Returning strikers may yet decide title outcome
NEVER mind about Dublin’s water reserves, the talent drain Dundalk have had to cope with over the last few years has been quite staggering.
Richie Towell, an all-action goalscoring midfielder, netted 29 times in his final season before signing for Brighton and Hove Albion in 2015. Ronan Finn, another centre midfielder departed for Shamrock Rovers ahead of last term.
Centre back Andy Boyle and winger Daryl Horgan, now Republic of Ireland internationals, left together for Preston North End in 2016. The former is now on loan with Doncaster Rovers, the latter on the fringes of the first-team squad at Deepdale.
This past winter, playmaker Patrick McEleney was snared by Oldham Athletic while striker David McMillan was tempted to St Johnstone. Worse still, Dundalk did not earn a penny from any of those deals as they were all free transfers. The peril of short-term contracts.
But the man who left before things really took off under Stephen Kenny is now back at Oriel Park. Striker Patrick Hoban scored 20 times as the Lilywhites clinched the 2014 Premier Division title and he used that season as a springboard back to Britain, where he previously spent time with Bristol City as a teenager.
While Towell insisted he would not consider leaving Dundalk for a club below the Championship, Hoban signed for Oxford United on the lowest rung of the ladder in the English Football League. The move didn’t work out; injury, lack of form and falling out favour meant he went on loan to Stevenage before signing permanently with Grimsby Town in the non-leagues.
A spell at Mansfield Town followed but, again, Hoban was released. All this while his former club had blazed a trail in the group stages of the Europa League. Hoban is now back at Dundalk but his return was not quite straightforward.
His agent touted him around to various League of Ireland clubs. Rovers and even Cork City discussed a possible deal but nothing came of it. Hoban, 27 in July, opened his account for this season with a brace in the 8-0 win over Limerick and ahead of the first league meeting with the champions at Oriel Park tonight, the top two challengers for the title are in the same boat with strikers who have a fire in their belly after spells in across the water.
Cork’s Graham Cummins is the league’s top scorer with four goals and he, too, is back at the club which launched his career.
Cummins scored 24 times in the First Division as the Leesiders were promoted back to the top flight in 2012. Those goals prompted Preston to sign him and, like Hoban, the striker wasn’t able to put down roots. Now 30, he moved to Rochdale, Exeter City and St Johnstone before returning home. The void, and goals, left by Sean Maguire will be almost impossible to fill at Turner’s Cross but tonight’s visit to Dundalk will provide the most stringent test of Cummins’ credentials as the Lilywhites are yet to concede a league goal.
The same goes for Hoban, who must rediscover the form which helped secure the first title of the Kenny era.
For one of these sides to achieve the success it craves, it might just come down to which striker settles back into life in the League of Ireland.