Heroic Lilies pull off the impossible with 10 men
SOCCER EUROPA LEAGUE
AZ Alkmaar 1
Dundalk 1
“AND the journey goes on,” beamed Dundalk general manager Martin Connolly in the tunnel of the AFAS Stadion on Thursday.
Connolly, along with 1,004 other Lilywhites supporters, had just witnessed their side create history against all the odds.
By now we shouldn’t be surprised of what Stephen Kenny and his side are capable of, but even this was beyond most people’s wildest dreams.
A goal down and a man down away from home in a game which they had already been written off from before kick-off seemed an impossible task, but impossible is nothing to this special group. Instead they conjured up another memorable moment in an ever-growing scrapbook of memories for the town’s fans, with Ciaran Kilduff’s 89th-minute equaliser earning a history making point – the first ever by an Irish side in European competition.
It also earned the club a €120,000 pay day, €10,000 more than they will get if they retain the league title this season, but that’s for another day. This was not about money, it was about sheer pride.
It might have only been a point, but it felt like so much more.
Here was little Dundalk, the lowest rank team by some distance in this season’s Europa League, claiming a point against all the odds against an AZ Alkmaar side with a €23 million budget, a host of internationals and a record of having reached the quarter-finals of the competition twice in the last five years.
The fact they did so playing in the manner that they did and without their captain Stephen O’Donnell, who was sent off in the 71st minute for a second bookable offence, made it all the more impressive.
AZ might not be the best known side in the competition, but they were the highest ranked of the sides in Pot 2, above the likes of Roma, Fenerbahce and their Eredivisie rivals Feyenoord, who beat Manchester United on the same night 100km away.
To put Dundalk’s comeback point into even greater context you need only look at what happened in the other Group D game on the night. Maccabi Tel Aviv were 3-1 up at home to Zenit St Petersburg when they were reduced to 10 men with nine minutes remaining. In the end they lost 4-3, showing just how hard it is to cope at this level when you’re a man light.
Of course, Kilduff’s reply to Stijn Wuytens’ opener was only a part of this heroic story.
The lengthy injury sustained to the Belgian-born midfielder after opening the scoring on the hour mark meant there was nine minutes of additional time. With the clock in the stadium stopping and all the action at the other end of the field, this could only have felt like an eternity for the large travelling support who had taken over a sun-kissed Alkmaar from early in the day.
As AZ laid siege to the Dundalk goal, the 10-man visitors – who had played just three days earlier in the league against Finn Harps – somehow found the energy to withstand a siege.
By the finish the stats read 10 blocks to one, with three brilliant challenges in that late period to deny Illias Bel Hassani, Joris van Overeem and Wout Weghorst from spoiling the party. Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle and Chris Shields were particularly heroic in the closing stages, throwing their bodies on the line and making goal-saving clearances, but as a team Dundalk united in that period and that told as much about them as anything.
There might be better footballing sides in this competition, more technical, and there’s certainly more experienced sides, but it’s doubtful anyone can match Stephen Kenny’s men for heart and desire. Their spirit and unity cannot be faked. It has been said before, but this side is a band of brothers and by the end they had built a wall of their own bodies that a Roman legion would surely have been proud of.
The late siege that AZ laid on them might have skewed the stats slightly, but for a long time there was no gulf of class evident between the sides. Unlike other Irish teams in Europe in the past, Dundalk try to play football. Indeed, it was noted on the night that their 312 completed passes, which represented 85% of their 367 attempted passes, was well above the 94 completed passes from 138 attempts (68%) that Ireland managed in their recent World Cup qualifier draw away to Serbia.
No matter who the Lilywhites come up against, they try to take them on and haven’t been shown up by anyone as yet.
Not alone do they get results, but they are a joy to watch.
Yes, they got a bit of luck before half-time when Fred Friday had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside, but that’s the rub of the green that perhaps eluded them last time out against Legia Warsaw. It also must be said that O’Donnell’s first yellow card on the stroke of half-time was harsh. After being penalised for obstructing van Overeem, Maltese official Clayton Pisani booked the midfielder for persistent fouling, when in fact it was his first. Indeed, Dundalk conceded just two free kicks in the entire first half, with the referee appearing to mistake O’Donnell for Patrick McEleney, who had fouled minutes earlier.
The visitors did have a major letoff after just 100 seconds, though, when Alireza Jahanbakhsh collected Wuytens’ pass to break in from the left and fire a shot off the butt of the right-hand upright.
AZ appeared to play a gear above their opponents in the early moments, and after hitting the post you could have been forgiven for thinking it would be a long night.
The experience of Ronan Finn and O’Donnell, in particular, saw them slow the tempo which allowed Dundalk to slowly grow into the game. Indeed, on 12 minutes they had their first shot on target when David McMillan left Ron Vlaar for dead on the right, only to scuff his effort at goalkeeper Sergio Rochet.
It was Dundalk who enjoyed the better of the chances in the middle period of the half, with Dane Massey, Daryl Horgan and McEleney all having efforts from range, with the latter’s effort rather unconvincing turned away for a corner by Rochet.
The real big chance for the visitors would arrive on 34 minutes, however, with Horgan playing a neat one-two with McEleney before skipping past Rens van Eijden and Ron Vlaar, only to see his effort blocked by the legs of the advancing Rochet.
It would be AZ who would end the half on top, however, with van Overeem glancing a header over three minutes later before they had a perfectly legitimate goal ruled a minute before the break. Derrick Luckassen’s shot cannoned off Boyle before coming back off Gannon into the path of Friday, who slotted to the net, only to see his effort ruled out for offside. Television replays showed, however, that he was in line with Boyle when the initial effort came in.
The Dutch side were fired up again at the start of the second half, with Vlaar firing wide within a minute of the restart before Gannon was forced to hook a Luckassen effort off the line.
Like in the first half, that initial threat had appeared to fizzle out
It was ecstasy for the large away support. An incredible European journey had an exciting new chapter. A first point is on the board, with two home matches to follow.
when AZ took the lead on the hour. There appeared little danger when van Eijden lobbed a ball into the box from half-way, but Gary Rogers made an error in judgment in coming off his line to try to reach it, with Wuytens getting up to head to an empty net before being taken out by the keeper’s attempted fist clear.
It would be five minutes before the goal was officially confirmed as attention immediately turned to the stricken midfielder, who would be eventually stretchered off with a cut to his chin and a concussion. Some of the AZ players had tears in their eyes, but their mood was lifted when Dundalk were reduced to 10 men on 71 minutes when O’Donnell was sent off for a second bookable offence after a foul on Ridgeciano Haps.
The result appeared to be a formality at that stage, but after Bel Hassani had pulled a chance wide, Rogers redeemed himself for his earlier error with a superb double save in the 84th minute, firstly to parry Mattias Johansson’s shot clear before saving the follow-up from Dabney Souza.
There was another let-off two minutes later when Souza’s free kick saw Massey miss his acrobatic clearance, with Luckassen getting a shot away that was cleared off the line by Boyle.
That meant that a chance was there for Dundalk when they won a free a minute from the end. Shields galloped up the left before being fouled by Johansson. Horgan’s delivery was on the money for Kilduff to hold off Weghorst’s challenge to glance high to the net.
It was ecstasy for the large away support, who made most of the noise right from the off. They would face an anxious wait before the real celebrations could begin, though, with some brave defending over nine minutes and Shields’ block to deny van Overeem arguably the pick of the bunch.
An incredible European journey had an exciting new chapter. A first point is on the board, with two home matches to follow.
Dundalk will be underdogs in those games, but they’ve shown they can compete at this level. Despite their heroics in Alkmaar, few will give them a chance of reaching the latter stages. That won’t faze them one bit.
Like Martin Connolly said, this is a journey far from over. In fact, it may only have just begun.