The Commentary Box: Dundalk's hard work was blown out of the water by mistake

Dundalk had been cruising to a vital three points when Gareth McElroy pounced for a goal that could well terminally damage Dundalk's hopes of getting a European spot for next season.

READ NEXT: Louth GAA club | Division One League round-up

Dundalk have led in their last five games and have failed to win. They have also dropped a massive 26 points from winning positions in the league this season. It's a shocking stat. They have also now gone six games without a win in the league.

Dundalk led early in the second half when Daryl Horgan got his second goal in two minutes. They completely dominated the 90 minutes with Sligo rarely threatening.

For once, the thought of Dundalk throwing away the vital points never even entered my mind once they hit the front. Bottom-team Sligo were very poor. Dundalk were very good in the second half.

But the Nightmare on the Carrick Road goal for Sligo came early in injury time. A cross came in to the Dundalk box from the right. Enda Minogue came for what looked like a very collectable ball. But he failed to do so.

Trey George got a shot in. Dundalk were in disarray with Minogue stranded. The ball broke to Gareth McElroy, who struck the ball to the net, which was like a dagger to the heart of Dundalk's hopes of staying in the race for a European spot.

All of Dundalk's hard work was blown out of the water by that Minogue mistake. It's easy to criticise and write columns on what should happen. But the fact is that Dundalk have blown so many games by mistakes at the back.

They most certainly have not all come from goalkeeping errors. But a lot have. And that is an absolute fact. Now the manager must decide: does he keep Enda in goals or turn to the oldest goalkeeper in the league, Peter Cherrie?

Ciaran Kilduff looked a lonely figure as he stood on his own, staring over at the now-empty Shed, as he awaited the post-match press briefings. The manager was gathering his thoughts.

But it must have been so difficult to be nothing but emotional over how the game had ended up. The manager bravely met the media. The local media have nothing but the height of respect for Kilduff and all that he has achieved since he became boss at Oriel.

But there was to be no shying away on the questions that I had to ask him. That was the blunder by his keeper and the dropping of yet another two points.

The Dundalk manager must talk to LOITV first. That is fine. Next he spoke to LMFM radio. I worked for that station for 30 years, and in my time there I often had to wait over two hours for the manager.

That was particularly so in the Trevor Anderson era from 2002 to 2005. There was no LOITV in those days. No Dundalk FM. There was just me and the two local papers.

But it was up to me to ask most of the questions in those days, when Dundalk were going through their darkest days.

Nobody realised the work I had to clock up to get an interview with Trevor Anderson, a manager who ended up with the worst record ever of a Dundalk boss.

One season Dundalk ended up third from bottom of the division and at one stage looked as if they might have to apply for re-election to the league if they had finished in the bottom two.

In those days Trevor did do his post-match interviews with me, and that was to his credit. But he would not allow reporters to talk to his players without his permission. I could just as easily not bothered looking for the manager.

It would not have been frowned upon by the powers that be in the station. But I did put in long hours waiting to get the interview as I knew supporters wanted to hear what the manager wanted to say.

Ciaran Kilduff is the most approachable manager I have seen at Oriel in perhaps my 35 years of covering Dundalk. This is his secret to success at Oriel.

The post-match interviews are now far better structured. Post-match interviews at Oriel this year have never been better in comparison to seasons gone by, and that is even in the recent past.

With his LMFM interview completed, the Dundalk boss came over to talk to the local papers. He was gutted with the result. I knew this interview would be hard for Ciaran Kilduff, but the questions over throwing away so many points when they looked secure for his team had to be asked.

I suggested to the manager that he must be shattered with the result. He said he was devastated. "It's the most devastating and gut-wrenching night I have had here. We dominated the game.

But we did two things that we did not do already this season and got punished for. We did not kill the game. And we conceded a sloppy sickener of a goal. So yes, I am gutted. Everything was going so well for us.

We were controlling the game. Daryl had taken his goal so well early in the second half. I thought even after his goal, that we were going to get a second and even a third goal. We had big chances. Gaxha had chances, as had Igor.

Then we bring on two defenders so that we had four centre halves on the pitch. In the end. We looked solid. But it was always there that a Sligo goal could come. But to concede in the way we did for their equaliser is unacceptable.''

I suggested to the manager that there was not even a sign of Dundalk conceding a goal coming up to the dying minutes. He said there has been a sign in recent weeks and in the last couple of months that his team are vulnerable of giving away late goals.

Tonight Sligo weren't that threatening. We cleared the first attempt, which was great. But we did not clear the second one. Then it's pinball, and it's in your net."

I said to the manager that I had to say it to him that, once again, his goalkeeper was very poor. "That was a difficult one, yes, especially near the end. That's the moment where you have got to be better. There was a culmination going at each other for their goal.

“It was not just one. We had a corner in their box. Sligo broke. The ball into our area has given them a chance to counter. We did give away a foul.

“We had four centre halves and a keeper at this time. Enda has to put his hand up for it. It's black and white. There were still opportunities for us to clear our lines."

I said that I agreed that it's not just one person who is responsible. But I pointed out that it was Enda who was responsible for at least one of the goals against Drogheda a number of weeks ago.

"Yeah maybe. But it's the supposition that every keeper makes mistakes. Now we will have to reflect on it as it was a costly moment. We have to call it for what it is. But again the team are hurting, no more so than Enda and no more so than me."

I suggested to the manager that he could not afford to be conceding goals continually and that it was not good for the team as a whole if they were going to have it continually at the back of their mind that they could keep conceding soft goals.

Kilduff said that every team has these moments. "I remember Liam and Conor Cairns was in goal early on against Drogheda. Conor Keeley came up between them and scored. Look, every week we can be pointing the finger.

“But look, it's me that is accountable, and the staff are accountable. We have thrown a lot of points from winning positions. But we are learning that this division hurts you.

“And It's not just that the lads are in there now and they are holding themselves accountable. They know the game should have been over. Forget about balls into the box that should have been cleared. We have had opportunities to win that game."

I do not think anybody saw the Sligo goal coming. We thought we could see the game out/. We failed to do that."

I asked the manager does what happened on Friday night brings up the question should he bring Peter Cherrie back. I do not know. I will speak to Peter on Monday.

He is a very experienced goalkeeper. I know your feelings on Peter and that he should be given a chance. We will definitely just assess the whole issue. We have Sammy, who is also part of our goalkeeping team.

I suggested to the manager their next game against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght. "The champions on their own ground. It does not come any tougher, does it? It's all very raw for me now. So I do not know where my words are coming from. It's all part of the emotions of it."

"There were a lot of positives to be taken from tonight. We should be talking about Daryl's goal and our new striker Cian putting in a lot of work. Ronan's Teahan's performance should also be spoken about. And all of these things.

We can take a lot of positives from that going to Tallaght. We have played attacking football against all opposition. We will do so against Rovers in Tallaght next weekend.

"On the injury front, Tyreke broke down in training on Thursday. He gets a scan tomorrow. I do not think it's anything major. He could be available for next Friday. JR won't be back till September. Danny is walking. He should be back soon, as should Harvey Warren and Conor O'Keefe.

Tom Grivosti came on with 18 minutes into the second half. Ronan Teahan was my Dundalk man of the match. He was superb, as was Daryl Horgan once again.

Team: Minogue 4. Burns 8. Mayowa 8. Cornwall 5. Teahan 9. Dervin 7. Buckley 5. Replaced by Gaxha on 71 minutes 4. Clarke 7. replaced by Mcdaid on 71 minutes 5. Groome 4, replaced by Givosti on 63 mins 5. Horgan 7. Dillon 6. replaced by Vassenein on 87 minutes.

It was interesting what the manager had to say about his team giving away so many leads. No matter what way you look at it, the manager must bring Cherrie back.

He was faced with a similar situation last year when Dundalk began to throw points away in Division 1. Kilduff took the tough but correct decision to put Cherrie back in goals.

Dundalk never looked back after beating Cobh at Oriel. They marched to the title. If the manager decides to persist with Enda, then I fear a rocky path to the end of the season.

Ciaran Kilduff also mentioned Conor Cairns in his interview. He was signed on loan from Shelbourne. Sadly, he got an awful injury that kept him out for the entire season. But the little I saw of Conor, I had misgivings about him as well.

I saw him making a dreadful mistake against Derry in the first game of the season at the Brandywell. Dundalk had been leading. Conor just did not dominate his penalty area.

He was at fault for a goal against Drogheda in a pre-season game. If the manager is thinking of signing him next season, it would be a number two position, not a number one. He must go out and get a new number one keeper for next season.

It's understood that the manager has secured the signings of a number of the current squad on contracts for next season. That's good. But there are players on the team I would not be giving extended contracts.

The club announced Declan McDaid has been given a new two-year contract. Trevor Dunne is on a two-year contract. Announcements on new extended contracts will be made frequently enough in the coming days or weeks.

I was mystified when I heard that the Dundalk v Castlebar Celtic FAI Cup game is to be played on Saturday 15th August at 5pm, in Oriel. This date is one of the busiest dates on the calendar for Dundalk people and in the region accessing Dundalk.

The 15th of August is traditionally the busiest time of the year for tourists to Blackrock. There is a huge horse racing and dog meeting at the Dundalk stadium which will attract thousands. Why have Dundalk gone for that date?

It makes sense that the cup game could not be played on Friday night. There would be no problem having the cup match then from a Dundalk point. Maybe it does not suit Castlebar to play on the Friday. If that's the case, play it on Sunday evening.

Dundalk would get a good crowd for the game. Playing it on the busiest day of the year in the calendar locally makes no sense whatsoever.

Former Dundalk striker Gbemi Arubi was at Oriel last Friday. Gbemi went to Burton over two weeks ago. He was injured in a friendly playing Birmingham City last week. Burton have given him a week off and told him to go home and visit Ireland.

Gbemi says he has a grade 2 MCL injury. "I have only had two training sessions since I went over there. The injury could have been way worse. So I am happy with things now. I am getting on great at Burton.

“Obviously it's a lot different. It's a total different scenario living over there. But I am enjoying it so far. I got the week off from Burton to come home and get everything together. It was very hard to watch the game from the stand.

“You end up kicking every ball in your head. I was glad to see the transfer to Burton going through. To play in a higher league is part of every player's aspiration.

“I had other offers from other clubs. But I met with the manager of Burton and was really impressed with what he had to say."

The players had a great influence on me going to Burton. It's a very family-oriented town, where everybody knows everybody. It's like Dundalk in many ways.

The injury is a setback to for hope of staying in the international under-age team. That's just for the moment. I will be available again once the injury clears up." It was great to see Gbemi in Oriel on Friday. Let's hope he can get a speedy recovery from his injury,

If one looks at Dundalk's last seven games, their form is one of a team heading for the bottom two. The stats of the past six games give the appearance that Dundalk's form is relegation form.

On the pitch, when one watches them, it does not look like that at all. True, they did not play well in the first half on Friday night. Yet for most of the second half they swept Sligo aside.

The failure to get a second goal made them pay dearly. Dundalk had the chances to get the vital goals. But once again they failed to take them. When you get the chances, you must take them. Daryl Horgan's goal was superb.

Ronan Teahan was excellent at full back for the second week in a row. Bobby Burns also played out of his skin. He was excellent. Once again, Mayowa was top class.

I could go through the rest of the team and say the same thing. Rob Cornwall was disappointing at centre half. Harry Groome was also disappointed in midfield.

Keith Buckley had a quiet enough game. Trevor Clarke hit the crossbar and had a decent enough game. He did seem to pick up an injury.

Leo Gaxha disappointed when he came on as a sub. New signing Cian Dillon showed good potential. I doubt if he is fully fit yet. It will take time for him to settle.

Tom Grivosti only arrived from Pats. He got a late run out. It will take time for him to settle in also. Tyreke Wilson was very badly missed. I just hope that his injury is not serious and that he gets back into the team as soon as possible.

The loss of JR Wilson to injury again raises questions about the astro turf pitch, and its safety for players. Dundalk, of course, have installed a brand new pitch. But the ease at which players seem to be getting injured this season again raises questions.

As in other years, Dundalk managers have had to contend with a high list of injuries. Many are caused while playing in normal games and on the grass pitch.

But a lot are also happening on the astro turf as well. Derry changed back to a grass pitch in mid-season at the Brandywell. Their owner funded the cost.

Dundalk got their new astro turf pitch funded by a government grant. There is no way they could afford to switch back to grass at the present time. I just wish the FAI would ban them in the Premier Division starting off.

They would have to fund a brand new grass pitch at Oriel. It was a man called Sean Connolly who was behind the idea of changing Oriel from a grass pitch to astro. Dundalk were in the First Division at the time. It happened in season 2005.

Dundalk was run by a co-op structure at the time. The Co-op Committee told supporters that it would be a lot cheaper to have the astro instead of grass. They also said the astro could be used as an income earner by letting it out to outside groups.

The success of the idea can be debated among supporters. I remember Dundalk having to play a season out of Oriel because of the decision. Dundalk had to play their league games at Gortakeegan.

This was the home of Monaghan United. It was hard enough to attract home support in the First Division. Support was literally non-existent when the home games had to be played away from Oriel.

It had to have put the club under enormous pressure. Sean Connolly had moved on quite a while ago as the work on the project continued.

The first game played under the new astro turf pitch was against Drogheda in the FAI Cup. Drogheda were doing very well at that time in the Premier Division.

The pitch was heavily criticised by away teams and supporters. Home supporters seemed happy enough with it. But the quality of football was never as good with the astro pitch as it was with the grass pitch.

This season's pitch is the fourth to be installed. It will possibly have a lifetime spell of four to five seasons. Sean Connolly was from the Carrick Road in Dundalk. He spearheaded the introduction of local radio, which began across the country in 1989.

Prior to that, it was the Pirate stations that served the needs of the local community. They were legal in everything but name. But they were not legal and were Pirate. There was a loophole in the law.

The employees all paid tax and PRSI to the government as all other employees in the country. I worked on Pirate radio for six years.

When the stations were legalised, I started working for LMFM. Many of those working for pirate radio got jobs with the new legal stations.

The move to the astro cost Dundalk much-needed funds when they were a year away in Monaghan. There were and still are health concerns about astro turf pitches. It was a bold decision by the Co-op to switch to the grass pitch in 2005.

Ultimately, in 2007 the Co-op had to look to local businessman Gerry Mathews to take over at Oriel as their project of running the club in their model was coming to an end. Gerry had purchased Hiney Park from the club for 700,000 euro just months before he took the club over.

It's amazing that Hiney Park was on the market for 45,000 euro in early 2013. The club was in new hands at this stage. The new owners, who were so forward-thinking and who brought Stephen Kenny in, did not make the move to buy Hiney Park.

This was Dundalk's state-of-the-art training ground. The cost to buy the pitch had slumped because of the economic crash. The Grammar School bought Hiney Park.

The school have been very good to the club as they continue to allow Dundalk to train when they need to on their property.

Sean Connolly moved on to the FAI after he was involved in setting up local radio. He spent a number of years there.

Anyway, let's hope Dundalk can start to pick up victories in the league. They have to. Have a great week. Be careful out there and remember to look after yourselves and each other.