Updated at 10.40
ONE MOMENT THE 30,000 plus home crowd were jeering with tone-deaf whistles Dundalk’s steady passage of buildup play, the next the Polish Army Stadium fell eerily silent for a slow handful of seconds on an August evening in Warsaw twelve months ago.
The best version of Robbie Benson’s jaw-dropping volley to be found is that without any commentary. The brief but total silence of Legia Warsaw’s home ground is preceded by the sound of football cracking against the back of goalkeeper Arkadiusz Malarz’s net — almost like a gunshot.
Benson was quick to admit afterwards that he won’t score a better goal, and just over a year on the 25-year-old still remembers the ball falling slowly towards him inside the box before he pulled the trigger during the Champions League playoff.
“I’d be hard-pressed to score a better goal than that in my career,” he repeats. “Davy (McMillan) gave a great header back to me and when it was coming down I had to make up a bit of ground to meet it on the volley.
“I just said to myself to make sure to keep it down and then just see what happens. When I lifted my head it was already in the back of the net, so I didn’t really appreciate how sweetly I struck it until I saw it back on the replay.”
A year to the day Robbie Benson did this, and Dundalk so nearly made the Champions League group stage. Madness. pic.twitter.com/jRacXSpazs
— Cian Carroll (@CianByNature) August 23, 2017
Benson reeled away in stoney celebration, while members of the Lilywhites coaching staff clutched one another in sheer disbelief, before he allowed himself a wry smile of his own.
“The lads gave me a bit of stick for not celebrating after it initally,” he laughs.
Last week saw many celebrate the one year anniversary of the strike and the game that came with it. Though Dundalk would exit the Champions League at the playoff stage against Legia, where one chapter was ending another was just to start.
The side lost the the playoff 3-1 on aggregate but remained to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League, where they came within one more group win of becoming the first Irish club to reach the competition’s knockout stages.
So many more famous nights unfolded after Benson’s goal — beating Maccabi Tel Aviv, drawing with AZ Alkmaar and scoring against Zenit St Petersburg.
“Between the six group games we came so close to going through to the knockout stages,” he says, “after that we were a little bit disappointed, but again it just wasn’t to be.”
The highs of a third consecutive Premier Division title and a first ever run in the Europa League meant the following season would always find it difficult to match the achievements.
But the manner in which Dundalk have allowed Cork City to forge a 17 point gap between the sides in first and second this season has taken many by surprise, with John Caulfield’s team able to secure the title tomorrow night were Dundalk to fall to St Pat’s.
Benson says that a season in which a club finished second, came close to reaching the Champions League playoffs and could potentially secure three cups would normally be celebrated beyond measure.
However the Lilywhites likely runners’ up spot in the Premier Division has left of sense of disappointment despite continued success on all other fronts.
“At the start of the year you’re aiming to win the league and to qualify for Europe, so from that point of view it’s been a bit disappointing,” he says.
“If you finish second and run a team close in the league, nearly qualify for the group stages of the Champions League and win two cups it’s a good season in anyone’s books. Especially with the prospect of an FAI Cup final being the last game of the season.
“If you win that you’re going into the off-season on a high and you’re dreaming about the following season already. For now we have to keep our league form good in between the cup competitions to keep momentum going. But two cup wins would be really special this year.”
The player corrects himself remembering the Leinster Senior Cup semi-final his side face against former club UCD. He spent two seasons at hometown club Athlone Town before earning a scholarship to Belfield on account of earning 600 points in his Leaving Cert.
During five seasons playing at the Bowl he earned his degree majoring in chemistry and mathematics before picking up a master’s degree in actuarial science.
Making the transition to full-time football at Dundalk has proved successful for the player, where after establishing himself as a first-team regular he has already trebled his goal tally on last season and is likely to finish in double figures playing in midfield.
“Full time football helps you to develop,” he says.
“When I was with UCD you’d be in college and lectures all day. You wouldn’t be eating properly and then you’d be rushing to training and afterwards heading straight to bed without a proper meal.
“Little things like that change when you play full-time. You can rest properly and devote your whole life to training — when you’re sleeping and what you’re eating and your gym work. That’s something that I might not have bought into as much in the past.”
Despite delaying his post-football career and the difficulties that a domestic footballer in Ireland endures with one year contracts and smaller wages, he admits he has few regrets given the experiences he has enjoyed over the last 18 months.
“Being a full-time footballer definitely makes a difference and it’s been good to me so far. I’ll be working long enough when I finish football that I’d probably regret not giving it a go and seeing what happens.
“Thankfully I have done that. I’m a league winner and have played in the Europa League, there have been big games in big stadiums all across Europe — so I haven’t regretted it for one second and just hope I can keep it going for as long as I can.”
Benson saw team-mates Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle move to Championship club Preston at the end of last season following brilliant campaigns from both in defence and midfield.
The player himself stood out during the European run, scoring three goals in total. With more goals added to his game this season, a move abroad of his own has been suggested by many onlookers given his recent form.
As with the end of 2016 when he renewed his contract, Benson says he remains committed to Dundalk and Dundalk only for the rest of this season, but does not shun the idea of testing his ambition elsewhere completely.
“If you asked any player in the league if the opportunity arose they would all say that they want to play at the highest level they can, and I’m no different to that.
“You see Ronan Curtis being linked with a move to Sweden a couple of weeks ago — that’s an avenue that wouldn’t be first choice for a lot of League of Ireland players, but for me playing in the European games last year really gives you a taste for what’s out there.
“I’m a Dundalk player from now until the end of the season. Every player considers their options at the end of every LOI year and you just have to do what’s right for you.
“No more than Daryl and Andy last year. They got offers that could take them onto the next level in their careers — everyone in this league is the same way with the way it is with one year contracts and certain teams not being stable. I’ll just have to sit down at the end of the year and see what’s best for me.”
The midfielder has given himself a terrific platform to enjoy the fruits of top level football, as well as a career afterwards thanks to his own determination and hard work. Where many footballers go to England only to return with no third level education and few job prospects, the player does not have to burden the same worry were an offer from abroad to arise.
“I was lucky that I did quite well in school growing up and managed to get a good degree and the master’s from UCD,” he says.
“In the next few years my concentration will be on football, but part of my decision every year is that each season I stay playing full-time football I’ve given up starting my career, and you have to take that into consideration.
“It’s great to have the education there, but when I signed the manager said to me ‘I need you to play like you’ve nothing to fall back on’. That would be your mindset: that you’re a full time footballer now and that’s it.
“That’s something that I didn’t have to consider before, and it’s a part of Stephen Kenny’s mentality: a will to win and to maximise everything out of all of his players.
“I’ll be playing football for the next few years regardless. I still know that when you’re 28, 29, 30 most people are well into their careers in life. But it’s not something I have to worry about for the next few years anyway.”
He is happy to let his football do the talking and is even happier to be plying his trade at Oriel Park. A late comer to the club’s continued success, Benson looked on from UCD as Kenny led the club to consecutive titles, before establishing himself as a mainstay in the juggernaut.
“Living up here not a day goes by where you don’t see a dozen or so people in Dundalk jerseys. Even if we are going for a coffee in the afternoon there will be people stopping to say how great ourselves and the club has been for the town and the lift that we’ve given them.
“Hopefully that can inspire young kids in Dundalk to play football from a young age and the club can then produce more homegrown players. Because that is important for any team to have local lads to look up to and aspire to.”
Their narrow third round exit to Rosenborg in July means Dundalk’s dream to become the first Irish club to qualify for the Champions League continues.
But for Benson the chance to win a first ever FAI Cup would be another lifelong ambition realised in a season that could see them achieve a cup treble.
“The FAI Cup final is the one day of the year that Irish football is put on a pedestal and is given a good slot. There’s a good buildup to the game, it’s in a nice stadium, things look well and there’s a lot of hype about it.
“I missed it last year and you’re still involved around the buildup: in the hotel the day before and heading down to the Aviva early. Going through all of that but still knowing that you’re not going to be playing is a little bit sour.
“So hopefully I can stay fit for the rest of the season and we can make it through the remaining rounds and reach the final.
“On top of that we have the Leinster Senior Cup plus the EA Sports Cup final against Shamrock Rovers in a few weeks’ time.
“We still have three cups to go and win and have the chance to end the season on a real high. Stephen O’Donnell lifting the FAI Cup in November — that’s how we want to end the year.”
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
