EIRCOM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

15th January

Kilkenny 2

JOHNATHAN PRIZEMAN 22

AIDAN FORDE

Dundalk 0

It has definitely been a week that all at Dundalk will want to forget. Another night of misery inflicted again by Kilkenny, a side who don't look to be any great shakes but always seem to pull the result out of the bag at home. After Wednesdays' disaster it was unclear what Terry Eviston would try to gain revenge on Kilkenny, but no matter how long and hard you could have debated the starting eleven I don't think anyone could have predicted Dundalk's starting eleven on the evening.

David Ward was dropped, as was Brendan Murphy. David Hoey was ill, Paul Campbell presumably still not fit. The four players who came into the team were Brian Honan for Ward, John Connolly for Murphy and also coming into the side were Padraig Gollogley and Paddy Quinn who was making his first team debut. Gollogley and Quinn came in at centre back and right back respectively. Noel Melvin was pushed forward into midfield alongside John Flanagan while Honan and Izzi started up front. Rarely has such a team reshuffle failed so dismally.

Firstly, David Ward while wasting a lot of chances on Wednesday still got into the right positions and the Kilkenny defenders were struggling to cope with his pace and control. Brian Honan couldn't be more different. He is most likely there because of his height, however Honan is not a good header of the ball so he offered nothing on the evening and was a passenger until he was replaced. Secondly, Noel Melvin has never played well in midfield apart from his first six games with the club in 1997. Since then he has been a very important member of the team at the position of centre half. In midfield however, he looks out of place. Padraig Gollogley thrives when Noel Melvin is there but an unfamiliar partnership with Paul Whelan saw Gollogley struggle on the evening. Whelan had a bad game and although he played well against Kilkenny in the last two games his emergence has unsettled the side. Dundalk play better as a side with Melvin and Gollogley at centre half, football is a team game and you need your best partnership at centre half and not necessarily your two most talented centre defenders. Melvin and Flanagan never looked like working in midfield. All Flanagans best games for Dundalk have come in central midfield alongside either McNulty or Hoey. For obvious reasons McNulty is not now available while Hoey was ill yesterday. Flanagan only lasted 45 minutes in the end, and didn't impress during that period. Paddy Quinn however had a good game for Dundalk at right back while John Sharkey had a good game on the right side of midfield. The good news however, ends there.

The problem with the addition of Honan was that Dundalk now had a reason to hit long balls up in the direction of Honan. The fact he was winning nothing in the air which saw the ball come back with interest to the Dundalk defender was one of the problems with this. The other was that the sides most dangerous attacker Tony Izzi was painfully under utilised, getting little chance to show his skill on the floor. On the few occasions he got the ball on the ground he looked like doing something, he has been a constant thorn in Kilkennys side for the last two matches but he was not so on this evening, because he was never given the chance to.

In a first half devoid of any great excitement Kilkenny dominated. They were fielding new signings Roy Fox from Monaghan and ex-Shamrock Rovers player Sean Murray. They made an impression and gave Kilkenny something more up front. On 22 minutes Johnathan Prizeman played a quick one two with Murray before meeting the ball on the volley from 20 yards out to give John Connolly no chance in the Dundalk goals. This was no more than Kilkenny deserved and the sheer quality of the goal knocked the stuffing out of the Dundalk side. Despite that though Dundalk did create one clear cut chance before half time when Noel Melvin knocked a David Crawley free kick into the path of Tony Izzi who in a tight space made room for a shot but heroic defending from Kilkenny saw it blocked out for a corner. Kilkenny created some more chances before half time and had some corners which tested Dundalk resistance but the score was to remain 1-0 at half time.

At this stage Dundalk replaced John Flanagan with David Ward. Ward slotted into central midfield alongside Melvin. A clear indication of the luck Dundalk have had this week that in a crucial promotion battle they ended up with a defender and a striker playing in central midfield. As it happens Ward had a good chance on 49 minutes when he was one of several Dundalk players who got a touch on another David Crawley corner. The ball deflected across the goalmouth and was somehow saved by Forde in the Kilkenny goals. The spell afterwards was Dundalk's best in fact as the visitors began to make inroads. Tony Izzi released David Ward inside the Kilkenny half but he was fouled as he was going through on goal. Tony Izzi also was cynically hacked down by a Kilkenny defender as he won possession off him at the edge of the penalty box. Izzi could have gone on and scored and the Kilkenny player did not even receive a yellow card. Brian Honan was soon replaced by David Martin who went in alongside Melvin in central midfield. Ward moved back up front and for the next 5 minutes it was complete sustained Dundalk pressure. Martin was looking lively and Izzi nearly set up Sharkey for a goal however Sharkey was unlucky not to get there in time but kept up the chase and was fouled outside the Dundalk area. David Crawley, having another terrible evening's crossing and shooting wasted the subsequent free kick. Soon after Dundalk won a corner and while trying frantically to get the ball into the area they lost possession. Kilkenny broke free and a ball up to halfway line was completely misjudged by Padraig Gollogley who left Kilkenny with a two on one situation they worked it well and Aidan Forde who won the corner for Kilkenny on Wednesday which gave them a late equaliser was again to be involved in a crucial moment as he dinked the ball over the advancing Connolly to make it two-nil. It was definitely game over for Dundalk at this stage. The final cruel twist of fate added to a long week being the fact that Kilkenny got their second goal just when Dundalk were starting to get on top. Quinn and Sharkey continued to cause problems down the right wing but the quality of service given to players such as Izzi and Sharkey at times was deplorable. This was mainly because Dundalk lacked a natural passer of the ball in central midfield with Hoey badly missed and Flanagan out of sorts. Campbell, when fully fit is also a loss. Brian Morrisroe never got into the game on the left wing and disappointed again, as did David Crawley. Paul Whelan and Padraig Gollogley did not work as a central defensive pairing. The last fifteen minutes petered out without major incident, Dundalk had a few half chances and Paul Scully came close for Kilkenny but all Dundalk players really wanted to hear was the final whistle.

Apart from the emergence of Quinn and further improvement of Sharkey, Dundalk had little consolation to take out of this game. David Martin may also play a more significant part in Dundalk games over the coming months but apart from those three, it was pretty dismal. It's fair to say Dundalk players and supporters are sick of the sight of Kilkenny. This week they have ended Dundalk's FAI Cup dream and dented the Lilywhites' promotion hopes. However with this nightmare week out of the way there is now a week to regroup ahead of the Monaghan game where Terry Eviston when picking his starting eleven should revert back to basics and go with the side that defeated Longford on that memorable night, which was remarkably only twelve days ago. While some people will see these results as a time to again knock this Dundalk side it must be remembered that twelve days ago we were a good side, and you don't become a bad team in such a short space of time. What's done is done, its in the past now and the side must not dwell on the events of the past week but instead look forward to next week when the home game against Monaghan presents a chance to get back on the rocky road to promotion

DUNDALK FC

1 John Connolly 6

2 Paddy Quinn 7

3 David Crawley 4

4 Padraig Gollogley 5

5 Paul Whelan 4

6 Noel Melvin 5

7 John Sharkey 7

8 John Flanagan 5

9 Brian Honan 4

10 Tony Izzi 6

11 Brian Morrisroe 5

SUBS

David Ward 5 for Flanagan

David Martin 6 for Honan