FAI Cup offers Dundalk chance to reset after difficult run
Ciaran Kilduff admits the break from league action could prove beneficial for the Lilywhites
The Club Orange FAI Cup may have arrived at an opportune moment for Dundalk FC as they look to halt a run of three successive defeats when they welcome non-league St Mochta’s to Oriel Park in Friday night’s second-round tie (kick-off, 7.45pm).
Originally drawn away to the Leinster Senior League side, the fixture was subsequently switched to Oriel Park, where Ciaran Kilduff’s side will attempt to put behind them the disappointment of Friday’s 2-1 Louth derby defeat to Drogheda United and begin what they hope will be an extended cup run.
Speaking to the Dundalk Democrat after the derby defeat, Kilduff admitted the break from league action could prove beneficial as his side enter the final third of the campaign.
“We need it, to get minutes into people that need it, recalibrate things, zoom out, realise that we’re going into the last third of the season.
“Hopefully we can start a cup run. We’re fourth in the table with 12 games to go — if I’d asked someone that in January, would you have taken it? You probably would. So we’ll go again, we’ll dust ourselves off.”
While Dundalk will start as clear favourites, Kilduff was quick to warn against underestimating their opponents. St Mochta’s finished seventh in this season’s Leinster Senior League and, in previous meetings, have shown they are capable of causing problems for the Lilywhites.
The clubs have met twice previously in cup competition. Dundalk recorded a 5-1 victory in the FAI Cup at Oriel Park in 2021, but St Mochta’s gained revenge three years later with a memorable 2-0 Leinster Senior Cup win at Porterstown Road.
Kilduff is well aware of the standard outside the League of Ireland, having coached Maynooth Town to the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup in 2021.
“I’ve managed at that level as well with Maynooth. Good players. A lot of players that are good enough to play League of Ireland, definitely First Division, but have work commitments alongside it. It’s going to be a tough game and we need to be ready for it.”
With a place in the last 16 at stake, the competition also represents Dundalk’s most direct route to silverware, European qualification and, potentially, a long-awaited return to the Aviva Stadium for November’s final.
Fresh from a weekend that saw Louth’s footballers bring thousands of supporters to Croke Park for their All-Ireland semi-final, Kilduff hopes Dundalk can provide their own memorable cup journey over the coming months.
“That’s the objective. As I said, we’re going into the final 12 games now, the home stretch and the cup starts. So it’s a great distraction and we’ll do everything we can to make a good account of ourselves in that as well.”