Commentary Box | Dundalk would have been relegated but for their great start to the season

The team that lined out against Sligo last Saturday week, had two changes. Mayowa was out with an injured ankle. Cian Dillon dropped down to the bench.

Thus Dundalk had much the same side in which Ciaran Kilduff warned, had two games to show they were good enough to earn new contracts. There were few of the players he spoke about that really showed much improvement from the game in Sligo.

Sadly, Dundalk have now slipped to seventh in the table. They had been fifth going into the Derry game. But the defeat was a blow to Ciaran Kilduff's hopes that his side could maintain a healthy position in the league despite Dundalk's bad slump in form.

Dundalk would have been relegated or at least have been in the playoffs, but for their great start to the season. They suffered only one defeat in their first 12 games. In their next 23 games, they lost 12 and drew a considerable number.

Dundalk have the third-worst defensive record in the Division. They have conceded 58 goals. Only third from bottom, Waterford and bottom side Sligo have conceded more. Waterford conceded 59 goals, while Sligo conceded 64.

The league goes into its final game on Friday when Dundalk face champions Shamrock Rovers at Oriel Park. Who’s to say that they could concede more? But then again, nobody can say that Dundalk will not get a clean sheet.

If Dundalk are beaten by Rovers and Waterford win, then the Blues will finish ahead of Dundalk. That is hardly a factor Ciaran Kilduff will want to even think about.

But it could well happen. The main issue is that Dundalk are not in the play-off place, which looks like being occupied by Drogheda.

Last week the Dundalk manager said that he knows what the problem is with Dundalk and that he can fix it. The Dundalk boss confidentially said a number of times during the poor run of form that he knows how to fix the problem with the team.

Well, it is going to be one big massive reconstruction job. The manager needs to massively rebuild his defence. I am sure he knows all of this. He needs two full backs, two centre halves and a first and reserve team goalkeeper.

He has to get his defence right. If he does not, then Dundalk will be in serious trouble. Next season too, the manager must have a team which will be very tight at the back.

Kilduff's way or method of playing is to have his team press high into opposition territory. His style of football has been great to watch. But it's results that matter.

Turlough O'Connor's teams from 1985 to 1993 were never outside the top four in the league. They also won the league and cup double and a second league title. They were hardly ever out of Europe either.

The new Dundalk of 2027 must be a strong physical team and, most importantly, one that other teams find very difficult to beat. If either Bohs or Pats are to stop Shamrock Rovers winning the league in 2027, they too will have to become more physical.

They too will have to turn themselves into teams who are very difficult to beat. If they do not, then Rovers will win their seventh title in eight years, in 2027. Ciaran Kilduff needs three midfielders and at least one, if not two, good strikers.

I know that Danny Mullen would be a great player to keep. He is a superb striker. But sadly his injury record has been very poor. It would be a huge risk to take him back to Oriel. Cian Dillon was signed in June to replace Gbemi Arubi.

He has not been the answer. Maybe the manager feels that he needs a good pre-season to give him the space to get ready for 2027. His contract runs to the end of 2027. I have seen very little from Cian's performances that convinced me that he can get any better.

The manager has already signed 12 players for next season's squad. Ronan Tehan was the manager's best signing from the 2026 squad. He is an excellent player who can be used in defence. Midfield or up front.

Aodh Dervin will be back in Oriel next season. I think that is great news. I have said it so often. Aodh is the steel that Dundalk need in the middle. He would die for Dundalk. His work rate in every game is phenomenal.

Aodh signed a new two-year contract a number of weeks ago. Daryl Horgan will stay on as a player for another two seasons at Oriel. The Dundalk captain has been one of those players who have kept Dundalk up.

He scored vital goals at vital times. His goal against Drogheda in August in Drogheda in the last minute won the three points. Those three points turned out to be pivotal in Dundalk staying up.

Mayowa, according to all accounts, has not yet had his own contract renewed for next season. He is a top-class player. I asked him in Sligo ten days ago if he was staying on.

He said he wanted to. But that he had not yet signed anything. I am sure Ciaran Kilduff will re-sign him. I hope he does. Declan McDaid is another player who has been given a new contract.

Declan has been a good asset to Dundalk in the past two seasons. He was a major boost in the window, when Dundalk needed a player of his calibre in the promotion push. He has been a big help this season as well.

He is a good utility player. I would doubt if Conor O'Keeffe will be signing for next season. Sadly, he has been hit badly since he picked up an injury last season. He was excellent for Dundalk in 2025.

Two other players I am wondering if they will be signed are the Wilson brothers. JR was excellent last season and this season as well. But like other players, he has been troubled with injuries. It's great to see Tyreke back playing again.

He has been a great find by the manager. He was let go by Bohemians last season. He has gelled with the rest of the team and has been a great asset. But once again, one wonders if he will re-sign himself or be asked to re-sign.

He has been hit with some serious injuries as well during the season. But if I were the manager, I would do my utmost to have him sign on the dotted line.

Clubs usually have players signed months before the end of the season. They then announce them a couple of months later over a defined period. I am sure this is the case with Dundalk as it is with other clubs.

Ciaran Kilduff's philosophy on soccer is great. He loves to play strong attacking football. But he must change that. At times he must even be prepared to play what one pundit called puke football to win.

Three points and winning are the most important factors in the League of Ireland. Turlough O'Connor, Jpm McLaughlin, Dermot Keely and Stephen Kenny all won leagues with Dundalk.

They built their teams around good goalkeepers. They knew they were the most important players in their team. Good keepers instil great confidence in a successful team.

Richie Blackmore was a top keeper in the Jim McLaughlin era. He was one of the best. Turlough O'Connor had another great keeper in Alan O'Neill. He was equally as good as Richie Blackmore. Both made massive contributions to the club.

Dermot Keeley had Eddie Van Boxtel as his keeper when Dundalk won the league in spectacular fashion in 1995.

Eddie was a person who knew how to entertain the crowds in Oriel with his own sense of humour. But he was a very talented keeper and played a vital part in Dundalk's dramatic march to the league title in 1995.

Stephen Kenny has never been replaced by as good a manager since he left in November 2018. Vinny Perth did win the league in 2019, a year after Kenny did the double. Vinny was Stephen's assistant during the entire period he was at Oriel.

He never really got the credit he deserved when he guided Dundalk to the title in 2019. Many said it was Kenny's team. That's true. But Vinny also brought in players of his own.

But Dundalk has seen nothing but uncertainty since Stephen Kenny's departure. Can Ciaran Kilduff be the man to bring back success to Oriel? I think he can. But it will need stability off the pitch as well. I would be very hopeful he will continue to get that.

Stephen Kenny had a top-class keeper in Peter Cherrie when he arrived at Oriel in December 2012. Cherrie did very well for Stephen Kenny in 2013 and 2014. He was a main cog in the wheel that brought the title to Dundalk in 2014.

It was a major shock when Stephen Kenny allowed Peter to leave the club late in 2014. News emerged that Gary Rogers was being brought in. I felt Peter had been let down badly by the existing manager.

But he did bring in an exceptional keeper in Gary Rogers. He was Dundalk's keeper for the glory years in Europe and four more league titles, including two doubles.

Thus, as Ciaran Kilduff just looks at Dundalk's successes over the past 50 years, he will see that they have always had top-class keepers. Conor Kearns was brought in as Dundalk's number one keeper this season.

He was the number one when he was with Shelbourne three years ago. They won the league. He picked up a recurrence of his injury after just a few games with Dundalk this season. He was out for the rest of the season.

Enda Minogue played 30 games for Dundalk this season. Unfortunately, it did not work out for Enda as all had hoped it would. He surely will not be number one next season.

By doing his homework well over the coming weeks, Ciaran Kilduff can bring in what he needs as his number one keeper next season. And may I say a number two keeper as well.

But the new signings that could help Dundalk have a successful season next year will cost a lot of money. It will depend on how much money Kilduff will have at his disposal if he is to sort or fix the problem he knows he has at Oriel.

Should he fail to strengthen this Dundalk side considerably, then I am afraid Dundalk will be struggling against relegation or play-off for the entire season. That would be an unmitigated disaster.

But I feel the Dundalk boss can help Dundalk qualify for Europe with the right backing. Second place in the League this season is worth 525 thousand euro and a place in the Europa Conference League.

You go straight into round two automatically of the competition. Third place is worth 325 thousand euros and a place in the Europa Conference League round one.

It's not known if Bobby Burns has a contract to stay next season. It's doubtful if Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall will be staying. Tom Grivosti was signed from Pat's in June. Like Bobby Burns, he has done well.

But if Dundalk are to move up a notch, I would be looking elsewhere for another defender. I would keep Bobby Burns. It's been speculated that the manager has given Harry Groome and Leo Gaxha contracts for next season.

That remains to be seen. Gaxha has had it difficult to have an impact this season as he has still been hampered by injury. I would let him go if I were manager.

Harry Groome has started very few games. The midfielder has failed to stand out. I would let Harry go as well. Both served Dundalk well in the First Division. That should never be forgotten.

One player who I have seen no trace of at Oriel in the past few weeks is Republic of Ireland under-17 international Sean Spaight. He has played a number of times for the first team this season.

He is looking forward to the under-17 World Cup next month. I asked the manager weeks ago why Sean's name had suddenly disappeared from the panel. He said there was no rift between them.

Ciaran Kilduff was full of praise for the Blackrock youngster. Kilduff said at the time that Spaight was very much involved in the Republic of Ireland under-17 team and that he was preparing for the World Cup in November.

I was satisfied with that answer. But I still have not seen him in the Dundalk squad nearly four weeks on. He should be very much in the plans of the manager next season.

I had brought up the point as Dundalk had signed centre-half 18-year-old Igor Vasseien on loan from Shamrock Rovers. I had asked the manager why he had gone for Vasseien and not used Sean. Igor turned out to be a good signing by the manager.

He was only 18. But he was very strong at the back. Sadly, Igor's loan spell is over as next Friday is the last game of the season. Igor can not play against Shamrock Rovers as he is not allowed to play against his own team.

Trevor Clarke has been in the Dundalk team since the end of June. He is 28. Trevor is a player whose career over the past year has been marred by injury. He has given everything to Dundalk.

He creates goals. But his injury status would leave a question in my mind as to whether I would bring him back next season. But I have a feeling Trevor may already have another year at Oriel.

Dundalk started the Derry game well enough on Friday night. Daryl. Horgan had a good corner into the box. The ball was cleared. Burns had a shot for Derry. Grivosti cleared off the line for Dundalk.

Derry went ahead with the Dundalk defence all over the place. A long ball through the middle from O'Reilly found Chapman in the box. The ball ricocheted off him. Clarke weaved his way through.

Chapman's shot was cleared off the line by Vasseinein. Clarke followed up, shooting into an empty net. It was a comedy of errors by the Dundalk defence. Minogue did come off his line but did not get to the ball.

He was not to blame for the goal as such. His defence was a mess. The reason why Dundalk have slumped so badly in the second half of the season was there for all to see. There was no defence. But I feel that, as the ball bounced in the box. It should have been cleared.

That lead goal came after just 12 minutes in a terrible goalmouth scramble. Enda Minogue then saved well from efforts by Derry's Clarke and Michael Duffy. Dundalk came much more into the game in the second part of the first half.

Aodh Dervin forced Brian Maher into a good save. Daryl Horgan then had an effort that was not far away. Maher has been injured since August. Trevor Clarke had a good half volley that was turned over the bar acrobatically by the Derry keeper.

Dundalk continued their pressure. Dundalk centre-half Tom Grivosti headed over. Ronan Teahan toe-poked an effort narrowly wide. There were claims by some Dundalk players that Teahan had been fouled.

But referee Mark Lynch waved away the penalty appeals. He was right. I could see no evidence of Teahan being fouled. Enda Minogue saved efforts from Michael Duffy and Clarke.

Derry struck for the second goal in the 71st minute. The Dundalk defence was appalling. Cameron Dummigan played a long ball through the Dundalk defence to the edge of the box. Byrnes laid the ball off for Michael Duffy.

He strolled with ease, unhindered into the Dundalk box. There were no defenders to block him. Enda Minogue seemed to be frozen to his line. Duffy had the easiest of tasks to sweep the ball to the net past the Dundalk keeper.

That was Duffy's eleventh goal in eleven games. He has scored 17 goals in total this season. Michael Duffy won everything with Dundalk.

On Friday, he became the Derry player who has scored the most goals against Dundalk. It brought his tally to eleven. The previous record had been held by the great Liam Coyle, who had scored six goals in total against Dundalk.

But Dundalk fought back. With 10 minutes remaining, Shane Tracey fired a blockbuster of a shot to the net from the edge of the box. Derry had no problem holding on though. They were never under pressure and did not look at giving Dundalk a second goal.

Next Friday Dundalk take on Shamrock Rovers in the last game of the season at Oriel. Ciaran Kilduff's men, I am sure, will give the 2026 champions a guard of honour as they come onto the pitch. It's a pity Rovers are not coming to Oriel looking to win the league.

With Bohs losing to Shelbourne, the trophy remains in Tallaght Stadium for another season. One has to ask why there was no trophy presentation to Rovers on Friday night.

I would be concerned if the FAI expects a presentation to be made in Oriel on Friday. The more sensible thing would have been for Rovers to get their trophy in Tallaght. All that one can do is wait and see what happens.

Dundalk boss Ciaran Kilduff told Eric White from BBC Radio Foyle that his side wanted a good test and they got that. "Both sides knew there was nothing at stake in terms of Europe, relegation or titles..

We wanted to make a good account of ourselves. We were able to do that at times. Derry have so much quality throughout their side. That could be clearly seen tonight.

We were a bit frustrated by the ease with which they got the goals. We probably shot ourselves in the foot at times as well. We did well to come back into it with a goal of our own.

We were maybe a bit frustrated by the ease in which they got their goals. We had possession in our own box for their first goal. The second goal we gave it away and the ball was in the net."

"We rarely thought we were out of the game tonight. That's the way we felt tonight even when we were 2-0 down. We fought back to get a goal. We have never been out of our depth this season as the newly promoted team.

That's what is so frustrating. We are sick of not winning. We are sick of losing. But we really played well here tonight. There are, of course reasons why we lost this game. There are reasons why we lost, and we know that.

We are happy with the season overall. We are not happy with the last two weeks. We are happy with our season in terms of the output. There are green shoots.

We have done very well against Derry in most of our games this season. We came here in February as the newly promoted team. They had just been in the President's Cup final against Shamrock Rovers.

We drew with them 2-2. It took a late Mickey Duffy goal to draw the game level. Without being disrespectful to Derry, we have not had a great second half to the season.

"The level is so much different in the Premier Division than it is in the First Division. If you make a mistake in the First Division, the ball is in the net. We have been brave in the Premier Division.

We have played the high line. We did not come up here and make the game slow. It's refreshing. Maybe in the second half of the season, injuries and players departing has hit us.

New lads coming in also affected us. They needed time to settle. We have got to the points tally we have by being brave. We did not go into games to come up and suffer. There have been twenty goals scored in Dundalk -Derry games this season.

I learned this season in the Premier Division that if you make mistakes, you will be punished."

"We play Shamrock Rovers next Friday. Our club has been through the wringer in the past number of seasons. Rovers are on the crest of a wave. They have won six league titles in seven years. 24 months ago, the club nearly disappeared.

We got promoted. Now we are back in the Premier Division and have stayed there. We can try and finish the game on a high against Rovers, even though they secured the title tonight."

It is a real pity that Shamrock Rovers are not coming to Oriel looking for the win. Dundalk would have given them a right run for their money.

It will still take a huge effort for Dundalk to get back to winning titles. But it may not be as far off as people think. It really depends on what happens off the pitch.

If that is good, Oriel Park would not be that far from being in Europe. And as John Murphy from Dundalk FM told me. It really is about getting into Europe now and not just about winning titles. I agree.

Finally, accounts filed with the Company's Registrar's Office for the tax year 2025 show that Dundalk lost around 300,000 euro.

The accounts also show that the club's biggest risk is that they are loss making and owes in excess of one million euro to creditors who are independent of the owners.

Have a great week. Look after yourselves. And please remember to be careful out there.