League title is coming home after ‘Cross’ win
SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE
‘WE know what we are. We know what we are. Champions of Ireland, we know what we are.’
The Dundalk fans’ chants to their heroes at the full-time whistle on Friday night might have been a little premature but a first win for Stephen Kenny’s side in Turner’s Cross since April 2015 has all but confirmed the return of the league title to Oriel Park for the fourth time in five seasons.
Even had the Lilywhites not ended their away day hoodoo in Cork, they still would have been firm favourites to get their hands on the Premier Division trophy yet again next month.
As it turns out though, the victory means they are nine points clear with a game in hand against Derry City tonight (Tuesday). Should they beat the Candystripes on home soil then it will be a 12 point lead with four matches to play. The goal difference if that happens would be +25 in Dundalk’s favour meaning the league would be effectively won, even if it would take at least a point at home to St Patrick’s Athletic on October 5th to officially confirm it.
It’s no more than this side deserve though for their performances this season.
There are many critics who claim Dundalk are not as strong now as the side who enjoyed that memorable European run two years ago. Maybe they are right but the class of 2018 could yet be remembered as one of the great ones too. A clean sheet record, goalscoring record and points record are all still in their sights and, as special as lifting that trophy again will be, it crucially earns them a shot at the Champions League next season.
Dundalk’s exploits in Europe in recent seasons has seen their co-efficient increase to seven, meaning they will be seeded for the first round next season. Win that and you’re guaranteed at least three rounds in European competition.
That’s for next summer though. For now it’s about celebrating a special side who have lost just three times in the league this season. Without making excuses, Cork were fortunate to win at Turner’s Cross earlier in the season, Waterford’s win at the RSC in May might not have happened had Stephen O’Donnell not broken his leg and Michael Duffy been denied a stone wall penalty, while the defeat to Shamrock Rovers recently in Oriel Park only came about as a result of a dubious late penalty.
Given all of that, credit has to go to Cork for keeping pace with a side who won 13 matches in-arow for so long. They’re dogged if nothing else and have been difficult to shake off the coattails until recently.
A point would have done Dundalk nicely on Friday but this was about making a statement as much as anything. There might still be four points needed to officially confirm Dundalk as champions but the handover more or less took place on Friday night.
It was fitting too that it was Chris Shields who popped up with the winner to make it happen. Along with John Mountney, who also made a fine contribution on his first proper return to league action, the pair pre-date the Kenny era. Those who were following the club in less successful times will recall a section of fans booing Shields at one point early in his Oriel Park career.
His transformation since then has mirrored that of the football club. There will be players who always grab the headlines quicker because of their goals but it says everything about Shields that many feel he should be Player of the Year even though he’s in a side with players like Pat Hoban and Michael Duffy whose stats have been both off the chart this season.
Hoban might be on the verge of equalling and perhaps even surpassing the Premier Division goalscoring record but he turned provider on Friday night for what was his sixth assist of the season. The move was started and ended with Shields, who did well to break in off the left from Dane Massey’s pass. He picked out Hoban at the edge of the area, who did well to turn away from Sean McLoughlin. There was then a bit of fortune as the ball broke kindly for the inrushing Shields, who showed calmness personified to side foot a right foot shot to the bottom left hand corner to send the large travelling support behind that goal into raptures.
If there could be a complaint of Dundalk after that is that they didn’t add to their advantage after that. Nevertheless this was as comfortable a 1-0 win away from home that you are ever likely to see.
With the early lead, Dundalk just had to stay professional - and that they did. They comfortably batted away whatever the opposition threw at them and set up to counter, causing Cork enough problems that they were always nervous to commit players forward.
In the aftermath of the goal the home side’s best chance to get back into it came on seven minutes when Graham Cummins had a penalty appeal turned away after a tangle with Brian Gartland from a corner. Gearoid Morrissey did manage to must a shot from Cummins’ lay-off on 21 minutes but Gary Rogers comfortably got down to save. That and a free from Kieran Sadlier that was straight at him five minutes later was all the ‘keeper had to do for the entire match in terms of saves. The rest of Cork’s attempts for the remainder of the half were blocked down, with Massey denying Steven Beattie and Sean Hoare blocking from Garry Buckley.
Dundalk always looked the more threatening and at times the home side had to rely on some last ditch defending. In stoppage time at the end of the half Duffy got in behind Beattie on the left with his pull back for Hoban slightly behind the striker, who couldn’t get the correct purchase on it.
John Caulfield failed to emerge for the second half having been sent off at half-time and neither really did his side. It said a lot about Cork’s state of mind that 1-0 down at home to their biggest rivals at home they failed to register a single shot, either on or off target, in the second half.
They were one-paced and looked more like a side defending a sizeable lead than one who needed to turn things around and get a result. A prime example of this came about 10 minutes into the second half when Sadlier picked the ball up on the left with a chance to set up a counter attack. Instead of bombing forward with Dundalk stretched, he laid off to Shane Griffin in the full back position. More than a dozen passes later and the home side had yet to cross half way.
By contrast, Dundalk were zipping it about. Mountney drilled early in the second half while a