The Commentary Box: Lilywhites fully deserving of place in Europe

Dundalk are back in the big time again and will play in Europe next season after they booked their place with a 2-1 win over Bohemians at Casey’s Field last Friday night.

It was the last home game of the season. There is just one game to go when Dundalk play Derry City at the Brandywell on Sunday.

But they do not have to depend on a result there, as their own win on Friday night combined with Sligo defeating closest rivals St Pats ensured the Oriel Park men are returning to Europe via the Europa Conference League for the first time in two years.

They say football is a funny old game and that it certainly is. A year ago last weekend, Peak6 were pulling out of Oriel. The current or new owners feared their bid was dead in the water.

Out of nowhere the winds of change blew in favour of the local bid. Peak6 seemed to get the real feeling of supporters late in the day and what they wanted. They duly did the deal with Andy Connolly and Statsports.

The consortium moved quickly when they swooped for then Pat’s boss Stephen O’Donnell. The man who has captained Dundalk to so many league titles under Stephen Kenny was out of contract with Pats.

Dundalk wasted no time and moved for O’Donnell. It did not take much to entice the former club skipper home to take up the reins of power. It’s not true to say that the manager started from nothing when he came back to Oriel.

Quite a number of players like Daniel Kelly, Darragh Leahy, Pat Hoban and David McMillan were out of contract. Most genuinely waited to see who the new boss was going to be. When they saw it was O’Donnell back in charge, they stayed.

The manager did not have to go looking for these players. They were there and were very happy to sign for their new boss.

Once O’Donnell walked in the gates at Oriel, the atmosphere changed almost immediately. I could see this from the start as I was the first reporter to get an interview with Stephen O’Donnell.

From the start to the finish of the season there was an air of happiness and positivity among the players that I don’t think I ever saw with Dundalk teams under any other managers I have seen at Oriel.

But the Galwegian, like any human being, had his faults and his positives. His good points far outshone his faults. Maybe sometimes he thought I was being negative when Dundalk hit the bad spell at times since the end of July with the departure of Mark Connolly and Pat Hoban’s injury 12 weeks ago that finished his season.

The fact is Dundalk only won three games out of their last eight in the league. They lost three and drew two. Their performances in the last 10 games of the season at times were like that of a team in relegation trouble.

They were dumped out of the cup by First Division side Waterford. Add to this the fact the win Sligo had over Dundalk. This being reversed and the Oriel Park club being given the three points as Sligo had inadvertently used a suspended player.

Dundalk had Europe all but in the bag a few weeks ago when with three minutes left, they were holding Pats to a 1-1 draw at Oriel. Instead of playing down the clock and going for the draw O’Donnell urged his side forward looking for the win.

Pats won it three minutes into injury time. Stephen O’Donnell defended his tactics for going for the win even though it let Pats back into the European race.

I’m just stating facts here. I’m not criticizing the manager. The Lilywhites very difficult race at the end to make it to Europe was not Stephen O’Donnell’s fault. He had to play his last nine games of the season with as many as eight first team players missing the games through injury.

He lost the best centre half in the country just before Dundalk’s slump when Mark Connolly went to Derry. The once impregnable Dundalk defence suddenly leaked so many goals. Confidence dipped.

But Stephen O’Donnell lifted his side when leadership was needed. He inspired this great achievement of Dundalk returning to Europe. He did it along with his management team, which included the great Dave Mackey.

Dundalk only lost one game at home this season. Stephen O’Donnell told me when he arrived that his first aim was to make Oriel Park a fortress. This he did.

He pointed out to me on Friday night that Dundalk only lost six games out of 35 all season. He was right to say that to me. Five of the defeats were away from home. Dundalk only won four league games away from home also.

But at home they were invincible. They won most home games this season and lost only one. Stephen O’Donnell instilled that Oriel be a fortress and that it was.

He said after the game on Friday that it was a monumental achievement to get into Europe. O’Donnell believed his team went on a great run of form during the season, as they came to within two points of Shamrock Rovers after they beat them at Oriel.

At that stage he began to feel maybe something special could be on. But it was after that Dundalk hit the buffers form wise, before they got their results back on track.

Nightmare Comments

I said to the Dundalk boss he had achieved something magnificent. He said to me that six weeks ago the headline in my article in the paper was Dundalk’s nightmare season continues.

I stand over my comments that the results Dundalk were getting in the latter part of the season were not good. They were played off the park by First Division Wexford in the cup. First Division Waterford destroyed then in the cup quarter final.

They lost against UCD at Belfield in a nightmare game. They gifted the points to Pats at home in Oriel. They just about managed a draw against Sligo at Oriel. That kind of form was a nightmare. It looked as though Dundalk were going to implode.And in reality they did for a time. 

But that was not the manager’s fault nor the teams. It was because they were short eight first team players. O’Donnell inspired the rest of his squad to push on for Europe. That they did was remarkable.

O’Donnell asked me how was it a nightmare six weeks ago? I said it was because their form was so poor at that stage, that it was a nightmare.

I also said if he wanted me to give him the stats I would. He said they only lost six games all season. I said fine, but when Mark Connolly left at the end of July Dundalk’s form took an awful dip.

Again, I said I would go through it with him if he wanted. It was not Stephen O’Donnell or Dundalk’s fault that Connolly left. However, it had a massive impact, along with losing six other players through injury, the likes of Pat Hoban and Daniel Kelly.

Stephen was adamant that the success Dundalk achieved of getting into Europe was not about him. It was about the players. He said games are decided by players. I agree with him when he said if you don’t have decent players, you won’t succeed.

I agree with the Dundalk manager. But it does not matter how good the players are, as if you don’t have a good manager, you go nowhere. In the end the buck always stops with the gaffer.

O’Donnell believed that Dundalk getting into Europe was up there with all the other times he had at Oriel when they did so much. He told me it was so difficult pre-season at training when they only had nine or ten players.

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The 2023 Squad

Stephen confirmed to me that Nathan Shepperd would be staying at Oriel. The Dundalk boss said they had an option on Nathan when they signed him, and he has already informed Nathan of his decision.

He believes Dundalk will need a bigger squad next season in comparison to this year as they will be in Europe. Interestingly, he hinted that if Dundalk and the richer clubs are going for the same player Dundalk would not be in a position to compete with that. In his eyes they would be in the bracket below the wealthier clubs.

Dundalk get €250,000 for qualifying for Europe. Its a tidy sum of money and a nice boost to the coffers. Stephen O’Donnell had to bring in a lot of players on loan as he had to rebuild the side from the ashes.

Lewis Macari came from Stoke City. He was a great signing. Alfie Lewis came mid-season from Plymouth on a permanent deal. He is top class and will be in Oriel next season. Stephen Bradley and Runar Hauge are on loan from Hibernian. They will return to Scotland.

There is no doubt some players will leave. I’d guess that Brian Gartland will be retiring. He has been magnificent at Oriel. He is a legend. He collected four league titles in five years. He won cups and led so many Dundalk teams into Europe.

I’m sure O’Donnell will be keeping Darragh Leahy. He may be under contract for next season. Pat Hoban thankfully is under contract. Andy Boyle is out of contract after next Sunday. But he told me after Friday’s game that he wants to stay at Oriel. I’m sure he will be staying too.

Greg Sloggett and Paul Doyle I’m sure are staying as well. They are probably under contract already. I would like to see Mark Byrne being kept on as sub keeper. But whether the talented goal minder would prefer to go to a club to get regular game time remains to be seen.

Peter Cherrie returned to Dundalk last season. He is happy at Oriel and has been a great help to Nathan Shepperd as a mentor. O’Donnell I’m sure will keep him.

David McMillan answered his critics in no uncertain terms last Friday night with a top class free. I think he wants to stay and should be allowed do so.

The Bohemians Game

Stephen O’Donnell accepted that last Friday night’s performance was possibly one of Dundalk’s worst performances all season at Oriel.

Bohemians were without eight players and were down to the bare bones. Republic of Ireland under 19 keeper Reece Byrne replaced Tadhg Ryan in goals. Ryan was deputizing for the injured James Talbot.

Liam Burt forced Nathan Shepperd into a great save after three minutes. Kris Twardek came close again 10 minutes later with a good header. But Dundalk hit the front on 25 minutes when David McMillan curled an unstoppable 25 yard free to the roof of the net.

Dundalk got an equally great second goal five minutes from half time. Alfie Lewis put McMillan away in the clear in the Bohs half. His pass to Runar Hauge set the Norwegian midfielder up. From a difficult angle he turned on the ball in the box and shot to the net.

Bohs really put Dundalk under some pressure in the second half. Nathan Shepperd pulled off some fine saves. There was nothing he could do a minute from time when Evan Varian scored to leave Dundalk supporters worrying for the remainder of the game.

Jordan Doherty should have leveled in injury time when he shot wide from six yards in front of an empty goal.

With Sligo beating Pats, Dundalk were in Europe. They had got there by virtually stuttering over the line in the last nine games of the league.

The mix up by Sligo when Dundalk saw the result reversed there with them getting thee points even though they had been beaten was pivotal. But for Dundalk that fades into history. The celebrations by fans and players were every bit as good as when Dundalk won four league titles out of five under Stephen Kenny and Vinny Perth.

Lighting Flares

Dundalk supporters have been magnificent this season. Only once was there an attendance under 2,000 at Oriel. Last Friday the attendance was over 3,300. The club have a great fan base.

Sadly, the lighting of flares continues at Oriel. Stadium announcer Mickey Duffy read out a plea from the club that there be no lighting of flares. But the game had hardly started when flares were lit.

It was easy to see from the main stand that the flares were being lit by a small number of people. But the toxic fumes soon filled the stadium. Smoke billowed across the pitch.

Mickey Duffy had told supporters that the club had been forced to pay thousands of euros in fines and pleaded for this not to happen. But the group of seven or eight people ignored the plea and intermittently lit their flares throughout the game.

At a guess the club could now be facing a fine of €3,000. I’m sure these people could easily be identified. Next season the club must identify them and hand out bans on them from attending games, both home and away.

More ominously a father was standing behind the town end goal during the game with his children. A fire work was thrown in their direction that just missed his child. If it had have hit the child, it could have seriously injured them. It’s disgraceful.

Add to all of this was the fact that Mickey Duffy had to announce that the game was in danger of being abandoned because of abuse being hurled at one of the assistant referees.

It emerged that the abuse was being directed at Michelle O’Neill. She was positioned in front of a section of the ground dominated by Bohemians supporters.

No doubt full details will emerge. It’s disgraceful that a young woman should have such abuse directed at her while doing their work. Hopefully we will hear more on what action the FAI intend to take.

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Final Thoughts

As I was leaving, I had a quick word with John Mountney, who was with the club from January 2011 to December 2019. He left Dundalk and went to Pats when Stephen O’Donnell got the manager’s job there.

He was out of football through injury in his second year at Inchicore. He signed for Dundalk in January of this year, returning with O’Donnell. He only came back to first team football six weeks ago.

Courage and determination got him back. He has won all there is to win with Dundalk. But John said seeing Dundalk back in Europe was right up there with any of the title winning nights.

He said to think where the club was last December when it was on the brink to where it is now was a massive achievement. He said that yes, Dundalk did not get any silverware, but they had secured a place in Europe, which was the ambition of every player in the league.

As I looked away for a second, I saw one of Dundalk’s greatest living legends waiting to interview John. It was John Murphy who was on the Dundalk league winning side of 1962-63.

John played with the late great Jimmy Hasty. He was the one-armed player who scored so many goals for Dundalk but who was brutally shot dead by loyalist terrorists in 1974.

John Murphy will feature in a documentary on Jimmy early next year. John used to tie Jimmy’s shoelaces when he stayed in Dundalk in John’s house the night before a Sunday game.

It’s been a pleasure to work with Stephen O’Donnell this season. He always works tirelessly with the media and I would like to thank him for that. Journalistic access to players for post-match interviews is also the best in the country at Oriel. Again, a big thank you to all.

I’m looking forward to my trip to the Brandywell next Sunday as Dundalk face an evening game with Derry City. There is nothing at stake in this game. But I would love to see Dundalk beat Ruaidhri Higgin’s side. Have a safe week. And please remember to be careful out there.