Dundalk FC Close to Making History:
Today marked a fantastic occasion for Irish football where current League of Ireland Champions brought a 1-1 home result to Iceland where they played FH in what was a thriller for the neutral.
Dundalk have dominated Irish football ever since their relegation scare back in 2012. Dundalk appointed Stephen Kenny as manager a week after their victory in the playoff vs Waterford United back in 2012. Since being appointed manager Stephen Kenny has won 2 consecutive league titles along with an Fai cup and a League of Ireland cup.
Today was a vital day in the future of Irish football. Dundalk are the only Irish team to be participating in the Champions League this season, with Cork City and St Pats all in the Europa League which is where Dundalk might end up. Dundalk brought a 1-1 result from Oriel Park to Iceland where progressing was crucial.
FH started the better and it didn’t take long for them to get a well deserved 1-0 lead. Dundalk had chances to equalize in both the 25th and 35 minute. Daryl Horgan intercepted a pass and got past two men down the left hand side but made the angle to tight and could only win a corner from the hands of the FH keeper.
The second chance came from a great piece of individual skill from Patrick McEleny but hesitated and passed it straight to the defender who cleared easily. Dundalk went in a goal down at half time and needed some inspirational words from Stephen Kenny to motivate the team and progress to the next stage.
Kenny got an instant response from his team and Dundalk got a penalty shortly after half time. Ronan Finn stepped up but couldn’t beat the FH goalkeeper who dived to his left and made a good save. Dundalk fans could only ponder if there would be another good chance for their team. Dundalk used that penalty miss as an extra motive to suceed and it didn’t take long for David McMillan to equalize from 25 yards out, which hit the inside of the post and went in.
Dundalk never stopped and kept pushing and their hard work payed off with McMillan getting his second who certainly put them through to the next round. FH needed to push on and score and they did just that. FH made it 2-2 (3-3 agg) with 13 minutes left to go which meant it was backs against the wall for the Irish Champions. Fortunately enough for Dundalk they did hold on and booked a place to play Bate next Wednesday on away goals.
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I was hoping from a standout performance from O’Donnell but the FH midfield did well to keep him at bay but left a bit too much space for Horgan and Finn. At times in the game Horgan did drift out of the game but assisted the second goal. Finn was given a lot of space at times and had some pop shots from distance which we have seen go in before. Besides the penalty miss he did play well. The defense looked shaky at times especially in the opening and latter parts of the game. At times they were very solid and were a big presence in the opposition box.
My standout performer today was of course David McMillan who got the 2 goals that sent Dundalk out. Besides that he held up the ball well and was proving difficult to deal with for the FH defense.
Next up for Dundalk is away to Bate who knocked them out in the first round of qualifiers last year. Stephen Kenny beat Bate last time the two met when he managed Bohs and myself and all of Ireland are hoping that Dundalk can go all the way to the group stage!