Dundalk result caught us all by surprise Saturday

THIS week showed the madness of following a football team, ours obviously being Sligo Rovers. I left The Showgrounds on Tuesday night after a diabolical game of footie, convinced we would be well beaten at the weekend in Oriel. That’s the beauty of football and I suppose shows the character of the lads in the dressing room to give a performance after Tuesday night.

The Harps game was one of the first times at a game where I wanted to leave early. It really was uninspiring stuff. I know they are fighting for their lives and followed up the point with an excellent win over Bray but our focus has to be on ourselves and why we were so poor on the night.

We lacked a real cutting edge and really struggled to create in the final third. We had plenty of possession but it was all in front of them and easy for them to defend. They gradually came into it and Ryan Curran coming on for Ruairi Keating was a big plus for the Donegal men. He was unlucky not to get a penalty when Nugent upended him in the box. Nugent though has been as they would say in his homeland awesome and has been outstanding since he came in to the team. He made a few crucial saves at the opening of the second half and looks as good if not better than Schlingermann. He is yet to concede which is an amazing record for a newcomer to the league. Russell was again the standout outfield player and was energetic and industrious in that midfield area. Raff missed the peno and just had one of those nights when everything he tried didn’t come off for him but he made up for it with a cracker in Dundalk.

The Dundalk game caught us all by surprise but what a result for our lads. I know in some quarters people tried to say Dundalk’s schedule was too much and try to take the gloss off our well deserved win. Gary Rogers gifted us the opening goal after a minute’s play and we never looked back after that. They had chances and periods of domination as you would expect but we scored at crucial times in the game ten minutes before the break and just after Liam Martin’s red card. I am looking forward to seeing the goals on Monday as I believe they were crackers. This result has blown the league run in wide open and tonight’s game between the top two is a game I’m really looking forward to. The momentum is with City and Stephen Kenny has to drop Rogers after a couple of howlers.

I know Dundalk fans feel that the amount of games caught up with them and for some players they may have but for us I’m lamenting the loss of a chance of qualifying for Europe again this year. We have dropped at least ten points to the teams below us and as much as I was thrilled with the result Saturday I couldn’t help but reflect on where we could be if we had been mentally at it against the bottom teams. This result left me with a lot of questions about the group and as we play the bottom club Longford next week I hope they can answer them for me with a positive win and performance to keep us in that fifth spot.

We also got a mixed bag from the Irish team this week. I’m a big believer in ‘ it’s a results business’ but if I had travelled to Dublin on Thursday to watch that game against Georgia which a brother of mine did I would have been sick. They completely outplayed us in the first half and should have been one if not two up. We improved slightly in the second half and fluked the win with an unusual goal scored by our own Seamus Coleman. The three points and the clean sheet were the only positives. The Moldovan game was a much improved display and importantly with the other results on the day a vital three points. I had issue with Trapattoni for not picking our strongest side and O’Neill for me is at the same thing. Hoolohan has to play in every game, he has the ability to link up the play and can see the passes that others can’t. We have a big call to make in regards to our centre half pairing. We will get away with them against Moldova but against the stronger sides I’d worry for them. I feel they are erratic and there is a mistake always in both of them. The ex- League of Ireland lads were to the fore again with the third goal involving three of the league’s former players. Seamus was outstanding on the night and I’m not surprised to hear that clubs are looking at him again. It was a good week for the boys in green and we are in a decent position but the next game in Vienna like Belgrade will be a real test.