Sluggish Lilywhites are down but not out

A BIT like the jerseys on their backs, it has always suited Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk when things were black and white.

That’s the scenario that now awaits them in Israel on Thursday week following last week’s defeat to AZ Alkmaar.

Dundalk will travel to the Netanya Stadium knowing that at worst they need to score and avoid defeat. A win would be great but a score draw could still be enough to take them through to the last 32 of the Europa League.

They will require a favour from Zenit St Petersburg in Holland, of course, but given the fact that the Russians have outlined their ambition of finishing Group D with a 100% record and that they have already beaten AZ 5-0, you can only be confident that they will oblige.

What happens at the AFAS Stadion is out of their hands. All Dundalk can concentrate on is themselves and having already beaten Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght there’s no reason they can’t do so again.

Presuming Zenit help them out, a win or a 1-1 draw or higher would be enough to take them through. While last Thursday was a blow, the permutations of still advancing are far from impossible.

Indeed, a betting man might even say that of the three teams still in with a chance of advancing to the latter stages from Group D, Dundalk have the best shot.

Things would have been easier, of course, had the Lilywhites avoided defeat in Tallaght. With Zenit beating Maccabi 2-0 in St Petersburg beforehand, a win or a draw would have kept them firmly in the driving seat.

It was always going to come down to Israel no matter what though and a bit like the league decider at home to Cork City in October 2014, Dundalk can bounce back from losing pole position to have the last laugh.

Ultimately, they never really got going against Alkmaar. Sluggish from the get go, they paid the price for conceding another sloppy goal that will have the manager pulling his hair out when he looks back on it as his side failed to clear their lines from AZ’s second corner in quick succession.

While Wout Weghorst at 6ft 6in looks an aerial threat, his early involvement on the ball suggested he turned at about the same pace as an oil tanker. He must have thought he had struck oil though when Mats Seuntjens’ hit and hope ball into the box floated just over the head of Andy Boyle and came off the thigh of Dane Massey to present him with the simplest of tap-ins on nine minutes.

It was one of those chances that no halfway decent striker would miss but it was the last thing Dundalk needed.

A slow start was always feared given the fact it was 18 days since their last competitive game. Kenny had spoken in the build-up how the rest since the FAI Cup final hadn’t actually helped some of his players and how it showed early on. It’s one thing to be resting up out of action but many of this side were on the treatment table in the interim, unable to train and it showed as they struggled to find the gears early on.

The venue then came into gear too. While Tallaght has been kind to Dundalk and the pitch a definite improvement from Oriel, it is not a home venue. The nature of the ticket sales meant that supporters who would normally gather together to create an atmosphere were spread out.

A bit like the team, the atmosphere left a little to be desired and it underlined the importance of revamping Oriel as it was nights like Thursday when the fans can prove the difference.

Despite the lull, Dundalk did improve as the first-half wore on with Ciaran Kilduff, preferred on the night to David McMillan, missing two good chances to equalise. The first arrived with what was Dundalk’s first attempt at goal on 32 minutes when he met Daryl Horgan’s corner unmarked but he could only head over when at the very least he should have hit the target.

Five minutes later he was picked out by Horgan yet again, this time from a free, but on this occasion his downward header went the wrong side of the post.

In between Ronan Finn wasn’t too far away with a long range effort as Dundalk’s belief began to build.

However, just when the wind appeared to be in their sails Stephen O’Donnell’s hamstring gave way. The captain had been a doubt beforehand and with Chris Shields giving up his place on the bench before kick-off due to illness, it meant Dundalk were effectively starting the second half with a completely new midfield unit.

John Mountney came in for the skipper and immediately moved to the right with Robbie Benson dropping deeper and Patrick McEleney going more centrally. However, this was not a system Dundalk had really tested before now. In fact, the only time this season when either Shields and O’Donnell weren’t on the pitch together was the meaningless game away to St Patrick’s Athletic a few days after Dundalk had won the league, which the Lilywhites lost 5-2.

To have to go with an untested system for such a huge occasion was far from ideal and it meant that AZ – who hadn’t managed a shot for the remainder of the first half after their goal - enjoyed the better of the spoils for much of the second half, with Gary Rogers having to pull off a number of good saves to keep his side in it.

He was superb on 59 minutes to deny Weghorst a second from close range after the striker had been slipped in by Muamer Tankovic, who had fired wide himself six minutes earlier.

Rogers then came to the rescue again on 66 minutes, this time saving at point blank range from Ben Rienstra after Alireza Jahanbakhsh had got free on the right to tee him up for an effort that was deflected over the crossbar by the legs of the goalkeeper.

There were a few other nervy moments after that, most notably when Seuntjen’s shot came off Boyle before hitting the outside of the post and going wide.

Nevertheless it was the Dutch side holding on at the finish with Finn going close with an audacious chip on 82 minutes when Sergio Rochet looked beaten.

The nearest Dundalk came to threatening an equaliser after that was five minutes from time when Sean Gannon had a shot deflect out for a corner.

Ultimately Dundalk’s deliveries let them down on the night though with substitute Dean Shiels lucky not to be caught out in stoppage time when his free from roughly half way failed to beat the first man as his team-mates crowded into the box. It was an all too familiar theme of the evening for the home side, with the wingers not doing enough on the night to trouble their opponents.

It was far from their best display and undoubtedly the most lethargic we have seen Dundalk in Europe. What would have hurt more though is that AZ weren’t that much better.

Thursday night is gone though and lessons will be learnt from it.

Now Dundalk need to dust themselves off and get ready for Israel. The last 32 of the competition is still not beyond them.

The last time they were below par in Europe away to BATE Borisov, they responded with the display that made people really sit up and believe the impossible.

A similar response on December 8th can still generate another chapter in this incredible journey.