Competition for places is hotting up
IN normal times a pre-season friendly in Oriel Park would hold little interest for Dundalk supporters.
This of course is not normal times, far from it, and after a 19 week unwanted break in football and all other sporting activity, there was a great deal more interest than normal in last Friday’s friendly fixture with Derry City in Oriel Park.
Indeed had the regulations allowed a record attendance for a friendly game could have been achieved such is the appetite for football after the long period of abstinence, plus the desire to see the new players added to the Dundalk panel prior to the lockdown.
With strict observance to the regulations adhered to, even to the extent of prohibiting sports journalist from attending, opinions on the new players, and the fitness of the players after their extended break, had to be confined to viewing the live video link that was made available to season ticket holders and subscribers via a streaming service.
It wasn’t perfect, nor was it as poor as many had anticipated, and provided adequate coverage, given the circumstances and the tight time schedule in providing the link.
As for the game itself it was difficult to make any real assessment on the fitness of the players for the resumption of the League at the end of the month and the quality of the new recruits.
Just one of those newcomers, Serbian winger Stefan Colovic started in a 4-3-3 formation with Daniel Cleary and Andy Boyle as the centre-back partnership, and Darragh Leahy getting the nod for the left-back role in preference to Dane Massey.
In midfield ever present Chris Shields was flanked by Jordan Flores and Will Patching in the absence of the injured Patrick McEleney, while up front the ever present Michael Duffy and Pat Hoban had Colovic supporting them on the right flank.
Understandably all remaining outfield players who were fit got a run-out in a much disjointed second half, and this contributed to the slow deterioration in the quality of entertainment.
Nonetheless it was a badly needed workout for Vinny Perth and his staff after such a long period just training and they will be pleased not just with the game but with some excellent build up play by Dundalk who displayed passages of neat combinations, especially in the first half.
Failure to take advantage of these opportunities, and their dominance of possession, could be attributed to a lack of sharpness around the goals, which also contributed to over hitting crosses from favourable positions.
Derry, for their part, tended to sit deep and try to hit Dundalk on the break, giving a clear warning of their strategy as early as the 9th minute when poor defending allowed Walter Figueira, the former Waterford player, the space to slot his shot beyond a hesitant Gary Rogers.
The goal stunned Dundalk into raising the tempo of their game, and they threatened on a number of times to get an equaliser, with Peter Cherrie, their former ‘keeper, bringing off an outstanding save from Leahy.
The home side also spurned a number of good chances, most notably Colovic who had an early chance when he failed to lift the ball over Cherry and later when he failed to get a good connection when the ball was cut back to him by Duffy.
The equaliser arrived ten minutes into the second half, and came from the left foot of Flores who hit an unstoppable shot off the roof of the net from outside the box as he ran onto Colovic’s inviting pass.
It was another outstanding strike by the English midfielder, not matching the quality of his stunning volley against Rovers in Tallaght before the lockdown, but equal to his effort against Cork before the lockdown.
The player, and the team, are now starting to reap the benefit of Flores’ improved fitness this season and he can have a vital role to play in the remainder of the campaign.
With the equaliser secured, Vinny Perth started to empty his bench after 60 minutes and while this disrupted the flow of the game, it didn’t interfere with Dundalk’s dominance that should have been rewarded with a winner.
Pat Hoban and his replacement, Georgie Kelly all came close and Derry scrambled one other effort off the line.
There was much interest in two of the replacements, Nathan Oduma and American, Josh Gatt with both anxious to impress.
Oduma who came on for Duffy on the left flank looked a very clever ball player who can ghost past players and Gatt swung over a good late cross from a tight position that showed his potential.
They certainly add to the team’s options on the flanks for alongside the starting pair, Duffy and Colovic there is Daniel Kelly who looked sharp when he entered the fray and was unlucky to get a goal.
There will be keen competition for places, especially in attacking positions while at the back, Andy Boyle looked really sharp and back to his best, with Shields dominant as ever in midfield.