THE LEAGUE ISN’T won or lost in March, but Dundalk ensured there wouldn’t be a repeat of last year by claiming victory over Cork City last night.
In 2017, John Caulfield’s men raced into an insurmountable lead at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division after beginning the campaign with a 22-game unbeaten run.
At Oriel Park, the reigning champions had the chance to open up a seven-point advantage over their title rivals with just four matches played. Instead, the Lilywhites move to within a single point of the leaders as Pat Hoban’s early finish proved enough.
The home side should really have added a couple more, but a combination of City goalkeeper Mark McNulty — who made up for his error for the opener by saving Robbie Benson’s second-half penalty — and wasteful finishing saw it end 1-0.
“We very much earned the right to win today but because that second goal wouldn’t come for us, you can never be comfortable,” Kenny said last night. “Had we got a second, I think we might have scored a third but it’s an area we’ve done work on — getting our finishing right.
“I can’t fault the players in their effort, so it was good from that point of view.
“Gary Rogers was very calm and reassuring and the back four defended as a unit. They had the chance in the first half with Barry McNamee and Gary saved, but we didn’t give away too many chances after that.”
After stalemates with Bray Wanderers and Shamrock Rovers, the Lilywhites have now recorded back-to-back wins and they are yet to concede a single league goal so far.
“It was important because we haven’t done a lot wrong this season,” added Kenny. “We’ve played well and probably should have won the two games [they drew]. In the Rovers game, there wasn’t too much in it, but we had chances and we were probably better overall. Against Bray, we missed a chance so we’ve not done a lot wrong but could have found ourselves seven points down.
“It’s very early days but you don’t want to fall that distance behind. It’s one win in isolation, I’ve said that to the players. We’ve got another one against Pat’s on Monday and then Waterford on Friday, so we need to stay focused because they will be two tough games.”
City have had Dundalk’s number of late. As well as pipping them to the title and the FAI Cup final last year, they picked up two wins and a draw in league meetings, before winning 4-2 in last month’s President’s Cup.
“In terms of the league, they took seven points from nine last year but by in large, our record [against Cork] over the previous three years was quite good overall,” he said.
“The last two games have been 1-1 [the FAI Cup final and the league game at Turner's Cross], so they’ve been tight games. When there were big games here that we had to win to win the league twice, we did.
“But that’s all in the past and you have to earn the right to do that every year. We’re not really talking about the past, we’re talking about the future. It isn’t easy when you bring a lot of players in together and Cork are a very good team.”
The Louth club were bought out by a US-based consortium at the turn of the year and Kenny says the change in ownership and a rake of injuries have hampered his plans, but he is happy with the group of players at his disposal now.
“The squad took a little bit of time, there was a prolonged takeover and it dragged on, as all takeovers do. That was no fault of anyone, it’s just the nature of it.
“We were getting players in a little bit late and they weren’t at the fitness level that we needed. We’ve also had some injuries in pre-season so we’ve had that period and we’re looking very strong now.
I’m happy with what we’ve got. The players that have come in are big assets to us and it’s still a young enough side — Daniel Cleary and Sean Hoare is the central defensive partnership. Jamie McGrath, who only turned 21, and Michael Duffy too.
“Dane Massey was probably the oldest player we had outfield so it was a young side out there but they played very well. We missed a lot of chances and because of that the game was in the balance as they only needed one chance. That was the concern.
“I thought there was a real sense of the team and fellas were fighting for each other. That was important because we will need that as the season progresses.”
Cleary and Hoare, flanked by full-backs Massey and Sean Gannon, looked assured at the heart of Dundalk’s defence. 22-year-old Cleary didn’t put a foot wrong on the night and the Dubliner has certainly settled well, but his manager wants to keep his feet on the ground.
“I said to Danny ‘You’re going to get a lot of praise tonight’, but it’s only a few weeks that he was getting a lot of criticism,” said Kenny. “So I said ‘Treat the praise and criticism equally, it’s irrelevant. Just focus on what you’re doing and get ready for Monday’.
“He’s had different types of performances, against Shamrock Rovers he had a lot of time on the ball and was spraying the ball all over the park.
“This was a different type of performance. Chris Shields joked that Dan was going home to head ten balls before he goes to bed because he just seemed to head everything tonight.
“It was a blustery night with the wind and he’s still only a young player so he still has a lot to learn. You can’t guarantee the consistency, and there are highs and lows but he seems a level-headed guy and nothing seems to faze him, which is important.
It’s a good start for him, but that’s all it is really. It’s just a good start.”
A no-nonsense defender with real quality, the former Liverpool youth product has been tasting senior football for the first time over the past month. Already nominated for SWAI Player of the Month for February, he could become a huge asset for Dundalk.
“It was was a good battle,” Cleary said. “I thought we out-fought them, out-ran them, worked harder and all-round we were the better team.
“We should have won that game three or four nil. We held on at the end and kept a clean sheet, so we’ve shown how strong we are defensively.
“Four clean sheets in a row isn’t heard of very often. It’s great to see and we’re confident in defending — as a back four and as a team. We like defending and we take pride in it.
“That’s the first game I played with Sean and I thought we bonded quite quickly. You have to adapt in football, you don’t get second chances, so you either bond or you don’t. I thought tonight we played very well together.
He added: “I just want to keep the performances up and stay in the team. In reserve football, there’s nothing at stake and it’s all about learning. Here, points and results and points are on the line. I want to win, I’m a winner and I don’t like losing at anything.”
