Inside Track: Looking to the future, Dundalk have work to do

Celebrations following Dundalk winning the League of Ireland’s First Division title are said to have been hectic on the night of the clincher, that Oriel Park 3-0 defeat of Finn Harps.

And they continued over the week, with the culmination of an arduous campaign coming in Cork’s St Colman’s Park on the Friday night.

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This was a lap of honour, a contest between Cobh Ramblers, with the champions ending the competition, appropriately enough, with a win.

There were plenty of C’mon the Town accents to be heard on the Dundalk FM commentary, which had, as nearly always, John Murphy as an outrider to Ger Cunningham. Gussie Hearty was on sound.

The Dundalk team had several peripheral players on view, which was to be expected given that the title was already in safe keeping. Cobh, however, had lots to play for, but it didn’t show in their performance.

The league’s final count had Ciarán Kilduff’s side ten points clear of Cobh, who now face play-offs in their bid to win promotion, along with Dundalk.

The dividing margin was not as big as the one First Division champions, Cork City, engineered last season. Twenty-two points divided the Leesiders and the second-placed, which is about as decisive a victory you could get.

Cork would have harboured ambitions on their return to the Premier League. But rather than re-establish themselves in the top tier, regaining a place near the head of affairs – where they were when Stephen Kenny was guiding the good ship Dundalk FC – City now find themselves quickly heading back to from where they came, the whippers-in in a competition dominated once again by Shamrock Rovers.

There should be a lesson there for Dundalk. It’s a whole new world in the Premier League, and making an impression on their return represents a mighty challenge for all who’ll be involved at Oriel in 2026. Maybe even before then.

There are many issues to be tackled, not least among them raising the finance to bring in new players. This year’s panel did all that was asked of them.

There were many young and inexperienced players included, and all did the business, with a number of them catching the eye of International underage team managers.

They’ll be older and wiser, but still needing to have seasoned players around them. Going to the marketplace low on cash won’t pay dividends. Nor would a shortage of finance make the decision to change from training a few nights a week to full-time any easier.

Lack of loyalty wouldn’t be the reason for Ciarán Kilduff to take his leave. The former Oriel favourite in his playing days made his first strike as a League of Ireland manager a winning one, and as a result, could only have a strong affinity with the club.

His achievement wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by other clubs; but when he spoke after the title-securing win over Finn Harps, it wasn’t the possibility of being head-hunted that he mentioned.

What he had to say was easily interpreted. “It’s just a case of whether the club is ready”, and, “We’re in the division (Premier) where we wanted to be in, but it’s about trying to find a way of how we’re going to do it (stay in the top grade) right now,” he said in an interview.

That was an inch-perfect pass to the boardroom. The message is clear: The panel will have to be strengthened, if the team is to survive in the top division, and there may be work to do off the field.

That’s all for the future. Right now, John Temple, the team and management, and the loyal supporters who made Oriel the place to visit on match days, have reason to be happy with all that’s been achieved over the past year or so – No 1, keeping the club afloat, and, No 2, meeting the main target on the field.