History created following memorable Louth Derby success

The history records were smashed into pieces on Friday night in the Louth derby, when Pat Hoban broke Joey Donnelly's all time club goal record, one stretching back to 1946, when he struck late twice to win the game.

He had already equaled the record three weeks ago at Oriel. Donnolly set it up shortly after World War Two with total of 140. On Friday Hoban proudly had the new record standing at 142 goals.

Dundalk were a goal down after nine minutes and were outplayed for much of the first half. It took another master stroke by manager Stephen O'Donnell to rescue them, by making a triple substitution on 61 minutes to change the course of the game.

He withdrew Darragh Leahy, John Martin and Daniel Kelly. He brought on Robbie McCourt, Rayhaan Tulloch and Cameron Elliott. McCourt and Elliott were the two players in particular who swung the game.

The two teams entered the arena to be greeted by a pyrotechnic display of flares from both sets of fans. Most of the smoke that filled the ground came from the Drogheda end.

The atmosphere had been building after it emerged that Drogheda had all but sealed a takeover by the American owners of English club Walsall. It's understood that the incoming new owners intend to spend money for much needed infrastructure which to all purposes means a new stadium.

This would leave Dundalk further down the pecking order in terms of ground facilities in county Louth unless they too can get new investors. They are needed ASAP as they simply do not have the money currently to move forward in this area.

Friday's game was the third game in a row that Dundalk came back from a goal down to snatch all three points. Drogheda hit the front on nine minutes when Adam Foley's corner was not dealt with by the Dundalk defence.

Soccer Writers Player of the month for May Freddie Draper headed the ball down. Foley, who was unmarked, bundled the ball over the line to score. It was a horror goal to give away.

Yet despite their possession, Drogheda rarely threatened the Dundalk defence again in the first half. Dundalk should have levelled on the half hour when Daniel Kelly was put through. He shot narrowly wide of the post. He should’ve scored.

Ryan 'O'Kane had an effort saved just before the break when his shot was saved by the Drogheda keeper Anthony Wogan.

Wogan was called into action again right at the break when Pat Hoban's snapshot was saved by the feet of the Drogheda keeper. The youngster is only 17 years of age and has just completed fifth year at Ardee Community School. 

Dundalk had a let off straight after the break when Adam Foley's cross into the box caused all sorts of problems. It was headed off the line. But Drogheda looked to have breached the Dundalk defence again on 54 minutes when Freddie Draper was put through by Elicha Ahui.

The 18-year-old striker unleashed a shot that had Nathan Shepherd beaten. But there was some mysterious force field around the Dundalk goal that ensured it could not be breached.

Amazingly, the ball struck the butt of the Dundalk post. It spun in the area near the Dundalk goal line. It hit the butt of the other post and was then cleared. It was then that I realised that this was to be Dundalk's night.

The substitutions that won the game came minutes after the let off. Dundalk then took control. Robbie McCourt greatly steadied the Dundalk defence. As a wing back he started to breach the Drogheda defence in a way the visitors hadn’t done up until then.

Ryan O'Kane at last started to get through as Cameron Elliott showed great skill creating openings that were never there before. 

It was Cameron who created the equalising goal. His cross from the right was headed down by Robbie McCourt in the box. Pat Hoban headed home. Suddenly the great Joey Donnelly's record was gone. But Dundalk were not finished.

Ryan O'Kane was taken down in the Drogheda box four minutes later by Emmanuel Adegboyega. He is a product of the Dundalk FC academy and is a terrific player. He also played well on Friday.

Freddie Draper protested at the referee's decision to give Dundalk a penalty. Up stepped Pat Hoban to fire the penalty past Andrew Quinn and into the net.

The Ardee Community school student had no chance to get to the ball. It was a Hoban special. Draper was also sent off when Dundalk were awarded the penalty.

Drogheda piled on the pressure. Nathan Shepperd was forced into a top class save when Adegboyega's stunning effort was saved superbly. How he managed to get to the ball, I will never know. But it was a top class save from a top-class keeper.

Stephen O’Donnell

After the game Stephen O'Donnell spoke to the Dundalk media. One of them suggested to him that there had to have been plenty of frustration on the Dundalk bench as it had not been a great Dundalk performance for the first 75 minutes.

O'Donnell replied by saying that you lads in the media never say it's a good performance anyway. He was looking at me when he answered the question. I said I did not know why he was looking at me, as I had not asked the question.

But the reporter was right. It was not a good performance until the substitutions on 61 minutes. Stephen O'Donnell said he did not go on results. He judges his teams by performances. This is very true.

I have seen O'Donnell losing games but be very happy with the performance. He seemed a bit subdued post-match and perhaps that was because of Dundalk only getting going late in the game. He agreed that it was the substitutions that changed the game.

The Galwegian stressed that some people are in cloud cuckoo land when it comes to expectations. He said Dundalk were at the level of battling for a European spot and that was it. He said Drogheda are a good team too. And had been the better team in 85 per cent of their home games this season.

I asked him if there was any news on bringing in new players. He said he did not know. He confirmed he had spoken to the board. He said that whatever players go out will allow players to come in. In other words, if a winger went out, then they would take another winger in.

It's clear that O'Donnell has very little to spend and that there may be no players coming in during the window in July.

The Dundalk boss confirmed he has spoken with Daryl Horgan. But he did not seem to be confidant of getting the former Oriel ace. He told me he would see if he can do anything.

The Dundalk boss paid tribute to his on-loan centre half Wasiri Williams. He left the club last week and returned to the UK after it emerged that he was dealing with the issue of a close friend having a serious illness.

O’Donnell says personal matters take precedence. And he was very sympathetic to what the former Dundalk centre half and his girlfriend were going through.

Speaking also about the shocking news just over a week ago, the death of former Dundalk player Carolis Chevedukas, aged 32, O'Donnell says it just shows how fragile life is.

The Galwegian lived with Carolis when he was playing with Dundalk in 2018, so the news of his death came as a massive shock. The Dundalk boss says he was upset at what had happened.

Pat Hoban

Hero of the night Pat Hoban stressed Weavers Park was always a very difficult ground to play in. He thought that Dundalk were a better team in spells but added that Drogheda missed a glorious chance to 2-0 up when Freddie Draper saw his shot come off both posts.

The Loughrea native felt that once Dundalk scored it gave the team a huge boost. When Drogheda went down to 10 men he added, it allowed the Lilywhites to protect their lead and even allow them to go seeking a third goal.

Pat says he could not really celebrate the goal that broke Joey Donnelly's record as his team still needed a winner, but Dundalk had great momentum going by then.

He says for the goal that broke the record it was Cameron Elliott that got the cross in, with Robbie McCourt heading the ball on and leaving it to him to finish it.

Pat humbly noted how great an honour this new record was for him, his family and the supporters. He added that it was great for the town too.

After breaking the record Pat will also keep the annual Jim Malone leading goal Scorer trophy. It has been presented each year at the club’s awards night since 1995. I decided that it should now be kept by Pat for good. it will be presented to him to keep at a date to be decided by the club.

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Andy Boyle

Dundalk centre half Andy Boyle told me he was delighted with the result. He says it was a great boost going into a difficult week of fixtures.

Andy says Dundalk managed to limit Drogheda to just a few set pieces. He accepted they had a stroke of luck when Freddie Draper's shot struck the butt of two posts. But he said Dundalk went on and got two goals, winning the game just as they did in Cork.

The defender heaped praise on Pat Hoban for breaking the club's scoring record. He said it showed how good a player Pat Hoban was. In his opinion, Pat Hoban is the best player in the country and leads by example, on and off the pitch. That is why he is so important to their group.

The former Dundalk captain felt his defence played well despite conceding the early goal. Andy says the team are more than capable of beating any team when on-song.

Winning the derby also gives the side a great confidence boost for both league games and the Europa Conference Qualifying games coming up shortly.

Boyle says the challenge is to go on a bit of a run now, but he won’t put a ceiling on what Dundalk can achieve. When asked could Dundalk win the league, Andy says he doesn’t see why they can.

He says they have played every team in the league and that they know what they are up against. Last night they played Pat's. Hopefully that game went well. On Friday they play Shamrock Rovers. This should be an enthralling affair.

They were pegged back on Friday by Bohemians. They were leading 2-0. But the Phibsborough team came back to draw 2-2. Andy says that if Dundalk can get some more consistency in their game, the Lilywhites can win the League.

Louie Annesley

Louie Annesley says that Dundalk have shown in spades that they can come back from being 1-0 down and win games.

The centre half says his team mates fully deserve credit from coming back from being behind to win the game. He says Dundalk showed their class and fully deserved the win.

The Gibraltar International admitted the Drogheda goal was a very soft one and to give it away via a set piece was hurting. But the way the team came back was superb.

He agreed that the defence had to soak up a lot of pressure, yet felt it always looked like Dundalk could get back into the game. The team felt this at half time.

Louie says the substitutions Stephen O'Donnell made on 61 minutes won the game. He says Dundalk have a very strong panel now, with most players back from injury. He says football is a squad game. This was shown against Cork and again against Drogheda.

Louie was happy at Dundalk drawing a team from Gibraltar, FCB Magpies, in Europe. He played for their international team against Ireland last Monday week.

He knows a lot about the opposition too. They had five internationals in the team last season and that more would be coming in. Louie says the team they play are a good side and he is really looking forward to the game. All while being very confidant Dundalk can beat them.

Season Expectations

Stephen O'Donnell has been very realistic in his interviews, particularly when talking about the club’s and the supporters’ expectations for this team. He feels that the supporters’ expectations are much higher and are not realistic.

He repeated that his aim was to qualify for Europe in his post-match interview on Friday. Yet his players seem to have a different view to him.

Three weeks ago in Cork, John Martin said he was fully confident that Dundalk can win the league. Andy Boyle is also confident that if Dundalk can put a run together, they can win the league also.

I think that the manager is right. If they can qualify for Europe next season, it would be another huge success for Stephen O'Donnell. He has a very young team. Some may not be there next year, because they can walk at the end of the season.

I'm constantly repeating this not about Nathan Shepperd. His contract comes to an end in November. Were he to walk away, it would be a huge blow to Dundalk next season. The owners must make him an offer that will persuade him to stay.

It did not happen in pre-season. it may not happen at all. One media source suggested to me that the club just do not have the money. If that's the case, then the club should go looking for new investors as soon as possible. If Drogheda United can get investors, there is no reason why Dundalk cannot.

Have a safe week and please remember to be careful out there.