A Bank holiday victory at Belfield means three wins on the trot for Dundalk. They move into second-place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table. It sets them up nicely for Friday night, when they’ll welcome early pace-setters Shamrock Ro
A Bank holiday victory at Belfield means three wins on the trot for Dundalk. They move into second-place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table.
It sets them up nicely for Friday night, when they’ll welcome early pace-setters Shamrock Rovers to Oriel Park.
Manager Vinny Perth tells our reporter Peter Branigan that the performance against UCD was a pleasing one.
"At times we were probably back to what we’re about," says Perth.
"We turned the ball over quite a lot, and every so often a team like them get out. So, in general, it was a good performance from everyone, and it feels a bit more like us over the last week, or so.
"In that middle period of our first 11 games, we weren’t creating enough chances, but we’re back creating chances, so that’s a positive, and the goals will come.
"So the challenge is for us to go on a winning run, and build on those last three games.
"The fear is that when you play UCD, they own the ball. I think they had over 60% possession against Bohs last week.
"So on a Monday, and with a bobbly pitch, you get into that trap of a bad mindset in the middle of a game. That’s why we wanted to press them that little bit higher today, and by and large I think that worked."
The Lilywhites fell behind to a Yoyo Mahdy strike, but Patrick Hoban had the sides level four minutes later from the penalty spot.
The goal is the Galway-native’s 69th for the club, in his second spell at Oriel Park, and it matches the club record set by Joey Donnelly just over 76 years ago.
"The amount of goals Pat has scored for this club is phenomenal," according to Perth.
"I think people have been capped for a lesser achievement than what he has done in this club, so he needs to keep scoring goals, and see where it takes him."
Michael Duffy, as well as scoring a goal, looked to be getting back to his dangerous self. He set up Hoban for what should have been a goal in the first-half, although the striker headed the effort straight at Conor Kearns.
He was involved in most of the good things that Dundalk did, and Perth says he’s getting over a niggle he’s had.
"Michael has had an underlying issue this year in terms of an injury. We’ve been managing him. He’s not firing on all cylinders at the moment.
"But I think that in the last week, or ten days, we’ve started to see that (his best). Also, he has the confidence of having (Chris) Shields and (Patrick) McEleney now, giving him good service, and the team is starting to grow into what it should be.
"He’s working so hard, but sometimes he’s not on the training ground as much as he’d like to be, and that affects his performance."
The visit of the Hoops on Friday is massive for the defending champions, with a gap of at least seven points between the clubs heading into the game.
It might be more, depending on how Rovers do against Bohs at Tallaght, but Perth insists that there is no extra significance for his side.
"We just need to go on a winning run We’ve good enough players, and the squad is good enough to be in a better position than we are.
"This is the start of my seventh season. We haven’t always been top of the table, and we haven’t always been out and gone.
"For us, it’s a game we look forward to, but it’s nothing other than that at this stage."
