Rogers injury a major blow in edgy victory
St Pat’s CY 2 Dundalk 4
IT wasn’t always pretty and it will surely be remembered better for the biting cold rather than the football but Dundalk got their 2017 campaign off to a winning start with a hard fought victory over St Pat’s CY last Thursday.
In truth, this is a game that Stephen Kenny’s side made hard work of winning.
Having upped the tempo after a tedious first-half, they looked to be home and hosed on a couple of occasions after Ciaran Kilduff twice added to Carlton Ubaezuono’s first half opener.
However, after coughing up a couple of cheap goals at the other end, it was only when man of the match Patrick McEleney made it 4-2 on 89 minutes that the Lilywhites could breath a sigh of relief.
While deemed a competitive match, this was in truth just another game for the Lilywhites to get up to speed for the new season.
In that regard a win and no injuries to any outfield player given they had to ship some heavy challenges was a plus.
There was one major blow, however, as early as the fifth minute when goalkeeper Gary Rogers suffered a re-occurrence of a calf injury that will see him miss the start of the season.
If Gabriel Sava is to hold onto the jersey upon Rogers’ return then he’ll need to be a lot better than he was last Thursday though as a bit of rustiness cost his side two goals in the second half.
While that was the downside, the plus was undoubtedly McEleney, who the Leinster Senior League side simply couldn’t live with. Other plus points included the sharp finish of Kilduff for his second and signs that Conor Clifford is settling in well in the Dundalk engine room.
A sizeable away support made the trip to Dublin 4 for the clash, which was played in the shadow of Aviva Stadium. They had been hoping to see some of their side’s new recruits but many first teamers were not risked on the night with new signing Michael Duffy amongst a star-studded pack who watched on from the sidelines.
It was one of the club’s younger players, Carlton Ubeaezuono, who fashioned the first chance against a St Pat’s CY side managed by League of Ireland legend Stephen Geoghegan, who had a poor spell at Dundalk in the early Noughties. Despite that opportunity, by and large Dundalk were restricted to long range efforts.
Paddy Barrett had a go from range on 23 minutes but saw his effort deflected into the arms of a grateful Sean Coffey.
Then followed two attempts from McEleney, the first of which he pulled wide before Coffey was forced into a good save after an audacious attempt by the Derry man.
The breakthrough eventually arrived on 37 minutes with Ubaezuono grabbing his first senior goal. McEleney was at the heart of the move, playing a neat pass into Kilduff who in turn laid off for the inrushing Ballyhaunis man to finish well.
Dundalk pushed for a second on the restart with McEleney going close with a free kick before John Mountney had a header blocked on the line by Thomas Walsh. Captain for the night Sean Gannon then fired just over against his local club.
The second did finally arrive on 58 minutes. A wayward attempt from Andrew Doolin allowed Ubaezuono to break. He released McEleney down the left with the Derry man squaring for Kilduff to finish.
Just when Dundalk looked comfortable they coughed up a cheap goal at the other end six minutes later. Sava failed to deal with a ball across his box and former Dundalk player David Cassidy, a First Division winner with the club in 2008, was on hand to bundle in from close range.
After McEleney fired over with another attempt, he then conjured up a third goal for Dundalk on 69 minutes. Coffey’s kick-out was headed down to McEleney by Barrett, with the midfielder breaking before slipping Kilduff in for the coolest of finishes to make it 3-1.
Dundalk pressed for a fourth after that with Ubaezuono having a shot blocked down after Coffey had spilled a free and Clifford flashing a shot just wide.
Two minutes later and it was 3-2 though after a howler by Sava. Under no pressure whatsoever, the ‘keeper attempted to pick out a team-mate only to pass straight to Dean Gannon, who lobbed a shot past the despairing keeper similar to what Cesc Fabregas did recently to Petr Cech in the Premier League.
That meant it was a nervous last few minutes with the Dundalk supporters furious when Gannon was only awarded a free when the challenge looked to have taken place inside the area.
The game was eventually put to bed a minute from time and no one deserved the goal more than McEleney, who collected Dane Massey’s cross from the left before firing past Coffey from an acute angle at his near post. ST PAT’S CY: Coffey; Matthews, Joyce, Griffin, Walsh; Hannigan (O’Reilly 78), Montgomery (Doolin HT), Cassidy, Kelly (Gannon 67); Paul Healy, Keddy. Subs not used: Moreno, Harrison, Rooney, Daragh Healy.
DUNDALK: Rogers (Sava 5); Gannon, Barrett, Vemmelund, Massey; Dalton (O’Connor 74), Clifford, Mountney, Ubeazuono; McEleney (O’Keeffe 91), Kilduff. Subs not used: Watters, Rice, Hughes.