EIRCOM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

15th February

Dundalk 0

Athlone Town 1

WARREN PARKES 6

Dundalk's home form this season has been disappointing to say the least. When you look at the away form of the side it is championship winning standard but when it comes to winning at home this side has a serious problem. Last nights disastrous home defeat was home loss number six of the campaign to date. Whats worse is that two of those home defeats have been against Monaghan, one to St Francis and now one to Athlone. If this side fails to go up at the end of the season it won't be a case of the side that wasn't good enough to go up, as last Friday in Bray showed. It would be of a side who had promotion in their hands and threw it away. Hopefully this will be the last such defeat and it won't come to that. However its strange because when you look at the fixture list now a home match doesn't give the same feeling of security it should.

The way Dundalk started the game however it looked like last weeks win was going to inspire the team into a comfortable home win against Athlone. With an unchanged side Dundalk went at Athlone from the start and after 3 minutes David Ward did brilliantly to cut past a defender and into the box but his goalbound shot was deflected wide of the post by an Athlone defender. It was all Dundalk but then on 6 minutes Athlone dealt what was to be a hammer blow when a hopeful long ball over the top was misjudged uncharacteristically by Noel Melvin to allow Warren Parkes in and the former Bohemians and Pats striker made no mistake in firing past John Connolly from 12 yards. The next 15 minutes were still Dundalk dominated. Paddy Quinn was causing problems going forward and could have scored twice with shots from outside the box. One of which went inches wide after a goalmouth scramble. David Ward also came close when he fired into the side netting after a flick on by Tony Izzi. Was it going to be one of those nights when chances were wasted again ? Well, I suppose it was but after the first half hour chances became scarcer and scarcer. In fact, Athlone had as many clearcut chances as Dundalk did in the second half. The first half on the whole was desperately disappointing. David Ward looked to be on form but was not getting the service while Tony Izzi was well marshalled but again suffered the insult of being expected to win aerial challenges by his team-mates. Away from home they seem to know to give him the ball on the ground but when it comes to Oriel Park the tactic seems to be to hammer the ball straight at him in the air. This is a waste of talent and frustrating to watch, especially for the player himself.

At half time Paddy Quinn was withdrawn. This was probably unfair as although he had missed a good chance on his left before half time he was still getting in behind the Athlone defence and causing serious problems. The hope was that Derek Thornton being a more natural winger would provide the same threat but he contributed little in the second period. On the other side Paul Campbell was not playing like a winger and was constantly getting drawn into midfield. From the kick outs on some occasions the whole Dundalk midfield were standing in the centre circle. In fact, all the outfield players were within a 20 yard radius most of the time which made for a boring and frustrating spectacle for supporters. Warren Parkes and Stephen Mullin were doing well for Athlone and this meant the Dundalk defence could not afford to relax when Athlone cleared their lines. John Connolly had to be called into action shortly after the break to save an Adrian Carberry header after good work by Mullin down the left wing. Derek Thornton did have a half chance for Dundalk but he squandered it. Tony Izzi could not make contact when the only option he had left was an overhead kick after a flick on by Paul Campbell in the box. It was now Dundalk needed to make a change and liven up things on the right wing. Derek Delaney was the obvious option but was not introduced until the dying seconds when the game was all but lost. When the second substitution came it was the disappointing Campbell who was withdrawn but surprisingly Brian Honan was introduced. Instead of changing their bad tactics Dundalk decided to stick with them and introduce someone more suited to them. Honan joined Izzi up front with Ward moving back to the right wing. Ward did have some joy on that wing but failed to get a telling cross in or when he did no one got on the end of it. Unlike the first half where Dundalk were unlucky with some missed chances the second half was just devoid of much goalmouth excitement and petered out to a depressing conclusion. Delaney was finally introduced for the unlucky Ward and in his short time on the pitch made one good run past two or three defenders but shot woefully wide. Delany's run showed he could take on players and beat them. The question is, why wasn't he introduced instead of Honan at that time and leave Ward and Izzi as they were. It wasn't the strikers fault they were getting little help from midfield. John Flanagan was the best of midfielders and showed a great appetite for the game. His frustration was apparent at times as some of his teammates lacked his enthusiasm and fighting spirit. At the back the defence again looked rocky. The wide pitch in Oriel Park does not suit this side. The slower players such as Whelan and Campbell are more exposed on this wide pitch whereas on smaller pitches such as Cobh and Limerick they can use their physical style to make an impact on the game.

Home Farm are next up this Saturday. It is ironic Dundalk should play a team with home in their title at this current moment. Of course, Dundalk should win but their home form this season does not inspire confidence. The infuriating inconsistency of this side was never more apparent than last night. The Lilywhites now return to playing catch up and waiting on other sides to slip up. All is not lost however, it is only one defeat and wins in the next three games can erase the memory. Once again however, promotion is out of Dundalk's hands and the 12 points plus which the Lilywhites have thrown away this season at home could eventually turn out to be a fatal blow to automatic promotion hopes.

DUNDALK FC

1 John Connolly 7

2 John Whyte 6

3 David Crawley 4

4 David Hoey 5

5 Paul Whelan 5

6 Noel Melvin 5

7 John Flanagan 7

8 Paul Campbell 4

9 David Ward 7

10 Tony Izzi 6

11 Paddy Quinn 6

SUBS

15 Derek Thornton 5 for Quinn

13 Brian Honan for Campbell

14 Derek Delany for Ward