Ugly win in Oriel a wakeup call ahead of vital FAI Cup clash

Dundalk had to win very ugly last Friday to collect all three points against lowly Sligo Rovers at Oriel Park in front of a disappointing crowd of 1,947 people.

While Bohemians and Pats are selling their stadiums out, the crowds attending Oriel seem to be decreasing by the week. This far from vintage performance will do nothing to bring the attendance up again. However, Dundalk won and at this stage of the season, that's what counts.

They are right up there in the chase for the European spots and with their closest rivals all drawing on Friday, the results have allowed Stephen O'Donnell's men back into the race for Europe.

Everyone of Dundalk's last nine league games will be like cup matches, with the Oriel Park side facing must win games all the time. Dundalk are still in the cup too. Next week they take on Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds in Round 2.

Let Dundalk supporters be in no doubt. This will be a very tough game against the first Division outfit. This time last year Dundalk edged through the second round by beating Wexford FC on penalties, having drawn the game 2-2.

The then Wexford manager Ian Ryan is now in charge of Bray. They are well in the hunt for a play-off place for promotion in the First Division and will cause Dundalk problems.

On Friday night they came from 3-1 down to haul themselves back to a 3-3 draw. And Dundalk went out in round 3 of the cup last season when they put up a horror show against Waterford to lose 3-1 in a game when it could have been a lot worse.

Dundalk must make sure there is no nightmare result in Bray next Friday night. I think this game will be much closer than most people imagine.

Stephen O'Donnell resorted to his three-man defence model yet again on Friday night. It very nearly did not come off. Darren Brownlie made up part of the three-man defence with Louie Annesley and Archie Davies.

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At times they played with four in midfield. Daryl Horgan, Conor Malley, Hayden Muller and Greg Sloggett made up the engine room. Ryan O'Kane, Daniel Kelly and Pat Hoban were the front three. The system just did not seem to work.

Dundalk have been very weak in midfield all season. They just do not seem to have the physicality of a Chris Shields or going further back in club history, a Tom McNulty. How many games this season have we seen teams overrunning the Dundalk midfield? Far too much for my liking.

Sligo were able to do this on several occasions on Friday night. Dundalk did have four shots on target in the entire 90 minutes. One produced their only goal. But for the entirety of the game, they were unable to force a single corner.

Darren Brownley and Archie Davis were outstanding at the back. Louie Annesley did not do so well. He seemed somewhat nervous at the back and as a result, there was always the fear he could make a mistake and let Sligo in for a goal.

Hayden Muller, Greg Sloggett, Daryl Horgan and Conor Malley did what they had to do in midfield. But a lot more steel is needed. Ryan O'Kane had an excellent game up front, with Pat Hoban putting in a fine skipper's display. Daniel Kelly was outstanding.

I was glad to see Daniel at the top of his game. He has been hit so much by injury. Yet he bravely bounces back all the time. On Friday he reported that he was back to full fitness. He was my man of the match, along with Archie Davis.

Dundalk fans must give Daniel Kelly a chance. This youngster, when allowed to play his own game, can create and score goals out of nothing. It was Kelly who got the winner to keep Dundalk remarkably on course in the fight for a European place next season.

Daniel got his 30th goal for Dundalk on Friday. He revealed that he was a former player with Bray Wanderers. It was the assistant manager of Dundalk last season Dave Mackey who gave Daniel his chance at senior level. He has never looked back.

Dave is also a former league winner with Dundalk as a player. Daniel went on to play with Bohemians before Stephen Kenny brought him to Oriel in 2018. It was a surprise Dave did not return to Dundalk at the start of the season. He still acts as an advisor to the underage teams.

The Lilywhites had 61 percent of the possession on Friday to Sligo's 39 percent. Sligo did not have a single shot on target. Dundalk had four. Had Stephen O'Donnell's team come up against tougher opposition, they would have been beaten with a display like Friday's.

Sligo missed a number of clear chances and were also denied a stone wall penalty. Ryan O'Kane and Pat Hoban were forced to play at the back at times, clearing dangerous crosses as Sligo looked for a goal.

But Dundalk got the points and that is all that mattered. They will not get off so easily again when they play other opposition. 

Sligo had not got their regular keeper Luke McNicholas. He has gone on loan to Wrexham until January. Instead, they had 16-year-old Conor Walsh as the net minder. He has signed a 3-year contract with the North Westerners.

Dundalk always looked disjointed throughout the game. Sligo should have been in front after nine minutes. Stefan Radosavavljevic's cross into the Dundalk penalty area was not dealt with. Portuguese player Pedro Martello missed a sitter.

He headed the ball back across goal and wide. He was so angry with himself that he kicked the Bet Regal advertisement hoarding in anger. He could have seriously injured himself.

From the kick out Dundalk scored. Archie Davies found great space on the right. His cross to the Sligo back post found Daniel Kelly, who headed home at the far post.

It was a very Hoban type of goals. I was sure it was Pat who got the goal at first. But it was Daniel Kelly. I was delighted for him. That was to be the goal that won the game.

Sligo kept coming at Dundalk after that. They came close on 26 minutes when Radosavljevic curled a shot from the edge of the Dundalk penalty area. Somehow it came off the crossbar.

They came close again on 64 minutes when substitute Patrice Hartmann fired in a free kick that Nathan Shepperd did well to scramble away at the last moment.

Five minutes from the end Frank Livak was taken down in the box by Johannes Yli-Koko. Referee Adriano Reale just did not want to know. 

Sligo kept up the pressure with late saves by Shepperd from Kailin Barlow and Martelo. Dundalk won ugly and got the points. It was great to see Dundalk get the win. But Friday night's performance was simply not good enough from a side chasing Europe.

The Lilywhites will have to up their game considerably if they are to keep on the European road in the coming weeks. Dundalk made four substitutions during the game.

Johannes replaced Daryl Horgan on 57 minutes. Darragh Leahy replaced Hayden Muller on 70 minutes. Alfie Lewis replaced Greg Sloggett on 82 minutes, while John Martin replaced Pat Hoban at the same time. 

Johannes did very well for Dundalk and his attacking runs through the Sligo defence took the pressure off the Dundalk back four. 

Stephen O’Donnell

Stephen O'Donnell felt his team did well. He said that he was very happy getting four points out of six post Europe. The main thing was to get the win, but keeping a clean sheet was a good bonus too.

The manager agreed with me that Darren Brownley was exceptional at the back in Friday night's game, just as he was against Shelbourne the previous Monday.

O'Donnell says Archie Davies did so well to get his cross in for the goal. The manager also says he thought Daniel Kelly was exceptional in the way he rose so high to head the cross home. The manager says that Daniel Kelly was quality and that he got his reward early doors with the goal.

The Dundalk boss spoke about how they had just gone through an eight-day phase with three games. He was happy now to get the full week to prepare for Friday's game against Bray Wanderers.

The Galwegian was happy that the other games in the Premier Division all ended in draws. This brings the European spot back into Dundalk's range. He was also delighted with the way he can now rotate his squad. It gives everybody a chance.

The manager accepted that Bray Wanderers were not going to be easy opposition in the cup. Hayden Muller had to go off injured on Friday, but the manager said he was fine. He also said that Robbie McCourt was not available on Friday, as he was ill.

On the cup, he says he is looking at it very much as a route to Europe, as well as the league by finishing in 3rd place. Ian Ryan was manager of Wexford last season when they met Dundalk. It took penalties for them to edge through.

O'Donnell says the cup is one of the two main pieces of silverware that can be won ad they are going all out to win the trophy. Robbie Benson will be training with the team next week. The good news is he is very close to a return.

Daniel Kelly

Daniel Kelly got his 30th goal for Dundalk on Friday. Daniel says he thought the team were good and defended very well. Daniel says the cross for his goal from Archie Davies was excellent. He felt Archie was a terrific player, given that he has played 70 games in the past 12 months.

He says Davies just arched the ball into him in the box. Kelly says that in fairness he could not have missed the ball.  Kelly thought it was a tough game. He says Sligo are a good team and that they are a very dogged side.

The Dundalk winger says it was great to play the entire 90 minutes. He is finally feeling good over the last couple of months, given all the injuries. The youngster has been in and out of the Dundalk side through injury for the past two seasons.

Daniel knew Sligo were always going to come back at them, given their quality. But he says three points was the main aim and that Dundalk had got them. On the cup game Daniel says a win in Bray will leave the Lilywhites just two games away from the Aviva.

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Archie Davies

Archie Davis knows Dundalk's performance was not the prettiest to watch. Very wisely, Archie says that it was now the business end of the season and that it was all about getting points on the board.

Archie says he did not know exactly who was in the box to be on the receiving end of his cross that led to the goal. He thought it might have been Pat Hoban, who was there to head it home.

Archie says that Daniel headed the ball to the net in the exact same manner as Pat Hoban would do. He says it really was a Hoban type of goal.

Archie says it's important that he himself maintains his consistency. He says Darren Brownlie has had a huge influence on the defence since he has come in and has brought good consistency.

Archie says he has no problem with the system Stephen O'Donnell uses when he plays with three men at the back. He is comfortable with any system and that usually he has little difficulty slotting into whatever role asked of him.

He accepted that the three at the back system can at times put pressure on them to work harder. He says he has to work harder for the team and get the results.

Archie stressed that nobody on the Dundalk team will ever shy away from digging in to get the results. He says that Sligo did push Dundalk to the pin of their collar, But they got the points and that was all that mattered.

Archie accepted the Lilywhites had won ugly on Friday.  It's something they could have done more frequently during the season.

Archie is looking forward to the cup match against Bray. He says Dundalk will be on high alert, as cup shocks can happen against lower division sides.

But Archie loves cup games and is ready to get up and down the line and create the chances to get the Oriel Park men goals.

He says that Dundalk won ugly on Friday night and they need to do more of that between now and the end of the season, as it was a good way for his team to collect points.

Dane Massey

Dane Massey is a household name in Dundalk. He was an ever-present in the Dundalk teams under Stephen Kenny. He won two cups and five leagues under the Dubliner and Vinny Perth.

Dane now plays with Bray Wanderers. He scored a goal for the Seasiders in the 3-3 draw in the first Division on Friday against Cobh. Bray and Dundalk were the last draw to come out of the hat for Round 2.

Dane knows Dundalk will always have a very special place in his heart. The club have always been kind to him and his family. He says Bray are a young team, with an excellent young manager.

Dane believes that it will be a close game between the two sides. But he accepted the class and quality that the Lilywhites have will make it a very difficult game for Bray.

The defender accepted that the cup tie has all the characteristics needed for a shock result. He adds that with Shamrock Rovers out of the cup and with Pat's facing Derry, another big team is guaranteed to go out. It could be a chance for some of the lesser teams to make the cup final.  

So, Dundalk head into battle with Bray at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday in the cup. The Lilywhites always find it very difficult to get a result from this venue. But they should advance and make it to the quarter final. Have a great week and please remember to look after each other.