Dundalk head coach Stephen O’Donnell offers no complaints following UCD draw

Despite a disappointing start to the new SSE Airtricity League season, Stephen O’Donnell was happy to see John Martin already get himself off the mark in 2023.

The 24-year-old Kilkenny native, now in his second year at Oriel Park after joining from Waterford, managed to net just twice in 31 league outings last term, but opened his and Dundalk’s account with a tidy finish in the 34th minute against UCD last Friday night.

Martin was one of the few positives on what was an otherwise frustrating evening for The Lilywhites, who for the third year in a row, drew on the opening night of the campaign.

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Playing out on the right flank, he looked enthusiastic, particularly in the first half, and was alert when Louie Annesley’s cross from the left was eventually touched on by Patrick Hoban, allowing Martin to sweep into the bottom corner to get his season off to a flyer.

“It was a good finish, so I was delighted for John,” said O’Donnell. “He’s had a sort of stop-start, even this pre-season. He trained the first week, and then he was out for a couple of weeks, but he’s in good physical condition now and I thought he done well.”

However, Dundalk, who dropped a staggering tally of 19 points against teams situated in the bottom half of the Premier Division last season, were pegged back in the 77th minute versus a side that’s once again expected to be battling at the wrong end of the league table.

It was Connor Malley who appeared to have pushed Dara Keane off the ball outside the penalty area, before Ciaran Behan floated an excellent free-kick beyond the grasp of the unlucky Nathan Shepperd, but O’Donnell had no complaints about the final outcome.

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“I didn’t think it was (a free-kick) at the time, but that’s not an excuse,” he insisted. “Behan has a great left foot. I was up at the Collingwood Cup final and he scored two crackers with his left peg.

“He has a talented left peg and I thought it was a danger moment when they got the free because of his technical ability, and it was a great free.

“But I can’t stand here and say there’s no way on earth they didn’t deserve to get an equaliser. Or how did we not win the game? That wouldn’t be the truth. We didn’t do enough to make sure we won the game and that’s just disappointing.”