Lilywhites have come a long way in four years

AMID great scenes of celebration Dundalk completed a hat-trick of SSE Airtricity Premier League titles on Sunday evening with a 2-1 victory over Bohemians at Oriel Park.

Goals from centre halves Andy Boyle and Brian Gartland sealed the three points which was sufficient to wrap up the title race with two fixtures still remaining.

This win came just three days after Stephen Kenny’s side game agonisingly close to taking the scalp of European football heavyweight Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League in Tallaght.

Although Zenit enjoyed long periods of possession in the game they were unable to break their opponents down and it was Dundalk who looked the more likely to break the deadlock.

The home side deservedly took the lead through Robbie Benson’s 51st minute strike and if Dane Massey’s header ten minutes later had gone in to make it 2-0 then the home side might just have hung on for a famous victory.

Instead it was tired Dundalk legs in the closing quarter which allowed the Russians back into the game and claim their third Group D win in succession.

There was an amazing atmosphere in Tallaght Stadium before, during and even after the tie as Dundalk fans witnessed their side match and sometimes outplay their more illustrious opponents.

These are heady days for everyone involved with the club and the expression on the faces of supporters exiting the ground told its own story.

Shortly after the final whistle I bumped into one such fan, a lifelong Lilywhite follower who was brimming with pride after such a wonderful display.

As he savoured the afterglow of another superb European performance he reminded me that it was just four short years ago since the club almost went out of existence.

‘Johnny-come-latelys like yourself wont remember it’ he scolded me, ‘but we were definitely on the brink’.

He was right. Such has been the phenomenal success over the last few years, it’s very easy to forget where Dundalk stood at the end of the 2012 season. Following the mid-season departure of manager Sean McCaffrey, Drogheda man Darius Kierans was in temporary charge as Dundalk faced into a relegation/promotion playoff against Waterford.

With the club in dire financial difficulties, relegation to the second tier would quite simply have been €20 on Baltinglass v Sean O’Mahony’s to end in a draw at 13/2 unsustainable. Following a first leg 2-2 draw in Oriel Park the situation looked perilous in Waterford a week later. However up stepped Tipperary native Michael Rafter (I admit it, I had to google him) with two crucial goals to secure Dundalk’s top flight status for the 2013 season.

Later that same month the club’s new owners, local businessmen Andy Connolly and Paul Browne, made the astute decision to secure the signature of Stephen Kenny and the rest, as they say, is history.

The club will look to complete a second straight double when they take on Cork City at the Aviva on Sunday week and there is still the matter of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Heady days indeed. Incidentally the Dundalk team that November night down in Waterford was: Peter Cherrie, Chris Shields, Eoghan Osborne, Liam Burns (Mark O’Brien 75), Paul Whelan, Lorcan Shannon, Stephen McDonnell (Peter Thomas 89), Robbie Gaul, Gary Shanahan (Nathan Murphy 60), Michael Rafter and Mark Griffin. Stephen Maher, John Mountney, and Chris Reilly played in the 2-2 first leg draw in Oriel. SPEAKING of play-offs, Drogheda took a huge step towards returning to the Premier Division with a 2-0 victory against Cobh in the first leg of the First Division promotion play-off last Saturday night down in Cork.

Two second-half goals in as many minutes from Marc Griffin and Gareth McCaffrey secured the win and it means Pete Mahon’s side take a crucial advantage into Friday’s second leg at United Park. Wexford Youths are awaiting the winners.

St Josephs advanced in the Leinster Intermediate club championship in Dromiskin on Saturday afternoon with a narrow one point victory over Carlow side St Andrews.

Senior champions Sean O Mahonys meanwhile make the long trip to Aughrim on Sunday to take on Baltinglass. The Wicklow champions have been in the doldrums for some years but they were a serious footballing outfit back in the 80s and 90s winning eight county championships in a row and landing Leinster and All Ireland titles in 1989.

The Dundalk men will have their work cut out to come away from this notoriously difficult venue with a victory but I don’t expect them to lose.

And to prove it this week’s Sideline Bet is O’Mahony’s to get a draw against Baltinglass at 13/2.