Changes are coming, hopefully for the better
SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE
INEVITABLY as with all records, Dundalk’s winning sequence of 31 games in domestic competitions came to an end in Dalymount Park on Friday night last when they were beaten 2-1 by a very youthful Bohemians side in the SSE Airtricity Premier League.
It was their first defeat since April 13th when they were beaten 2-1 away by Sligo Rovers, but since then Vinny Perth’s men have retained their League title, lifted the EA Sports League Cup and qualified for the FAI Cup final.
It was obvious after their recent narrow home win over Derry City that, with the title secure, Dundalk had little motivation other than maintaining their unbeaten record to produce their best.
They fielded a much changed team against Bohemians, and experimented with three central defenders, Sean Hoare, Daniel Cleary and Andy Boyle, allowing their wing backs, Cameron Dummigan and Dane Massey to push much further forward that normal.
The system bedded in well in the early stages in which they dominated possession but failed to take a number of excellent early chances with Georgie Kelly, standing in for the suspended Patrick Hoban, narrowly failing to get the first goal as he did on Dundalk last appearance at the venue in May.
Predictably the first goal is always crucial in games of this nature and when former Lilywhites player, Keith Ward found space behind the Dundalk defence to open the score on the half hour mark the entire mood in the ground changed.
The home crowd found their voice, and the Bohs players were driven to battle that little harder to retain that unexpected lead.
They added a second from Andre Wright in the second half and although Dundalk pulled one back through substitute, Michael Duffy in the final minutes there was no denying the home side their deserved victory.
The Bohs players and their manager, Keith Long will feel that Dundalk owed them this one, for they will maintain that they performed well against the champions in all their games this season, but never got the breaks, especially in a 1-0 defeat at Oriel Park to a last minute penalty when they were the better team.
Nor could Dundalk fans deny Bohs their moment of glory, for they have been bringing through some excellent young players who will grace League of Ireland football for years to come, building up their support base in the process.
Those supporters celebrated like they won the League at the final whistle, and who could blame them, but it is a reflection of Dundalk’s status within the domestic game that opponents and their supporters look on a victory over the champions as a good reason to celebrate.
No doubt Cork City fans will take heart from Bohs feat in ending Dundalk’s winning run, and a few more fans than expected will make their way to Turner’s Cross on Friday night hoping that they too can lower the champions colours.
The game will be a test of Dundalk’s character for while all knew that an unbeaten run must end some time, the unexpected nature of last Friday’s defeat will sting, and with the Cup final in mind, Vinny Perth will want to see a performance in Cork worthy of their reputation as champions.
He may restore players like Chris Shields, Michael Duffy and Sean Gannon to the starting eleven for it was obvious that the flu bug that hit the panel in the week before the Bohs game drained some of the energy from the players, and led to more changes in the starting line-up than anticipated.
After the Cork game Dundalk have one remaining League game against St. Patrick’s Athletic in Oriel Park on October 25th when there will be a celebration mood in the ground as the SSE Airtricity League will be presented.
It will be interesting to see if it will be the last League title won under the current format of the ten teams in the Premier Division playing each other four times, two home and two away.
Recently discussions were held not just about attracting new investment into the League, but also the structure of the League itself.
It is believed that the favoured option of a working group established between the clubs and the FAI is retention of the current 10 team Premier Division and the 10 team First Division with one important twist.
That would involve a split into three different leagues at a cut-off point following two rounds of fixtures.
The top six in the Premier would compete in a champions section playing off for the big prizes, with the bottom four joining the leading quartet in the First Division in an eight-team competition, where the top half would ensure their Premier status for the following year.
The bottom six in the First Division would play off for a Plate.
At the top end, the retention of points after the opening 18 games is a talking point. It’s possible that the points total would be halved to tighten the title race heading into the season’s climax; a version of this system exists in Belgium.
There are of course more substantive issues to be determined by the clubs regarding sponsorship, TV deals and prize-money but the suggested new format for the two divisions may not be popular among fans.
Clearly changes are on the way, and hopefully for the better.