Improved Dundalk in scoreless draw against Waterford

Football is a funny old game. Last Friday night Dundalk kept their first clean sheet of the season when they played out a scoreless draw with Waterford at Oriel Park.

Two weeks previously they were ripped asunder by five goals to nil by Sligo Rovers in one of the club's worst home performances at Oriel in their history.

The goalkeeper who played that night, George Shelvey has not made the playing squad since as he has been hit by injury. Ross Munro has been in the goals for both the St. Pats and Waterford matches.

He has done what has been required of him, making few if any mistakes and providing stability to the Dundalk rearguard. Archie Davies and Hayden Muller played well at full back on Friday and were always a threat down the flanks .

Andy Boyle was out through injury. 18 year old Sunderland loanee Zak Johnson was excellent at the heart of the Dundalk defence. He was in for the injured Andy Boyle.

I was very impressed with Zak who is a huge asset to the defence. The sad thing is that he is only on loan until June and will be returning to Sunderland at the end of that month.

He says he would really like to stay until the end of the season as he feels he can learn a lot with Dundalk playing in the top flight of Irish soccer. Louie Annesley was exceptional in the other central defenders position.

He was also captain on the night. It was a good decision by the manager. Louie looked after Zak and guided him through the match at the back.

But if he saw something he was displeased about that a Dundalk player had been doing, he would bellow out instructions all over the pitch. He missed nothing. He kept an eye on what his players were doing as well playing so well at the back. Very little got past him.

Louie has been criticised in the past for his performances. But the manager stood by him the whole of last season. He missed most of it because of an illness he developed and at one stage it was touch and go if he would survive. Louie won his battle for life thank God.

Now the manager must not disturb his central defence and change it if it is working. The two full backs Archie Davis and Hayden Muller were immense. They prevented many of the attempted Waterford attacks. They were also able to get down the flanks themselves and create a number of goal scoring chances for Dundalk.

Ciaran McGuckin and Sam Durrant were effective on the wings. Durrant had a great game and came close on a number of occasions. Robbie Benson was very effective in midfield along with Scott High. Jamie Gullan played as a lone striker.

This tactic just did not work as he was given very little supply of the ball. Overall Dundalk just could not put the ball in the back of the net. The result leaves them rock bottom of the league. And even though there are signs of improvement, how long can this be allowed to continue.

The longer they stay rock bottom of the table the more it is bound to affect their confidence. They must start scoring goals. They had chances to do so on Friday. But they failed to take them. Waterford too had their chances and should have scored. But Dundalk were the better side.

There is no doubt about that. Had Dundalk been beaten I would not have been surprised if the owner were to move on letting Stephen O'Donnell go. I would think the draw has bought him just a little bit more time. But maybe I am totally wrong and Brian Ainscough may well be very happy with his manager.

I do not see how. The manager has to take responsibility for the results along with the Head of Football Operations Brian Gartland who brought 11 new recruits into the club. We have a side who has just taken two points from a possible ten.

I am sorry. That is just not acceptable and it's not just the results from this season. Stephen O'Donnell made key mistakes in a number of games that caused Dundalk a place in Europe last season.

Dundalk failed to get anything from most of the top teams around the country away from home. In particular the results against the top Dublin clubs were not good away from home. They were held to a draw against UCD at Oriel.

UCD beat them at Belfield while Dundalk did win the second home game against UCD. And they managed to defeat UCD in the last game of the season.

Dundalk should have finished third ahead of St. Pats. Instead they finished in fifth place with Shelbourne securing fourth place on the last day which was good enough to give them a place in the Europa Conference League. Recruitment was good in parts, but it was also mediocre as well.

Brian Gartland was responsible for the recruitment. Dundalk suffered a hugely embarrassing defeat in the Cup to First Division Galway. They suffered an equally embarrassing defeat in the cup the year before to Waterford.

But they did go on to secure a place in Europe in '22. And to be fair to Stephen O'Donnell he has had to start with completely new teams for the past three seasons. That has been hard.

But Dundalk have been hit badly with the loss of Pat Hoban, Daniel Kelly and John Martin, All of them were good strikers. Hoban was exceptional and in contract. Kelly and Martin were out of contract.

Daniel and John decided to move on for their own reasons. Hoban was let go. That decision has already come back to bite Dundalk hard as they just can not score. Without a very good striker teams will struggle and Dundalk are doing that at the moment.

Oriel is no longer a fortress. Dundalk have yet to score in the league at Oriel and they have failed to beat teams that they should have. But it does look as if this team is beginning to gel. That is very important.

They face league leaders Shelbourne in two weeks time at Tolka Park. That will be a very difficult Good Friday game. On the Easter Bank holiday Monday it's the Louth Derby with Drogheda United at Oriel. That will be a very tough game. A win is vital here for Dundalk. 

Amazingly they won all four of the local Derbies in the league against Drogheda United last season. I can't see that happening this season. Shelbourne are the surprise package of the league this season.

Damian Duff is doing a top class job at Tolka. They have really taken off since Hull City pulled out of the club after they had taken it over. Hull to their credit had invested 3 million euro as a result of the short takeover.

When it seemed Damian Duff might not be kept on as manager at the end of last season, rightfully Shelbourne fans protested. Hull decided to go, but left their 3 million with Shels.

Add to this the European money the Tolka Park side got from qualifying for Europe and they had the money to build a strong and stable side. Compare this to Dundalk.

With the ownership changing once again at the beginning of last December there was some disarray. Add to this the news that the club has debts of over 760,000 euro according to newspaper reports and it's amazing how the club is continuing in football.

Brian Ainscough has been a huge stabilising figure since he came in. Supporters will have to be patient and allow him continue his club rebuilding.

Bringing in Peter Halpin as his new CEO has been a good move. He has plans for a gradual redevelopment of Oriel. This is good. I had heard reports of the club being in debt to the tune of what was mentioned last week before it appeared in the newspapers.

I remember when Dundalk got into financial difficulties in 1997 they had to put all of their players on the transfer list. That will not happen in this case as the new owner is the stabilising factor here.

Indeed who knows in the past when the club was in financial difficulties in 1995 they went on to win the league under Dermot Keely. Maybe Stephen O'Donnell can go on and win the Cup this season. Nothing can be taken for granted in soccer.

Waterford were poor on Friday night. They have had such a good start to the league, I thought they would have been much better. But maybe it was because of the improvement Dundalk showed that made Waterford appear so limited.

Dundalk could have been ahead as early as five minutes when Robbie Benson shot narrowly over. Sam Durrant was once again very impressive. He ran his socks off the whole night. He shot narrowly over on. eleven minutes. Hayden Muller thwarted a definite Waterford goal chance five minutes later with an excellent last minute tackle on Asamoah.

Pádraig Amond was in on goal midway through the first half. A great cross from Connor Parsons saw Amond get in a great header that was bound for the net. Ross Munro made a great save with his feet.

Dundak piled on the pressure as Sam Durrant went close again on 35 minutes. Dundalk assistant boss Patrick Cregg was sent off a minute later after an incident with Waterford player Ryan Burke.

Sam Durrant fired a great shot just wide of the Waterford post as we went close right on half time. Waterford could have scored with five minutes remaining to the break when Baggley for once got past Zak Johnson. Ross Munro was off his line and took the ball from his feet.

Waterford should have been in front 14 minutes after the break when Connor Parsons was in on goal. A dramatic tackle from Louie Annesley saved the day for Dundalk. Stephen O'Donnell made three changes midway through the second half.

Daryl Horgan, Ryan O'Kane and Cameron Elliott came on for Benson, McGuckin and Gullan. Jamie Gullan picked up an injury and was helped off. Robbie Mahon came on for Sam Durrant with 15 minutes remaining and had an excellent game.

Daryl Horgan was great when he came on. His cross found Elliott whose snap shot was saved by Sam Sergeant. With 8 minutes remaining Waterford should have opened the scoring when. Asamoah broke through and unleashed a shot that curved just wide of the post.

Dundalk were sure they had a penalty near the end when Cameron Elliott appeared to have been taken down in the box. Despite everybody calling for a penalty, referee Tom O'Sullivan got it right and booked Elliott for diving.

Dundalk have now gone 452 minutes without scoring. It's a terrible record. Stephen O'Donnell remains under serious pressure despite the better performance and the clean sheet. Dundalk are rock bottom going into the international break.

Despite dropping two more points, O'Donnell was full of praise for the performances of Zak Johnson and Sam Durrant. Answering my questions, the manager says Durrant was always a threat to Waterford.

He said he was excited any time Sam got on the ball in the final third. O'Donnell said he was very sharp on Friday night and deserved his start. The manager told me that Sam had performed from the start.

He said his performance showed that Sam wants to hold on to his starting position. On 18 year old Zak Johnson, the manager told me that he felt he commanded his area so well. The manager said Zak deserved his opportunity to start.

The boss says that Zak really wants to challenge himself and see where the journey takes him. Well I certainly believe he should be an ever present in the team until his loan spell ends in June. Zak Johnston says he was delighted to keep the clean sheet. But he says it's not just up to the defence to do that, it was everybody's.

The team never gave Waterford any time to build up momentum. There is a great togetherness in the team. The defence is very solid and also shows a great ability to be compact.

Zak says that all the defence wants to do is to ensure they keep a clean sheet and help the rest of the team as much as possible. Zak was the last player to sign for Dundalk before the start of the season.

At 18 it was his first move away from home. It did put a lot of pressure on him. But he knew that after speaking to Stephen and Brian, it was the best thing to do. Zak returns to Sunderland on July 6th. He will look at the possibility of extending the loan. That bridge will be crossed when he comes to it.

Louie Annesley was great to play with according to Zak. He was constantly talking and helping him. Louie ensured that neither centre half allowed anything to get past him. Zak believes football can be played at any age.

You just have to show you have the determination and that you can win the ball. On the lack of goals from the team the young centre back believes Dundalk are creating plenty of chances. But as a centre half he says they can not worry about the lack the team are failing to get.

He says if the defence starts to worry about that during a game they will lose concentration and give away a goal. The team could end up with no points at all. Zak says he is not going to get carried away about his performance.

I suggested to him that if he kept playing like that it would ensure Andy Boyle the legend would be kept on the bench. Zak laughed and said Andy is a fantastic player. He had missed the game through injury.

The 18 year old says Andy has been a great help to him since he arrived at Oriel. Zak will just keep plugging away while he has the chance to play in central defence. Andy had pulled him aside before the game to ensure he was okay.

The young Dundalk centre half described Andy Boyle as being a great leader. Andy has taken Zak under his wing. He has helped him to focus and concentrate so much. Zak says Dundalk is a beautiful town. He says there are lots of cafe spots.

There is a great togetherness in the team and they always go for a coffee. This keeps the team spirit up. Zak says Third Place is his favourite coffee place. Jokingly he says this is where the team get together to discuss tactics and plan ahead for the next games.

Ryan O'Kane says it was great to get a clean sheet on Friday, but was disappointed not to get all three points. The team were really strong in attack, but could just not put the ball in the net.

Dundalk were the better team and should really have won the game. Ross Munro had a great game when he was needed according to Ryan. The side were also really well organised. He says these are the positives to build on for the next game.

I suggested to Ryan that I was very surprised he had yet to start for Dundalk in a league game. He says it was frustrating that he had yet to start. The young Dundalk player points out that everybody wants to start.

But he is happy with how he is going and how he is developing. It's on himself when he gets the chance and nobody else. Ryan is just going to focus on himself and see what happens.

Ryan says that it's just about finding the right rhythm that will break Dundalk's goal famine. Everybody knows we can put the ball in the net. On Pat Hoban's departure he says players always move on and these are things that happen in football.

Ryan says for himself that it was great to get twenty minutes of game time on Friday. He says again it's his responsibility to re-establish a more full time place on the team. Personally, I think Ryan should be getting more game time. He is a proven goalscorer and a great creator.

There is plenty of competition for places. But nobody can score. The Dublin media have linked Stephen O'Donnell to the vacant managerial place at Bohemians. O'Donnell brushed off the speculation and said he had heard nothing from the Dublin club.

Stephen Kenny has also been linked to the job. But at the weekend it became clear that Kenny's attention is focusing on a managerial job abroad. He is not returning to the League of Ireland soon. His son Eoin plays for Dundalk U19's.

He is an excellent striker and should be in the Dundalk first eleven. Eoin is a natural striker. He scored for the senior team in the Malone Cup game against Drogheda. Stephen O'Donnell must bring him back into the senior squad.

Dara Keane who was signed from UCD in the build up to the new season remains out through injury. He has yet to play a game for the club. Captain, John Mountney, has also yet to play for the first team. It was great to see him on the bench on Friday.

Hopefully both Mountney and Keane will be playing for the first team soon. Former Dundalk academy player Emmanuel Adegboyega continues to write all the headlines in the UK.

Manny won the EFL young Player of the Month not only for League Two where he plays, but also for League One and Championship. It is a great achievement. Dundalk play St. Mochtas in the quarter final of the Leinster Senior Cup in Clonsilla in Dublin on Tuesday tonight.

Stephen O'Donnell has also arranged a number of behind closed doors games for his team with the international break next weekend meaning there is no league action until Friday week against League leaders Shelbourne at Tolka Park in Dublin.

There was a great tribute to the late Sonia Hoey at Oriel Park on Friday night. Sonia passed away nearly two weeks ago from cervical cancer. She scored the winning goal for Dundalk city Ladies in the women's FAI Cup final at Lansdowne road in November 2005.

A minute's applause rang out among players and the 2,200 supporters who were in Oriel as a tribute to Sonia before the Waterford game. Former Dundalk midfielder Greg Sloggett made his first start for Cheltenham Town on Saturday. He helped his side to a scoreless draw away to Barnsley.

Finally some match stats from Friday night. Waterford and Dundalk both had 50 percent of the possession. Dundalk had 6 shots on target to Waterford's 2. Finally Dundalk keeper Ross Munro had two saves to make.

Waterford 'keeper Sam Sargeant had 6 saves to make. One other stat, Dundalk had 4 corner kicks while Waterford could not even muster a corner kick. Have a great week. Look after each other. Talk to you all next week.