Set-piece woes haunt Dundalk again as Kilduff reflects on derby loss
Lilywhites manager Ciaran Kilduff admits his side aren’t performing to their usual high standard
Another costly collapse left Dundalk FC searching for answers after Friday night’s 2-1 Louth derby defeat to Drogheda United, with manager Ciaran Kilduff admitting his side had “fallen well below” their usual standards after surrendering yet another winning position.
Speaking to the Dundalk Democrat after the match, Kilduff reflected on a result that saw Dundalk’s tally of points dropped from winning positions rise to 22 this season.
Having led through Gbemi Arubi’s first-half opener, the Lilywhites were undone by two Shane Farrell goals in the final 20 minutes to suffer a third successive SSE Airtricity League Premier Division defeat.
“It’s not good. The league has such fine margins. No team is ever done at this level. You can be dominant and 1-0 up, or even 2-0 up like we were against Waterford, but no one’s not good enough to punish you. We have, in recent weeks, been punished.
“That was a game there tonight that was there to be won. The stakes were too high. We know the rivalry that is here. That hurts us. Forget the previous two weeks, we still found ourselves in a good position at half-time and, in the second half, we just fell well below our level.”
Friday’s result also extended an unwanted sequence for the Dundalk boss. Across his spell in charge, spanning both the First and Premier Divisions, Drogheda remain the only League of Ireland side Kilduff has yet to beat, despite his team taking the lead in all three meetings this season.
“It’s frustrating. We were aware of it as well. It’s the only team this year that we hadn’t beaten. We’ve taken the lead against them now three times. It’s one of those silly omens. We get them again at least once more this season, so we’ll do our best.”
Referee Robert Harvey’s performance drew repeated frustration from the Oriel Park crowd, while Kilduff was shown a yellow card as the teams left the field at half-time.
Although unhappy with several decisions, the Dundalk manager insisted his side’s own shortcomings were the principal reason they came away empty-handed.
“I got booked myself at half-time for just approaching them. I hadn’t even spoken by that point. There were a lot of decisions there,” he said.
Kilduff pointed in particular to an incident that temporarily left Dundalk playing with 10 men after Rob Cornwall required treatment following a challenge.
“Probably the most frustrating moment was that we got a free-kick for an elbow into Rob Cornwall’s face. It’s not the referee’s fault, but Rob has to come off — that’s the rules.
“As Rob was coming back on, Bobby (Burns) probably took his time waiting to get Rob on, then Bobby had to come off. So, for our free-kick and their foul, we ended up being down to 10 men for two or three minutes.
“There’s a lot of frustration. However, the biggest frustration for me isn’t the officials. It’s ourselves.”
The Dundalk manager acknowledged his own disciplinary record this season but maintained his dissatisfaction extended well beyond refereeing decisions.
“I’ve already done a suspension this year and I think I’ve got seven or eight yellows. We’ve the highest red-card count in the league by a distance. Last week I was furious. There was an incident where a player was flagged offside from a throw-in.
“I am frustrated, but I’m frustrated at many things, not just the referees. I’m frustrated at our own performance. I’m frustrated at a lot of things. Overall, they cost us a little bit tonight.”
Set-pieces again proved Dundalk’s undoing, with Farrell equalising from a free-kick before netting the winner after the hosts failed to deal with a corner.
Those goals took the Lilywhites’ tally of concessions from set-pieces this season to 16 — the highest in the Premier Division.
“Set-pieces are huge in this league. Two of our last goals ourselves have come from set-pieces. We scored from a corner here against Waterford and a corner in Tolka Park last week. They’re huge and we need to get better at them.
“Teams are physical in this division. You can see Drogheda are very, very good at set-pieces, but we have to dust ourselves off. We have to watch that back, debrief and try to get better.”
Despite three consecutive defeats, Dundalk remain fourth with 12 league matches remaining, and Kilduff insisted there is still everything to play for.
“We’re not out of anything yet. I said it a couple of weeks ago. We’re not out of the European race, we’re not out of the relegation race, we’re not out of anything.
“Why do we feel that we would’ve ever been entitled to anything? We have two-thirds of a long season coming. We have a long way to go.”