Not pitch perfect but Dundalk got the job done
SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
DUNDALK got their SSE Airtricity Premier League title defence back on track with a comfortable 4-0 win in Ballybofey on Friday night.
It was a fixture the team would have approached with some trepidation given that they needed a late goal to snatch a 1-1 against Finn Harps at the same venue last February.
Allowance also had to be made for the blow their confidence took in losing the previous week to their big title rivals, Shamrock Rovers, a defeat that caused some of the national pundits who revel in Rovers revival to foolishly question Dundalk’s credentials to sustain their challenge to retain their title.
Other factors that had to be added to the mix on Friday night was the home side’s good start to the season and the condition of the Finn Park pitch, battered by a month of almost incessant rain in the north-west, and the ploy used by Harps cute manager, Ollie Horgan to narrow the width of the pitch to give his side an advantage when the top teams visit.
It undoubtedly helped Dundalk’s cause that they scored early on, just 140 seconds, when Patrick Hoban’s shot from Michael Duffy’s cutback was deflected past the desperate efforts of Anthony McGinley, for the goal dampened the expected early onslaught from the home side and calmed any anxiety that the Dundalk players may have been feeling.
For the remainder of the game the pitch, heavy and very bumpy, made it difficult for both teams, especially Dundalk, for they were inhibited from producing their best football.
Indeed the conditions of the majority of surfaces in the League is becoming a cause of real concern, with only the Tallaght surface reaching the required standard.
Unquestionably the exceptionally poor weather in February, with record levels of rainfall, has been a contributing factor, but the pity is that in many of the matches played since the start of the season (the Dundalk-Rovers game apart), a number of which were televised, and watched by record crowds, it was obvious that the surfaces in Dalymount,
Tolka and on Saturday night in the Showgrounds were very poor.
The condition with the surfaces has been commented upon by Niall Quinn, who is now actively involved in the revamped FAI, with a brief to improve all aspects of the League of Ireland, and who recently made the very valid point that unless, and until, the standard of surfaces in the vast majority of grounds is improved, the quality of football that all players seek to attain will never be achieved.
Dundalk, with their artificial surface, don’t have the problem when playing at home of the trying to play fluent football on surface that cuts up, but the plastic is not the favourite of many players, including some who play at the club.
In Friday’s match in Finn Park, Dundalk endeavoured to overcome the difficulties that the surface and the narrow pitch presented by crowding the midfield and playing more long balls and fighting for the second ball.
It is a trend that seems to be evolving in Dundalk’s game, especially this season, and may have developed because of changes in personnel at the club, and the absence of Patrick McEleney through injury, for with the departure of Jamie McGrath and to a lesser extent, Robbie Benson, the team lack the ability to hold onto to the ball in advanced positions.
Dundalk are also discovering too that their preference to build from the back is becoming more and more difficult to execute as opponents engage in a high press, and Dundalk need to vary their game more and by developing a style more suited to the players they now have at the club.
They are those who argue that if the team plays a 4-4-2 system is old fashioned, or an archaic style, but with two very combative midfield players similar playing styles and with the energy to cover the midfield, Chris Shields and Greg Sloggett, the opportunity now exists to vary their playing formation by playing two strikers, allowing more long balls to be played.
In many ways that system, while frowned upon by some, may be another weapon to counter the majority of teams who teams who visit Oriel Park, and employ nine or ten players in their own half, hoping to catch Dundalk on the break.
In their opening five games in the League the tactics employed by Vinny Perth and his backroom team were in many ways dictated by the absence of key players through injury which limited his selection.
For that reason it was a welcome sight for all to see Patrick McEleney getting 20 minutes in Friday night’s game and to see Stefan Colovic made his long heralded debut. In addition Sean Murray is nearing fitness again while Georgie Kelly got another 20 minutes playing time under his belt.
The bonus for all was that McEleney, Colovic and Kelly were able to be introduced after the points were secured, mainly thanks to a very solid team performance in which Hoban, who has started the season in fine goal scoring form, was outstanding, holding the ball up well, distributing well, and helping himself to two goals.
His first after those 140 seconds settled the team, and his second in the 52nd minute after the ‘keeper parried a blistering shot from Dane Massey, put any thoughts of a second half revival out of the minds of the home team and their solid support.
In between Hoban’s goals, Michael Duffy, who is coming back to his best and who had a hand in all four goals, fired home the second after Daniel Kelly, who had been fed unselfishly by Duffy hit the bar when it looked easier to find the net. Fortunately Duffy was alert to control and fire home the rebound.
The fourth goal, the icing on the cake, was slammed home into the roof of the net in the 83rd minute by Sloggett for his first goal with the club, and again Duffy supplied the cross.
Having had to travel for the last three Friday nights to Shels, Rovers and Finn Harps, Dundalk will be glad to be back in Oriel for yet another live TV match against the Stephen O’Donnell managed St. Patrick’s Athletic.
No doubt the former Dundalk captain will get the welcome he deserves for he was a key part of Dundalk success during his time at Oriel Park, and after a difficult start to the campaign when Pats lost at home to Waterford, they gained their second win at home to Cork City on Friday night.
Knowing O’Donnell, his team will be well organised, set up to contain Dundalk, and hoping for a break, and again Dundalk may have to be patient, and perhaps be a little innovative in their tactics, for with O’Donnell being part of the inner circle at Oriel for so long, and knowing most of the players well, he will have his team well organised.
Already with Rovers maintaining their 100% record in Sligo, a venue where they had problems in the past, it’s clear that this season the squad is showing a lot more determination and focus at winning the League, and Dundalk cannot afford to give them the start they made last season.