Commentary Box: Dundalk end season with win over Shamrock Rovers

Rovers brought the largest away support seen in Oriel for a long time. The game was played in front of an attendance of 3,171 people. Ironically, the last time Dundalk won in Oriel was when they beat Rovers in May.

The league trophy was presented to the champions after the game. It could have been given to Rovers the week before in Tallaght when they sealed the title. Understandably, the Rovers manager did not want his players' attention being diverted from that game.

Thus he insisted on the league trophy being kept well away from Tallaght. But the Rovers boss had no problem celebrating a remarkable sixth title in seven years at Oriel.

Rovers were not too bothered that they did not get the win and indeed saw their season end in defeat. Dundalk FC have taken a remarkable seven points from a possible ten from Rovers this season.

The game also saw them get their most impressive win over Rovers in seven years. And it also marked the end of a Dundalk legend's playing career, Peter Cherrie.

Cherrie was named number one on the team sheet and played from the start. I was delighted to see this. It was a nice gesture by Ciaran Kilduff to play Peter in at least part of the game.

But just on the half-hour mark, Peter was replaced by Enda Minogue, the regular keeper the Dundalk boss has used since the injury of Conor Kearns at the start of the season.

Ciaran Kilduff paid tribute to Peter after the game. He has confirmed Cherrie will be staying on as his goalkeeping coach next season. It was pre-agreed that Peter would play for the first 35 minutes of the game.

At first, it's believed Peter was reluctant to do so. The manager wanted him to play longer. In the end, the curtain came down on Cherrie's career just after 8.15 last Friday.

Peter Cherrie retires at age 43. It's believed he wanted to retire at the start of last season. But the manager persuaded him to stay on for another season. Peter remains on as head goalkeeping coach.

Friday night was his 274th appearance for the club and his 12th season as a Dundalk player. Peter left the pitch in the 33rd minute and was greeted by his daughter on the touchline.

He came to Dundalk in 2009 and won a league medal under Stephen Kenny in 2014. In a shock move in Christmas of that year, Kenny released Peter. He made 179 appearances for Dundalk between 2009-14.

Peter went on to play for Cliftonville, Bray, Cork City, and Derry City. He returned to Dundalk in 2021. He was number two keeper. But as Dundalk dropped dangerously close to the relegation zone, he was brought back into the team.

It was Charrie's goalkeeping that kept Dundalk in the Premier Division that season. Peter played 37 times for Dundalk between 2021 and 2024.

Dundalk made four changes from the team that played in Derry the previous week, where they were beaten 2-1. They also went into the game without Igor Vasseinehin an 18 year old centre half who has been on loan from Shamrock Rovers.

He could not play against Rovers because he was on loan from them. Cian Dillon started as striker. After a quiet first half, he sprung to life and got two well-taken goals. His work rate and goals won him the SSE Airtricity Man of the Match. He deserved it.

Paul McLaughlin took charge of the game. The last time he took charge of a Dundalk game was the cup quarter-final game against Derry in the Brandywell. McLaughlin gave Derry a penalty when everyone in the stadium saw it was not one.

Weeks later the referee apologised to Ciaran Kilduff and admitted he had made the wrong call. In many ways, I found it surprising he was in charge of Friday's game.

He is a good referee though and did a good job on Friday. Ironically, Ciaran Kilduff ended up in his notebook in an incident on the sidelines in the last 15 minutes.

Ciaran Kilduff pointed out afterwards that it took Gbemi Arubi a minimum of six months to settle in at Oriel.

Paying tribute to his new striker, Kilduff said that it was taking time for Cian to settle. But he said the two goals on Friday were a good indication of the player's potential.

Dundalk lined out with Peter Cherrie in goals. Robbie Burns and Tyreke Wilson were the two full backs. Tom Grivosti and Rob Cornwall were the centre backs.

The five midfielders were Daryl Horgan, Trevor Clarke, Aodh Dervin, Shane Tracey and Ronan Teehan. Cian Dillon was the sole striker up front. Cherrie was replaced by Minogue on 33 minutes.

Shane Tracey was replaced by Harry Groome in the 77th minute. Tyreke Wilson was replaced by Luke Mulligan in the 77th minute. Aodh Dervin was replaced by Keith Buckley on 49 minutes. Trevor Clarke was replaced by Leo Gaxha on 49 minutes.

Enda Minogue was a safe pair of hands on Friday night when he came on for Cherrie. He made two key blocks that could have produced Rovers goals. Peter Cherrie took off a number of good blocks also.

He could not have been faulted for Rob Cornwall's own goal from the Dylan Watts cross. Daryl Horgan, Shane Tracey, Trevor Clarke, Ronan Teahan, and Tom Grivosti all had great games. Grivosti was outstanding at centre half, as was Rob Cornwall.

But Grivosti was getting involved in everything. Daryl Horgan and Cian Dillon were excellent. I thought Leo Gaxha was also superb when he came on as a sub. Aodh Dervin fought for everything in midfield.

Tyreke Wilson may have played his last game for Dundalk. His brother JR is expected to return to his normal occupation. Playing full-time does not suit him. He is also expected to go back to play Junior soccer.

The loss of Tyreke Wilson will be a huge blow to Dundalk. Tyreke is believed to be going to Bohemians. He will be a great asset to them. He has had a great year at Dundalk.

Friday night was also the first time in 16 years that Rovers collected a trophy outside Tallaght. Dundalk correctly gave Rovers a guard of honour as they came out on the pitch as a mark of respect for them winning the league.

Daryl Horgan carved the Rovers defence open with a great through was met by Trevor Clarke's . His effort was blocked by Ed Ginnity, the Rovers keeper. Before that, Graham Burke lobbed Peter Cherrie from 40 yards.

The ball went wide. Ginnity was called into action again when Horgan's cross was met by the head of Cian Dillon. Again, the Rovers keeper saved.

Items were thrown onto the pitch by Dundalk fans from the shed. Daryl Horgan had strong words with them. That was that. Rovers nearly broke the deadlock on 12 minutes when Adam Brennan's shot came off the Dundalk post.

Trevor Clarke played so well for Dundalk until he got injured. He broke through the Rovers defence on 14 minutes. He had the Rovers goal at his mercy. The ball hit the side netting.

Cherrie took off a great save on 22 minutes. The ball was bound for the net when he got a hand to the ball. Rovers broke the deadlock on 24 minutes against the run of play.

Dylan Watts swung a corner in from the left. The ball came off the back of Rob Cornwall's head and into the net. It was an own goal. Dundalk did not deserve to go behind.

Horgan and Clarke were constantly changing wings in order to confuse Rovers. Bobby Burns was the victim of a bad tackle by Graham Burke. The Rovers player was lucky to get away with a yellow card.

Enda Minogue was just on the pitch when Graham Burke broke through. His shot was saved by a well-positioned Dundalk keeper. Minogue was forced to come out of his penalty area when Rovers broke through.

He did well to clear the ball to safety. Dundalk went in at half time a goal down. Ronan Teahan and Leo Gaxha combined well in the second half. They came close twice.

Dundalk levelled on 58 minutes. Gaxha had a great game and put Rovers under a lot of pressure when he came on as a sub. He passed the ball to Keith Buckley, who was also a second-half sub.

The former Bohemians captain put the perfect ball into Daryl Horgan. The Dundalk captain shot home from 12 yards. It was a great goal. I was surprised to hear that Dundalk's last six league wins over Rovers were at Oriel and not one recent one in Tallaght.

Leo Gaxha created Dundalk's second goal. His cross into the box was deflected to Cian Dillon. The young striker headed home. Dundalk were now in front. This time they put out of their minds that they were not going to give up a lead.

Before this, they had dropped 31 points from leading positions. Dundalk sealed the win when Gary O'Neill made a mistake. Teehan got the cross in. This time Cian Dillon shot home.

Dundalk had 27 scoring attempts in this game to Rovers' 4 attempts on goal. It's an unbelievable stat that shows how much Dundalk had Rovers on the ropes. Ciaran Kilduff received a yellow card for something that happened on the touchline.

Rovers went down to their eighth league defeat. Dundalk had their second win in 15 league games and their first in Oriel since May. Dundalk finished a respectable sixth in the table on 45 points. They finished five points clear of the play-off zone.

I was amazed at some of the media who were pedalling the story that Dundalk were never in danger of finishing in the play off spot. Oh yes they were. They were four or five points clear of nearest challengers Waterford and Drogheda going into the last few games.

Had Daryl Horgan not scored the late winner against Drogheda near the end of the season, Dundalk would have been in trouble. They only ensured their safety with three games remaining.

That was the 1-1 draw in Sligo, who were already relegated. It was the late Ronan Teehan goal that ensured Dundalk's safety. They lost their second-to-last game. It did not matter. They were safe. The win over Rovers was a real bonus.

Dundalk had a great start to the season, even up to the window. But since June, they just imploded. Yes, they finished five points clear of the play-off zone. But they were under pressure in the run-in.

No matter what other reporters may say, I know Dundalk's end to the season could have been a nightmare. They got the results they needed with little breathing time left. I was in Sligo for Dundalk's great escape.

Dundalk were terrible that night. The wonder goal that ensured they were safe came from Ronan Teahan. It was a shot outside the box. The ground was very sticky.

It was a slow ball. The Sligo keeper came out for it. He had it momentarily. He lost it, and the ball slowly trickled over the line.

So Dundalk's 100 per cent confirmation that they were safe from the playoffs came in the 90th minute of their third last game of the season.

Having said that, the players deserve great credit for keeping Dundalk out of the playoffs and away from relegation. Manager Ciaran Kilduff never stopped believing in his squad. He deserves the utmost credit, as does his backroom team.

He has been getting ready for next season for the past couple of months, on the basis that Dundalk would stay up. He is now believed to have at least 13 players signed up for next season.

These include current and new additions to the squad. Tyreke Wilson and JR Wilson are leaving themselves. Others are being let go.

Dundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff was full of praise for his outgoing squad after the game. He thanked them for all their efforts. He agreed that they had done well to keep Dundalk up. To finish mid-table was, he said, a great achievement.

He wants to see Dundalk take a further step up in progress. He says that Dundalk have moved from being relegated to promotion and then finishing 6th in the Premier Division. The season finished excellently.

Media reports at the weekend said that Enda Minogue was leaving Dundalk now the season is over. The Dundalk keeper has been at Oriel for the past two seasons. Shamrock Rovers are being linked to Bohemians number two keeper Chorazaka.

He is a free agent. But would the Bohs number two be happy to be Ed Ginity's number 2 at Tallaght? I doubt it. If Dundalk can give him a decent offer, he might well be tempted to Oriel. He is a top-class keeper. And would be guaranteed the number one spot.

Shamrock Rovers have been linked to Waterford striker Tommy Lonergan. They are also said to be chasing Pat's, Kian Leavy. He is of course from Ardee. He is attracting interest also from Aberdeen, Hibernian and Doncaster Rovers.

Dundalk are also being linked to Sligo Rovers Jeannot Esua and Cian Kavanagh. Esua is aged 30 and is from Cameroon. He is a right back. He came to Sligo in 2025. He made 16 first-team appearances for the north west club.

Sadly, Sligo, of course, finished at the bottom of the Premier Division and were relegated. Cian Kavanagh was a forward with Sligo.

He made 50 first-team appearances with the Showgrounds side in 2026. He scored ten. He also played with Pats in 2024. He has also played with Derry City. He is 23 years old.

Bohemians are the club chasing Tyreke Wikson. He has already been with the club. His contract with Dundalk is up. Dundalk wanted to sign him back. But Bohs have made him a significant offer.

This would be the reason why he has decided to return to Bohs. Dundalk are right not to be paying huge money for players. The ghost of 2024 is never far away. They must keep within their budget.

Enda Minogue is not having his contract renewed by Dundalk. It finished after the Rovers game. Enda played a key role in getting Dundalk promoted after just one season in 2025. He played 30 times for the Oriel Park club this season.

He had five clean sheets in 2026. It must have been hard to come in as a number one when he was suddenly faced with the fact that Conor Kearns was out for the rest of the season after just a few games due to injury.

Conor has returned to his parent club Shelbourne. He had been on loan from Shelbourne. Peter Cherrie retires at 43. He is the oldest ever keeper to play in the top League in Ireland.

The Dundalk academy women's team were beaten 2-1 in the WDL Shield in Oriel Park on Sunday evening. They have had a great season. Women's soccer at Oriel can only go from strength to strength.

Have a great week. Please remember to look after yourselves and each other. And be careful out there.