Ostpones Cork title party
of either side going into the game.
While Dundalk started fairly well, the home side soon began to get on top with Cork dominating in midfield.
In the early minutes Dylan Connolly had got a couple of runs at Shane Griffin but Conor McCormack’s switch to the left of Gearoid Morrissey helped snuff this threat out. The Greenore men was immense on the night as he made Patrick McEleney pretty much a bystander. That, coupled with Michael Duffy’s failure to get into the game, meant that it was largely one way traffic for long periods after the goal.
There were other factors that caused this. Referee Rob Rogers was losing control of things in the early stages, booking Sean Hoare needlessly. This in turn left everyone fearful of an early yellow. It was difficult to know what decision would be given on any occasion. Morrissey, who was booked for a late challenge on Chris Shields on 11 minutes, was late on Benson moments later and could have seen red while Kenny was equally livid six minutes before the break when the same player clattered Shields again but nothing was given.
In the second half Hoare could have arguably been given a second yellow but a red card would have been a complete injustice given the harsh nature of his first.
If the referee had players nervous then the nature of Cork’s opener did little to help Dundalk’s cause.
The home side hadn’t made a noteworthy threat when they found themselves ahead in the most fortunate of circumstances on 20 minutes. Stephen Dooley’s cross from the right broke kindly to Garry Buckley whose effort was parried by Gary Rogers only for Hoare’s attempt to hook the ball clear to cannon off the unfortunate Brian Gartland and into the net.
Dane Massey, who injured himself making a tackle moments before that, was clearly not right and it might have made a difference if he had been fit to defend that attack rather than asking Shields to come across. As it turned out the left back was unable to continue and made way soon after.
Dundalk were by now heavily on the back foot and struggling to keep possession and they had Rogers to thank for keeping them in the game on 29 minutes when he made a super stop to deny Buckley.
Dooley would also test Rogers after that while Jimmy Keohane squandered a glorious chance on 36 minutes when he blazed over with only Rogers to beat.
It summed up Dundalk’s threat, or lack thereof, that their best effort came via Chris Shields a minute earlier when he fired over from an acute angle on the left.
The second half began with Cork 45 minutes from the title and this played on the minds of their players and supporters more and more as the half wore on. Their best chance of adding to their lead came on 69 minutes when Dooley’s free from the left rippled the roof of the net.
The home side’s nerves, coupled with the introduction of Stephen O’Donnell, saw Dundalk finally get a grip on proceedings and there was a rare effort soon after when Connolly cut in from the left only to see his effort deflected into the grateful arms of Mark McNulty.
Duffy then sliced wide on 74 minutes after a poor punch by the keeper. Neither were clear cut chances but Dundalk refused to throw in the towel and got their reward three minutes from the end.
Connolly got up the right to cross where Benson dived in bravely to steer the ball home.
It silenced Turner’s Cross but really only delayed the party.
If Dundalk were to mount the most unlikely of title comebacks this was a game they needed to win. A bit like their league season overall, it wasn’t bad but not quite good enough. it has TWO 1-1 draws in the last seven days are not the results Dundalk fans anticipated.
In truth however, they deserved no better.
In their top of the table clash with Cork City at a rocking Turner’s Cross last Monday night a late Robbie Benson goal at least denied the Dundalk players the sight of their League trophy being won on the night.
Against Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup semi-final at a packed Oriel Park on Sunday night a deserved equaliser for the Tallaght side earned them a replay on next Tuesday in their home stadium.
While both results were disappointing for Dundalk fans, the most worrying aspect of the two performances was the manner in which the team was out fought at times in both games.
In Cork the home side who admittedly had the greater incentive and were inspired by the fervent support they received from the terraces tore into Dundalk from the start with a resolve that Dundalk never matched.
In Oriel Park, Rovers recovered from the setback of conceding an early goal during Dundalk’s best spell of the match and in the second half dominated the exchanges to such an extent that the equaliser looked inevitable long before it arrived.
In all of their recent games against champions elect, Cork, Dundalk have failed to impose themselves on John Caulfield’s side relying on the conviction of their manager, Stephen Kenny that his side have the more skilful players using possession to wear down opponents.
That tenet has however failed against Cork in recent exchanges for following their Cup final win over Dundalk last season, John Caulfield has devised his tactics to stop Dundalk imposing their game on his side.
Those tactics concentrate on denying Dundalk space on the flanks for the wing backs to get forward in support of the wide players, and crowding the midfield to stop Dundalk’s superior passing and movement from getting at their defence.
The result is that while Dundalk have dominated the possession in all their recent games against Cork they have failed to create an abundance of chances, scoring only twice in their three League games this season.
In last week’s encounter Cork took their early inspiration from the occasion and the crowd and having taken the lead with a rather fortunate own goal, were content to sit on that lead.
It was not pretty to watch, and in reality John Caulfield’s team do not play a brand of football that excites. It was undoubtedly more attractive when they had Sean Maguire to poach goals and link their attacking play, but since Maguire’s departure from Preston their goal scoring threat has declined.
They do possess in their team an array of players, typified by one of our own, Conor McCormack who will battle for every scrap and like others round him are very effective at stopping other teams from playing.
McCormack never strayed more than a few feet from Patrick McEleney, Dundalk’s main creative force in last Monday’s game and his tenacious tackling and industry effectively snubbed out the threat of the Derryman.
It was to Dundalk’s credit that they didn’t capitulate and it was pride in their jersey and their achievements in recent reasons that kept them going right to the end when a brave Robbie Benson snatched a draw following good work by Dylan Connolly on the wing.
That late equaliser and the backing of a large noisy crowd at Oriel Park on Sunday inspired Dundalk to produce some quality passing and movement in the opening quarter of the FAI semi-final against Rovers that was embellished by a quite exquisite goal in the 9th minute finished with aplomb by Robbie Benson following excellent work by Stephen O’Donnell and a lovely dummy by Michael Duffy.
At that stage of the game Stephen Kenny’s decision to prefer O’Donnell’s passing and dexterity to Chris Shields industry in midfield looked fully justified and with Rovers rocking, another excellent move could have yielded another early goal when the ball was cleared off the line.
Towards the end of the first half Rovers started to regain their composure and were coming more and more into the game with their delivery from corners and frees causing difficulty for the home defence.
In contrast Dundalk’s delivery from dead ball situations was poor with Michael Duffy unable to judge the breeze, and this aspect of their game which suffered with the departure of Darren Meenan and Daryl Horgan and which Duffy seemed to have rectified since the start of the season really let them down on Sunday when it mattered most.
In contrast to the first half it was Rovers who started on the front foot. Inspired by their captain, Ronan Finn, who while he tried to referee the game as well as play in it and had to take his fair share of verbal abuse from the crowd, his tenacity and skill became more and more influential on the game as it progressed.
From an almost hopeless situation out on the right corner flag, and two Dundalk players surrounding him, Finn somehow conjured a hopeful enough cross that was expertly put away with great skill by Brandon Miele with 15 minutes remaining.
Throughout that second half and for a lot of the first Rovers exploited Dundalk’s weakness at left back where Niclas Vemmelund was preferred to reserve left-back, Shane Grimes to fill in for the injured Dane Massey.
The Danish born defender limitations in that role were exposed earlier in the season when both Massey and Grimes are injured, and it was therefore a critical decision for the manager to make in such a big game when Grimes, who was on the bench on Sunday, did so well in the League Cup final a few weeks back.
Massey’s injury and the loss of Chris Shields following a dreadful tackle by Dave McAllister in Sunday’s game which deserved a straight red will leave Dundalk badly stretched for the replay.