and Paddy Barrett were huge powerhouses in the successful Dundalk teams of a number of years ago.

"Sean Gannon, in particular, will always be remembered as an icon at Oriel. He won five league titles in the Kenny, Perth era. He then moved to Tallaght and won five league medals with Shamrock Rovers.

"After that, he won a league medal with Shelbourne two seasons ago. They also have Daniel Kelly and John Martin. Daniel got the winner for them in their last game against Sligo. Look, Shelbourne have top players. But do not forget, we have too.

"The league is so small that players tend to get around to a number of clubs, no more than myself. So, of course, Shelbourne have a number of players who have a great connection with our club.

"But on Friday, that will all be forgotten about as soon as the game starts. We will be doing everything to beat Shelbourne as players, staff and me as manager.

"We have had a number of injuries and players who have missed games through illness. Conor O'Keefe had a virus and so missed the Bohs game. Conor presented himself with symptoms of a virus after the Waterford game.

"He had to go to hospital late that night. Obviously, it did cause some concern initially. He was assessed when he returned after coming back after the break.

"That has continued. It was a different virus that Vinnie Leonard got. We will keep an eye on Conor and see if he is available for Friday.

"Vinnie had a virus in his leg. Conor had a virus in his chest and in his head. We were worried that he was having a problem with his head. If you remember, he suffered a head injury last season, which resulted in concussion.

"We were worried that the virus might be related to the concussion. Vinnie Leonard will not make the Shelbourne game. I was speaking to him this morning. He is just finishing a course of antibiotics.

"He will return after the Shelbourne game. It will take time for him to build himself back up before he renews playing. Vinnie is a young chap. He is 17. I suppose you never know. But as things stand, Friday looks like being too soon for him.

"Danny Mullen missed the Bohemians game. That was because he picked up a tear in his quad. It's not quite similar to the tear that Ronan Teahan had. Ronan missed the Bohs game too. He also tore his quad.

"The good news is that both Ronan and Danny will hopefully be in contention for the game on Friday. But to be honest, I would have to say there is only a fifty-fifty chance that they will play in Tolka.

"Norman Garbett has a hamstring injury. He has had a little bit of a setback lately. Leo Gaxha could be in contention for Friday. This would be a great boost to us.

"Mayowa had to come off injured in the Bohemians game. He got an ankle injury. He is to be assessed. Rob Cornwall will not be in contention to play Friday. He had a tear on his calf after the Galway game.

"He has a substantial tear in the calf now. We do not know if it was worsened by playing in the Galway game. Mayowa picked up the ankle injury against Sligo four days before the Bohemians game.

"He suffered a recurrence of that ankle injury before the Bohs game. His hamstring is fine. I am sure Mayowa will be doing all he can to ensure he will be playing in Tolka.

"Mayowa is such a huge boost to us. He has great skill and physicality. He has a great attitude. He is going to get better and better. Mayowa is also beginning to dominate games.

Conor Kearns is all but out for the rest of the season. The signs are just not that good that he can be fit before the end of the season.

"Enda Minogue has done very well since he came in for Conor. He did go through a difficult period last season. He got a bad injury and then lost his way as a result.

"People like Peter Cherrie are a huge support for Enda. He has been excellent so far in the last two games. Having the calibre of Peter Cherrie and Conor Kearns to help him will be a huge help to him.

"We are not afraid of anybody. We go out to try and win all our games. I have been very lucky at Oriel. Any player I identified I wanted to sign, I have been able to. With 28 games left to go, I am sure that we will go through a difficult spell.

"Sean Spaight has been superb. He is a credit to himself and his family. The local academies have done a great job on him. Sean will be a massive asset to the club going forward.

"17-year-old Ballybay man, Luke Mulligan, played a massive role in Dundalk's promotion push last season. Luke missed the latter part of last season through injury and has yet to feature this season as of yet.

"He has been out since the start of the new season through injury, also. Luke is in every day training. He picked up the new injury pre-season. He has just had a scan. Luke is on the way back.

"He is able to do more and more. But his season has not really started yet. It was hard on him to pick up the injury in preseason.

"But the good news is that Luke will be back in the coming weeks. He's running in training now. Luke is on the pitch every day. I would say that Luke will be back playing within the next four weeks.

"Looking at the first eight weeks of the season, I have to say that I am delighted with the group. There are still going to be some difficult weeks ahead during the season.

"But I think that we are beginning to get the cohesion we need between the players. The Bohemians game was probably one of our best performances of the season.

"To only lose one of the first eight games, for a newly promoted team, and the way we have got our goals shows we are going the right way about it, in the Premier Division so far. But we are still only evolving.

"We are still tweaking things to make ourselves better. But when you have a group as honest as them, and with the great support both at home and away, I feel the club is going in the right direction. But we still have to keep the momentum going.

"Shelbourne are getting great crowds now at Tolka Park. It's a tough place to visit, even if most games there are exciting. They had a big win themselves away to Sligo just before the break.

"They are challenging for the league and will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. So it will be a tough and hopefully an exciting game. But we are going to face Shelbourne in a positive mood and a good deal of confidence.

"I have not even looked at the list of managers who the FAI have picked can go on and become directors of the academies at the League of Ireland clubs around the country.

"You know I would tell you if I had looked at the list yet. I was aware that there was an interview process going on. I was aware that there were people going for interviews for those roles around the country. But no, I have nothing on it.

"I would imagine the new Academy Directors will be announced shortly. That's because the new seasons have already started. It has not been anything I have been consulted on yet.

"Obviously, that is something that will be happening in the coming weeks. I suppose that with the busy schedule we have had of three games in a week on two occasions recently, we have had a lot of other things to focus on."

I thought the manager gave a clear and distinct overview at where he sees the club at in this moment of time.

"The confirmation that Conor Kearns is out for the rest of the season is a massive blow for the player on a personal basis and, of course, for the club as well. But Conor has a very positive attitude, and that will certainly help him in his recovery.

"The news that Rob Cornwall has picked up a serious injury is a massive blow for both Rob and the club also. Let's hope he will be back as soon as he can.

The news that Leo Gaxha will be available for the Shelbourne game took me by surprise. Leo is a highly talented player. He was injured in the middle of last season.

Like Luke Mulligan, he played a major role in Dundalk's promotion challenge for more than half of the season. Leo is a very creative player. He is an attacking midfielder.

It would be great to see Leo cause endless problems this season for the opposing teams. Vinnie Leonard has been very unlucky this season. Picking up that virus that hospitalised him, and resulted in him missing most of the season so far.

Vinnie will, of course, also be departing Oriel at the end of June. He will be heading for Norwich to join his new team. He will be preparing for Championship football next season.

Keith Buckley is another player who is struggling with injury. He just about made it for the game against Bohemians. He played a key role in defence.

He also set up Sean Spaight with a long ball through the middle, who then created Dundalk's equaliser. Keith Buckley, I fear, will be doubtful as a result of injury right up to match day. That is just my opinion.

Friday's game against Shelbourne will be a difficult one. But I think that Dundalk can get a result in Tolka. It's a game where I see there being plenty of goals. It was so disappointing to see Ireland being knocked out of the World Cup on Thursday night.

The build-up to the game by Newstalk and RTE radio smacked of the arrogance that is normally seen by the British media in the run-up to the England games. Ireland were not unlucky.

They threw this game away, leading two-nil; they showed a huge lack of inexperience by killing off the game just after the second goal.

Instead of slowing the game down and packing the midfield and their defence, they just let Czechia back into the game straight away. And it was just inevitable that Czechia would get their equaliser at some stage.

The fault lies with the manager. His tactics were all wrong. And even his team selection left a lot to be desired. I could not believe that the manager played Finn Azaz from the start. He only declared for Ireland in the past few weeks.

I have no problem with that. But throwing him straight into a crunch World Cup game was the wrong decision. Finn had a very quiet game and seemed to go missing for long spells. Then when the game went to penalties, I could not believe it.

Up stepped young Azaz for one of the penalty kicks. He missed it. But that's not the end of it. It later emerged that the manager had selected the penalty takers.

That's why Alan Browne came on with 10 minutes remaining. He was one of the selected penalty takers. To add to the farce, Alan had missed a penalty in a previous shootout with Czechia.

The manager's decision to select his penalty takers was fatal. It also emerged that the manager had spent little time in training on practising penalties.

This culmination of bad decision-making by the manager cost Ireland a place in going to the finals in the summer. They still would have had to get past Denmark at the Aviva tonight.

Based on the current form of the Danes, it would have been a mammoth task. But, at least they would have had a shot at it. But the fact that Czechia knocked Ireland out lies with the manager.

You never pre-select players to take penalties in a shootout. Anybody managing a team from schoolboys and schoolgirls to senior level knows you ask the players when the game arrives at the penalty stage who feels up to taking them.

If you tell a player they are on the list to take the penalties, then you are in serious trouble.

I have taken charge of many schoolboy teams when I was a teacher. I had great help with my teams by people who gave up their free time to help me and the students.

We had a lot of success and swept aside the Marist and the De La Salle in many of the games. They beat us on many occasions as well.

But I remember an under-13 game when we played the Marist in the North Leinster League final in Oriel, it was around 1991. When the game went to penalties, I went onto the pitch and told one of our most creative players to take the first penalty.

This kid was usually so full of confidence. He asked me if I minded if he did not take a penalty. Instead of me respecting his request, I said no, he had to take the first kick. He was always great at the spot kicks.

The student was terrific. He could just have easily refused to take the penalty. He bravely went up to shoot. The Marist keeper saved. Our student was devastated. The penalties then ran to sequence.

We lost the North Leinster League by five goals to four on penalties. The game had finished one a piece. It was my fault we lost that game.

I felt awful, not for me, but for my students and in particular that young student who I asked to take the first penalty. I  learned my lesson after that. I never again asked anybody to take a penalty nor tell one.

We had many games that went to penalties after that. The students themselves decided who would take the spot kicks in a shootout. We won a lot of them, but we lost a lot as well.

The good news was that the under-13 team were back in Oriel a year later. This time, there was to be no penalty shoot-out. We had a comprehensive win. It went some way to make  up for the loss of the previous year.

Ireland did not lose to Czechia by bad luck. It was due to mismanagement by Heimir Hallgrimson, the boss. He messed up on team selection and on preparation for the shootout.

If this was Stephen Kenny that had done this, he would have been vilified by the Dublin media. I do not think the manager should go. But I hope he has learned a hard lesson. But to be honest, I do not think he has from his reaction post-match.

It was great to see former Rock Celtic player Jimmy Dunne get a run out late in the game last Thursday. Jimmy comes from Blackrock. His dad, Eamonn, who was a well-known GAA coach, passed away some time ago.

There was an emotional picture in the national press of Jimmy being consoled by his mum, Sharon Tracey Dunne. I knew Eamonn and Sahron very well. Both were teachers. Eamonn's passing took its toll on his family and those who knew him.

I lost contact with both Eamonn and Sharon a long time ago. But it just seems like yesterday. Time goes so fast. We really should treasure all the time we have. Because it goes so quickly.

Jimmy Dunne is a midfielder with Queens Park Rangers. He has played for Ireland a number of times and will do so in the future.

His mum, Sharon, is very proud of him. I know his dad, Eamonn, would be very proud of him had he lived to see him play for Ireland. Have a great week. Look after yourselves. Never take life for granted, and of course, be careful out there.