Dundalk back on the right track ahead of transfer window

Ryan O'Kane's corner from the left, that went straight into the net a minute from the break, hauled Dundalk right back into their game against Cork City at Turners Cross last Friday night.

The goal was the shot in the arm Dundalk needed to win the game, even if it took until five minutes from time before John Martin rose high to head home for the winner.

The two late goals in the first and second halves were enough to see Dundalk collect all three points and leave them just two points behind third placed St Pats and four behind second placed Derry City.

It emerged afterwards that Dundalk had done their homework very well on Cork City. Detailed study as to how they dealt with corners allowed Dundalk to highlight that Cork had a clear weakness in defence when dealing with corners.

The strategy was agreed that they pack the City penalty area and allow Ryan O'Kane to attempt to score from corner kicks. It worked. Studying the video tape on Cork's previous games and working the set pieces out on the pitch proved invaluable.

Manager Stephen O'Donnell revealed in a later interview with me that it was Brian Gartland who worked on the set pieces with Ryan.

He also confirmed that he would be contacting Daryl Horgan to see if he is interested in a return to Dundalk.
Ryan O'Kane went for goal from the corner kick late in the first half. It caught the City defence out cold and went straight into the net.

The goal allowed Dundalk to dominate the second half and go on and collect all three points.

Ryan O’Kane

Ryan O'Kane told me after the game that they practiced the Cork weaknesses in dealing with corner kicks on the pitch all week. He said the practice could only work if Dundalk packed the Cork penalty area.

He told me in his post-match interview that when he saw how everything was now in place, he decided to put the ball in the direction of the City keeper, Jimmy Corcoran.

Ryan said his delivery just went in over the keeper and Dundalk were right back in the game. Ryan revealed that the side go into minute-by-minute detail during the week as to how their defences deal with various types of attack. These studies sometimes pay off. On Friday they certainly did.

O'Kane nearly got a second goal straight from a corner in the second half also. This time the home defence just about managed to scramble the ball away.

Speaking about the second corner Ryan says he could not believe that it had caused panic in the Cork defence once more. This time however the keeper flapped at the ball and it was cleared away.

He was delighted to be involved in the creation of the winning goal. He said he got the cross in with five minutes left. O'Kane's corner took a wicked deflection off Cork's Cian Bargary. John Martin rose high to head home.

The midfielder believed Dundalk kept Cork very limited to their attacks on Dundalk's goal. He believed they really only had the one chance and that was the one they scored from. I disagree with Ryan here.

City had a number of chances in that first half that they failed to put away. But for the misses and good saves by Nathan Shepperd, the game could have been out of sight of Dundalk before young O'Kane went for the equaliser.
Ryan has had a great season.

Such is his enthusiasm; he cannot wait to get back to Oriel after the break for the second part of the season. His runs down the wing in the second half had the Cork defence in tatters and it really was only a matter of time before he created the second goal.

Dundalk once again showed great intensity that Cork could just not cope with. They also showed the physicality that has been sorely missing from their game for much of the season.

Ryan agreed that this part of their game on Friday night and the belief that they could come back was a major factor that saw them get over the line.

O'Kane is a hugely exciting prospect for Dundalk. I have no doubt that bigger clubs in the UK are watching him.

But with another year and a half of his contract to run at Oriel, I’m sure Stephen O'Donnell would be advising him he has plenty of time to move and the best for him is to stay and grow at Oriel both physically and mentally.

Ryan is a very special player. He has a great knowledge of the game and how to use this and turn it to Dundalk's Advantage.

When he speaks it seems you could be speaking to a player in his mid-20s.

Ryan is still just 19. He has a great future ahead of him in the game. I'm sure he can be as successful as Steve Staunton was.

But for now, he is just looking forward to Dundalk's adventures in the Europa Conference League in July and hopes his team can emulate other Dundalk sides by possibly getting to the group stages of the competition. Football is a strange game. Just about anything is possible.

Daryl Horgan

Manager Stephen O'Donnell told local Dundalk reporters after the game that he has not spoken to Daryl Horgan yet about a return to the club in the transfer window in July. He told us he would see if it was possible.
He said that of course he would be interested in the former Lilywhite, but he hadn’t spoken to Daryl even though he has been in Dundalk recently.

He subsequently asked us if Horgan had been in Dundalk or was he in the UK. I felt the manager was skipping around the question and not answering it head on.

If I was interested in bringing a player back to Dundalk of Daryl’s stature, I would know where he was. I would know if he had been in town, and I would have contacted him. I have to take the manager at his word of course. 

So I asked him directly was he going to contact Horgan. O'Donnell said to me that he would be contacting him and that in order to declare interest in the former Dundalk player, they had an obligation to contact him.

He told me that the club would pursue the possibility of signing the Galway native, as his contract is now up with Wycombe Wanderers. He added that he would see how far the club can get with the issue.

The Cork Game

As for the game itself, the crowd of 3,800 people were treated to a fairly dour first half. But it was lively in parts. Referee Robert Hennessey had a top class game allowing the game to flow freely.

Nobody could argue with any of the decisions he made. Cork nearly broke the deadlock on 16 minutes when Ruairi Keating fired narrowly wide from a blistering 20-yard effort. Four minutes later they were in front.

Kevin Custovic had the freedom of the park getting down the right wing. He floated a cross in a huge hole in the Dundalk defence. City striker Ruairi Keating was in like a strike of lightning, looking for the goal.

Louis Annesley went with him. Unfortunately for the Dundalk centre half, he turned the Custovic cross into his own net as he strove to clear away the danger.

It was Cork again in 37 minutes. Matt Healy's shot was saved so well by Nathan Shepperd. Healy got a second chance as the ball came back out to him.

His effort was cleared off the Dundalk line. Healy had a long range shot go narrowly over minutes later. Dundalk then struck with their golden equaliser on 44 minutes.

Ryan O'Kane floated the cross in from the right. It caught the Cork defence and in particular their keeper on the hop. The ball sailed into the top right-hand corner of the net.

The Lilywhites controlled the second half throughout as Cork seemed to crumble. But while the Oriel Park side may have had the possession, they could not penetrate the city defence. They rarely got through.

Rayhaan Tulloch came on as a sub in the second half and created a great chance for himself. But he shot carelessly over the crossbar when he should’ve done so much better.

Ryan O'Kane got a chance for another goal when he floated a corner from the right. Again, the Cork defence flashed, and the ball was cleared away.

Cork did have to contend with being down to 10 men early in the second half for 10 minutes, as Matt Healy was treated for a clash of heads. But Dundalk failed to capitalise.

Dundalk won it with five minutes remaining when my man of the match, Ryan O'Kane crossed from the right. It took a deflection and it left John Martin to rise high above the Cork defence and head home.

Dundalk had snatched the game late. But it was two wins on the bounce going into the break. The wins were vital as Dundalk were being dragged into the play-off zone. Cork City occupy that position in the zone again after Drogheda United had a marvellous 2-1 win over St Pats at United Park.

Despite Cork's recent top class run of four league wins in a row, John Martin's winner sees City having conceded 16 goals in the last 15 minutes of games this season, against only scoring five times in the same time period.

The Lilywhites can be very happy with their week's wins. When they return to competitive football next Friday week, they will face Drogheda United away from home. 

On the following Monday they face St Pat's at Oriel. Dundalk looked better and more consistent at the back than they have done in recent times. The manager named the same team that beat UCD by 4-1 last Monday week.

Archie Davies was good at times with his runs down the right and posed a lot of danger to the Cork defence. Andy Boyle and Louis Annesley were solid in the centre of the defence.

The midfield still lacked physical strength. Dundalk need to sign at least two players here if they are to have any chance of progressing in Europe. If they can sign Daryl Horgan in this transfer window, it would be a massive boost. He would give them great width on the wing.

They need two new centre midfielders. Stephen O'Donnell denied that they will be bringing in three players in the window. But I hear they may well be.

There is no doubt they have been in contact with Horgan. The former Dundalk midfielder would be a massive signing.

However, he has plenty of choices. He could stay in the UK and still get higher wages than he can get at Oriel.
Up front Pat Hoban and Cameron Elliott did nothing wrong. But it was Ryan O'Kane who was without doubt the man of the match.

O'Donnell would not take any credit for Ryan O'Kane's goal when asked by me. He said that the credit here goes to Brian Gartland. Gartland is the set piece man. He worked with Ryan on the training ground, and it worked.

John Martin

John Martin, the man who headed home the winner, says he can't just remember how the winner came about. He says the ball just fell on his head and that as he got up for for it, he had to get some power behind the header.

John says that the opportunity that came to him are the ones you work for. He went for the ball and it went in. He was only on the pitch 10 minutes when he scored and was keen to point out that all of the substitutes had played their part in the match.

He said he remembered Nathan Shepperd taking off a wonderful save that kept Cork at bay. The Dundalk midfielder come striker, says that everybody must get the plaudits for working so hard to get the three points.

John says every goal he scores is important. Thus, he was not going to say it was more vital than any other goals he scored. But he did accept it was an important goal.

He added that there is great rivalry between Dundalk and Cork City and that it was just great to get the points on the board. He added that it will help their momentum. Thus, for that reason alone, it was a very important goal.
John says Ryan O'Kane's goal was huge.

It came just before half time and totally deflated Cork. He says Ryan just keeps going and that he has a marvellous delivery.
John believes that anyone can beat anyone in this league. Again, the Dundalk striker felt that momentum is huge because of this fact.

I found it amazing that John thought Dundalk could still go for the league title. I asked John did he genuinely believe Dundalk can win the league. He said yes. He added that the Lilywhites would not be playing for it if they did not believe they could win it.

I said I thought Dundalk would aim for the European spot. He said certainly not. He added that they must have fire in their bellies, as maybe Rovers could go on a terrible run. And the fact that any team can beat any team, that means there is always hope.

John says that getting the third spot in the league is not their main aim, it is to win the league. He says you have to be positive. Otherwise, there is no point in playing at all. On the cup draw, John stressed that Shamrock Rovers are no great shakes.

He agreed that if Dundalk were going to go the distance in the cup then they would be meeting Rovers at some stage anyways. He felt the champions are a good team and that if the Dundalk supporters turn out in their droves, there is no reason why Dundalk can't beat them in the cup.

On coping with the injuries, he has sustained this season that have kept him out of the team, John says he tells the other players that you go with the lows and with the highs as that's football.

The Dundalk striker adds that he was happy making the contribution on Friday and that he wants to kick on after the break. John agreed and said there was a lot of intensity and physicality displayed by Dundalk against Cork.

He said that the team has not been showing this in some games, but they did on Friday night. He says that the Lilywhites have now upped their game on the physical side and that they know they have the players to do it.

John says that as soon as they return to Oriel to prepare for the second half of the season, the whole team will be raring to go.

Final Thoughts

Dundalk have been drawn at home to Shamrock Rovers in round one of the FAI Cup. It takes place the week ending July 23rd.

It was the toughest draw possible. But Dundalk are at home. This tie must be played to the finish, with penalties used if needed.

Meanwhile Shelbourne have been taken over by the chairman of Hull City, Turkish media mogul Acun Ilıcalı. He is the owner of global media company Acun Medya.

The new owner stressed he wants to see Shelbourne become the leading club in Ireland. He was due to become a major investor with Dundalk earlier this year. The deal fell apart only a day or so before it was due to be signed.

Have a great week. Look after each other and please be careful out there.