EIRCOM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

6th November

Dundalk 2

PAUL CAMPBELL 36

ANTO REILLY 45

Kilkenny 1

JOHNATHAN PRIZEMAN 69

Dundalk moved joint second in the First Division tonight with a 2-1 win over Kilkenny. Possibly the most pleasing aspect of this result is that it is the first time Dundalk have beaten one of their main rivals at home this season.

After keeping faith with the side that won 6 games in a row against Longford last week Terry Eviston this time decided to make two changes. New signing Paul Campbell came into the centre of midfield and replaced John Flanagan. Brian Honan who was not quite fully fit was replaced in the starting line up by Anto Reilly. Reilly has been scoring goals for fun in the Summer League and in his first start in the League Of Ireland adjusted remarkably quickly. Campbell has been scoring plenty of goals for Pats reserves and has years of experience behind him in the League. The news that Tom McNulty was fit before the game was also a boost to Dundalk fans

The first half was very entertaining with both sides prepared to play football. Reilly is tall but can play with the ball at his feet so there is not the same temptation there is with Honan to hoof the ball up in the air to him. Kilkenny hit five past Bray last Saturday so they were always likely to be dangerous but in the first half they did not have many clear scoring opportunites. However when they did break they did look to be confident in front of goals.

Dundalk now seem to have kicked the habit of dominating games and not taking the chances. Dundalk had four clear chances in the first half and took two of them. Earlier on in the season, if Dundalk had four clear chances they wouldn't have converted any of them. The first clear chance for Dundalk fell to Reilly. A dangerous cross from the left caused havoc in the Kilkenny defence and the ball rebounded to Reilly who with a clear chance 12 yards out tried to curl the ball with the outside of his right foot past Forde but it went well wide. If he'd showed more composure it could have been one nil. Some good passages of play followed with Dundalk looking confident and after a slick combination of passes down the left Crawley eventually gave Morrisroe the chance to cross. The cross was accurate and met on the run by Ward whose header hit the bar and rebounded back but it was cleared away. The lead goal was not too far away though. It came on 36 minutes when the Lilywhites won a corner on the right. Crawleys corner was met perfectly by the head of Paul Campbell who headed to the far corner of the net. Campbell had been very quiet before then but after the goal he began to adjust and get into the game. David Hoey benefitted from some of Campbells passes and had one of his better games of the season, although well short of his best. Dundalk nearly scored a great goal five minutes later when Ward ran down the left and cut the defence open to allow Tom McNulty shoot but his shot was not good enough to trouble Robert Forde. The second goal came nine minutes later just before half time. Dundalk were laying siege to the Kilkenny goal and when the ball came through to David Ward the chance looked on, he tried to pick out Hoey who couldn't reach the ball but Anto Reilly came in on Hoeys blind side and was left clear on goal 12 yards out. This time he kept his composure and stylishly slotted it past the advancing Forde. Dundalk went in two nil up at half time after hitting Kilkenny with a sudden nine minute flash of brilliance.

Dundalk started the second half as they finished the first, David Ward was becoming more prominent and had a good second half. Everywhere on the pitch Dundalk were oozing confidence. They were trying flicks and moves which they were too nervous to do last season. Ward with the ball at his feet is the best attacker in this division. He never looks like losing the ball and it was this skill which led to the chance for Dundalk to close the door on any potential Kilkenny comeback. A hopeful ball forward from Crawley looked to be under control by Kilkenny skipper Brendan Rea but Ward nipped in and won possession. Ward sprinted forward with the ball and got to the byline where he pulled the ball back into the path of Brian Morrisroe who with a clear chance took a poor first touch and his tame shot went wide of the post. Reilly was impressive in the second half , showing he has pace as well. Campbell settled into the middle nicely but ran out of steam and was eventually replaced by Flanagan. Kilkenny gave the Whites a warning of what was to come when after 10 minutes of the half substitute Brian Jordan was put through but he shot straight at Connolly who made a good save nevertheless. Dundalk began to relax on their lead too much and allowed Kilkenny, who had made three substitutions , get into the game more. A Kilkenny goal looked inevitable and it eventually came on 69 minutes when Johnathan Prizeman broke through from midfield. Connolly was slow to come out but Prizeman still had work to do and finished well when given the chance.

Dundalk were to have a nervous last 20 minutes. Although Kilkenny did not have any clear shooting chances they were still in the Dundalk area quite a bit and the closest they came was when one of their attackers headed straight at Connolly after a free kick was launched into the area in the dying minutes. Connolly picked up a booking for time wasting during the last 20 minutes as the referee went crazy with some incredibly bad decisions. The most memorable being when Dundalk earned a vital corner on the right. The Kilkenny defenders went into the box to defend while the Dundalk players moved forward only to find out that the ref had given a goal kick. To this minute no-one knows why.The referee really was diabolical, which seems to be the rule rather than the exception amongst Division One referees. Honan came on for Reilly with three minutes left to try and hold the ball up and Dundalk managed to keep the ball at the corner flag for most of injury time with any Kilkenny attempts at getting the ball forward stifled again by the commanding Melvin and Gollogley who put in great displays again.

A crucial win for Dundalk. McNulty was important as he kept the midfield together in the first half. Worryingly though the midfield went missing in the second half and allowed Kilkenny far too much time on the ball. Hopefully this was just complacency and not tiredness because there will be tougher games than this later on in the season. Morrisroe and Hoey still aren't playing to their potential and when they do we will be even more of a threat. Ward put last week behind him and had another good game, even if some things he tried didn't work.

Dundalk now have three games against lesser opposition coming up, Monaghan away, at home to Cobh and away in Athlone. After that Bray come to Oriel and if Dundalk have nine more points under their belt by then, Oriel Park will be the venue for a crucial game against Bray which could see one of the biggest crowds in Oriel for some time. However that is not until December and Dundalk have three games to win before then. If the Lilywhites are to be promoted then these games must be won, points must not be dropped. Crucially there is more competition for places now than I've ever seen in my time as a Dundalk fan. Whelan and Sharkey were back on the bench tonight, Reid, Staunton and Murphy are still to return , Delany was suspended and David Martin couldn't even make the bench. All the players who have come into the team have done well. The form of Melvin and Gollogley has also been outstanding. Taking all these factors into consideration it is very hard to see Dundalk slipping back down the table, in fact it seems odds on that they won't.

DUNDALK FC

1 John Connolly 7

2 John Whyte 7

3 David Crawley 7

4 Tom McNulty 7

5 Padraig Gollogley 8

6 Noel Melvin 8

7 David Hoey 6

8 Paul Campbell 7

9 David Ward 7

10 Anto Reilly 7

11 Brian Morrisroe 6

SUBS

15 John Flanagan 6 for Campbell

14 Brian Honan 6 for Reilly

12 Paul Whelan

13 John Sharkey

17 Paddy Quinn