Kilduff proud of Dundalk response despite Rovers defeat
The Lilywhites boss was pleased with his side’s performance against Shamrock Rovers
Dundalk FC manager Ciaran Kilduff praised the character of his side after they twice came from behind against Shamrock Rovers, but admitted that the goals they conceded ultimately proved too costly in their 3-2 defeat at Tallaght Stadium.
The Lilywhites recovered from conceding a penalty inside the opening three minutes and again responded after Michael Noonan restored Rovers’ lead, with Rob Cornwall and Daryl Horgan getting them back on terms.
Jonathan Afolabi’s goal eight minutes before half-time proved decisive, however, despite Dundalk creating opportunities to rescue a point after the break.
“I’m very proud of those lads in there,” Kilduff said. “I think we made a good account of ourselves. They’re a very good team. We were happy with the goals we scored, but some of the ones we gave away were frustrating.
“We always go toe-to-toe with them and we did again tonight. At times we could have been better in our possession stuff, but those lads have given everything.
“Just after half-time, we rolled the dice to see if Mayowa Animasahun and Ronan Teahan could carry on, and losing both of them meant we had to change the shape. You can see Aaron Keogh coming on for a debut.
“So we had a bit of adversity there that we faced, but I’m very proud of the lads. We gave everything and it’s just on to the next one.”
The opening goal was particularly frustrating for Kilduff, coming after Dundalk had started brightly and applied pressure high up the pitch.
“I know it was only two minutes in, or 90 seconds, but we started quite well, positively,” he said. “We’d won a couple of balls high and then it’s just a throw-in. I think Ronan Teahan’s pressing the wrong side. They’ve turned, they’ve flipped the ball in, and it’s a penalty and it’s hard from there.
“But picking the positives, we reacted brilliantly and went down the other end and equalised, and did it twice. But you can’t keep giving goals away like that.”
There was no shortage of opportunities for Dundalk to take something from the game, particularly in the second half, when Kilduff’s side continued to push Rovers back despite losing two players to injury.
The game, which was televised by Virgin Media, produced an open second half, with Enda Minogue making important saves for Dundalk and Ed McGinty denying Trevor Clarke and Leo Gaxha at the other end.
For Kilduff, the missed opportunities were perhaps the most difficult aspect of a night when his side had already been forced to contend with a number of setbacks.
“That’s probably what the heartbreak of it all was,” he said. “We had to deal with a lot. We had a lot of injuries probably coming into it, then to lose two at half-time.
“But to keep going like that and banging the door down, it would have been a brilliant night for us to get something out of that game, considering all that we had to go through.
“It’s hard to fault any of those players in there because, from our point of view, we acquitted ourselves very well throughout, but obviously came up short.”
The defeat means Dundalk have now gone six SSE Airtricity League Premier Division matches without a victory, although they remain fourth in the table heading into the final quarter of the campaign.
Fifth-placed Shelbourne have a game in hand, but Kilduff is keen to focus on the opportunities still available to his side, beginning with Saturday’s Club Orange FAI Cup last-16 tie against Castlebar Celtic at Oriel Park, which kicks off at 5pm.
“When you’re the newly promoted team, this is the scenario going into the last round of games, with a chance of potentially even making Europe. What an opportunity for the group,” he said.
“But we have another game next week in the FAI Cup, a chance to get into the quarter-final of that at home. So we won’t be slacking off.
“We need everyone back. We need to get the lads who came off injured tonight assessed. We have a couple, the two Wilsons, etcetera, Danny Mullen not a million miles away either.
“So the quicker we can get boys back, the quicker hopefully we can finish strong.”