Fans can play big part to see Lilies through
EUROPA LEAGUE
‘THE first sign of madness is talking to your head’.
The quote from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter ‘Order of the Phoenix’ continually crossed my mind as I gathered with a few hundred of other ‘mad’ Dundalk supporters in the sweltering heat of Oriel Park lounge last Thursday afternoon to watch Dundalk’s Europa Cup game against Levadia Tallinn, screened from the Kadriorg Stadium.
We, and I mean many of the same vintage as myself, were not talking to our heads, but screaming at a little white ball on a giant screen transmitting pictures that matched those sent by the first astronauts from the moon.
What on earth am I doing here, I asked myself on countless occasions as I craned my neck round the gathered mass- es, and strained the eyesight to try and figure out how the game was going.
At times it needed the encouraging roars to determine Dundalk were on the attack, or the screams of anxiety when Levadia threatened.
It all took me back to my days as a cub reporter when an esteem colleague, O.B. McGahon needed the help of my young eyes to identify players as we sat alongside each other reporting on matches in the old Oriel Park.
In the end I decided to hell with it and allowed myself to float along on the waves of emotion to determine progress, and when Dundalk scored there was no doubting the team that had taken the lead - the only trouble being that we needed the help of a nearby smart phone to identify the scorer.
Dylan Connolly it was who got on the end of a magnificent move to finish Michael Duffy’s cross, and the delight that engulfed the assembled crowd at the goal, and the final whistle somehow made the sacrifice all worthwhile.
We were there not because there was no where else to watch it, or for the liquid refreshment, nor the food that never filtered down to our end of the bar.
We were there because we’re Dundalk fans, becoming more and more imbued with the intoxication of the success that Stephen Kenny has brought to our club, and whether we’re playing in Turner’s Cross, Tallaght or the Kadriorg Stadium in Tallinn we want to show our support.
We need our weekly fix, and if we have to search out a venue where we have to watch pictures screened from some foreign bet- ting station, recorded with one camera, no commentary, and little or no prospect of identifying players never mind patterns of play, then we’re prepared to endure the hardship to somehow participate in yet another extraordinary achievement for our team and our town.
Few Irish teams over the years have managed to win away matches in European competitions and while Levadia Tallinn may not be classified among the elite of Europe, they still presented a formidable challenge.
It was a challenge Dundalk met in a thoroughly professional manner, as one would expect from a Stephen Kenny team, and his record in Europe continues to place him in a status never reached by League of Ireland managers in the past.
Never, at any stage during the game, if reports are accurate, did Dundalk look likely to lose this encounter, and with a little more composure they could have made the return leg on Thursday night a little less stressful.
Nonetheless Dundalk will be expected to advance to the next round before the restricted crowd of 3,300 at Oriel Park, but they would be unwise to take that progression for granted as they will know that a goal for Levadia early in the game will place a completely different complexion on the tie and give the visitors a major boost.
As always Dundalk will need the unconditional support from the terraces to achieve their ambition of advancing in Europe, a feat that may place them in a unique status among Irish teams this season.
Unfortunately we do not have the ground to match our ambitions in Europe, and it is an insult to our foreign visiting teams to ask them to use the current dressing-rooms in Oriel Park, for they simply are not fit for purpose.
No wonder teams like Rosenborg who visited last season, opted to arrive and leave the ground in their playing gear, and Levadia, when they see the visiting dressing-rooms in Oriel will doubtless make the same decision.
It would not take major investment by the new owners to open new dressing-rooms, perhaps in the sports complex, and remove the stigma that hangs over the club when we entertain visiting clubs.
We have the manager, the team, the supporters, many of whom forked out considerable amounts to travel to Tallinn, while others endured the heat and the grim TV pictures in lounges and pubs, why can we not be allowed show some pride in hosting our visitors, both domestic and foreign.
The team has done the town proud, now let others do their part.