McEleney out of luck in Russian Roulette

PATRICK McEleney was left cursing his luck after being denied a famous late equaliser by the woodwork in the Petrovsky Stadium on Thursday night.

The Derry man was played down the right by Daryl Horgan’s exquisite pass eight minutes from the end but saw his shot come back off both the crossbar and post as Dundalk’s hopes of an equaliser went abegging.

McEleney told The Argus afterwards that he couldn’t believe it hadn’t gone in. ‘It was just my luck,’ he said. ‘I just made a run from deep and I knew Horgs would find me if I got into the space.

‘Thankfully he found me. My legs were starting to go so I just tried to chip him and it was just millimetres (from going in). ‘I was just unlucky but again it was brilliant from the wee man and we deserved to score.’

Unfortunately for a Dundalk side who were brilliant on the night, they paid the price for a couple of costly mistakes once again.

‘It was the same in Tallaght as well, we made a couple of mistakes and we got punished for them,’ said McEleney.

‘Against these players, they just punish you but I think we can be proud of ourselves. We pushed them all the way twice, especially coming out here into this environment but moral victories can only do so much.

‘The good thing is it’s still in our hands. We’ll look forward to the next two games. We have AZ at home next and that’s a big one.

‘We have played them and got points off them before. Maybe they underestimated us but I don’t think anyone can take us for granted now.

‘I don’t think Zenit did anyway and we can be proud of ourselves for that. It’s still in our hands so we’re still happy enough,’ he said.