Kilduff rues Dundalk's ‘unacceptable’ second-half display after Bohs comeback win

There was a familiar sense of frustration in Ciaran Kilduff’s post-match assessment after Dundalk FC surrendered a half-time lead to lose 3-1 against Bohemians at Oriel Park on Friday night.

For long stretches of the opening period, Dundalk had looked the more cohesive and threatening side, with Aodh Dervin’s excellent strike giving the hosts a deserved advantage at the interval.

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Yet the game unravelled rapidly after the restart as Bohemians struck three times in a bruising second-half collapse that also saw Rob Cornwall sent off.

Kilduff pointed to Dundalk’s inability to manage the opening stages of the second half, an issue which has surfaced repeatedly this season.

“You don’t get any points at half-time. You only get them at full-time and the objective was to win the game,” said the Dundalk manager.

“I think we put ourselves in a position at half-time to win it, but you cannot put in a performance like that at the start of the second half against any team in this division and expect to get away with it — and we didn’t.”

Dundalk’s difficulties were compounded by the loss of captain Daryl Horgan at the interval, with the winger having played through illness before eventually being forced off.

“He took ill at half-time,” Kilduff explained. “He was probably sick before the game and came to us at half-time, saying he was unable to continue.”

Even allowing for Horgan’s withdrawal, Kilduff was unsparing in his criticism of the manner in which his side relinquished control.

Ross Tierney’s equaliser arrived amid defensive uncertainty before Cornwall’s dismissal for a foul on Tierney led to Douglas James-Taylor converting the resulting penalty to put Bohs ahead.

“We had 45 minutes of really good stuff and then 25 minutes of absolute nothing. Very disheartening,” Kilduff said.

“Nothing really changed in our ethos, but we’ve a little bit of a trend now of conceding goals just after half-time and it’s not good enough. It’s unacceptable.

“We’re working too hard for large periods of games to come away and drop our standards and drop the level for even 10 minutes, never mind the 25 that we did.

“We never started the second half. The first goal is a calamity of trying to clear the ball from your box, it bobbles and ends up in your net. The second goal is a red card and a penalty.”

Kilduff stopped short of criticising referee Aaron O’Dowd’s decision to dismiss Cornwall, admitting he had yet to properly review the incident.

“I didn’t see it back,” he said. “The sending-off is the double whammy. It’s bad enough giving away a penalty, but losing the man as well at that point makes it very hard for yourself at this level. Until I see it back, I won’t comment.”

Despite the disappointment of a third defeat in four league matches, Kilduff attempted to place Dundalk’s recent struggles within the wider context of a newly-promoted side still adapting to Premier Division football.

“Very disappointed and very frustrated,” he admitted. “That group have shown probably a microcosm of our season so far — excellent for huge periods.

“At this time last year, I think it was this weekend we were playing Treaty and trying to find our way back here. Now we’re competing at the highest level, but we’re also learning and finding out hard truths.

“But we will dust ourselves off and go again. Ironically, although it doesn’t feel like it over the last two weeks, the group have got a good start in terms of points — one that we would have taken — but it’s very hard to see that tonight.”

The manager also referenced the disruption caused by injuries and suspensions in defence, with Dundalk rarely able to field a settled back line this season.

“Early on you lose Conor Kearns, then Vinnie Leonard, Mayowa (Animasahun) now, Rob suspended again after injuries, Conor O’Keeffe long-term,” Kilduff said.

“It hasn’t been easy back there. We’re trying to fix it every week and hoping lads will put up their hand with the opportunities they’ve been given.

“But a lot of successful teams tend to have consistency back there and we probably haven’t been able to have that, unfortunately. But it’s not an excuse. We showed in that first half that we had the team to win that game of football. The second half didn’t look like it.”