EIRCOM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

12th September

Dundalk 0

Monaghan United 1

ROY FOX 90

So here we are again. Back at square one. All hopes that Kilkenny last Saturday would spark a revival in Dundalks fortunes and give Dundalk the boost they needed to start moving up the table ended. It seems as if that win was a false dawn. In our first few games we played well and lost. Today we played badly and lost. It just keeps getting worse

Dundalk started with exactly the same team which triumphed in Kilkenny. Who knows ? If Dundalk had scored early then the result might have been the same. However just like last season ; the longer the game goes on the chance of Dundalk scoring is reduced and the chance of the opposition sneaking a goal increases

Dundalk , to their credit started brightly. After an early scare when a long shot from Paul Brady was fumbled by Brendan Murphy ; Dundalk began to impose themselves on the game. Brian Morris-Roe was the main reason for this with the left winger causing problems on the left for the Monaghan defence. The first sign came to Monaghan when his good left wing cross after 14 minutes made its way to Gavin Moore who shot well wide with only the keeper to beat. A great chance squandered. Dundalk realised that Morris-Roe's crosses were causing trouble and he was behind all the other good things that involved Dundalk in the half. If Moore and Ward had been more alert to his left wing crosses then Dundalk would have been in front. Hoey could also have headed one of his crosses home before half time and on another occasion Brendan Finn had to clear off the line for Monaghan. Morrise-Roe also hit a swerving left foot volley wide of the goal on 20 minutes in the best spell of Dundalk pressure in the match. Ward had the best Dundalk chance of the half when he was put clean through but he shot woefully wide. It was another disgracefully bad performance from Ward who must surely be on borrowed time in the first team.

However Monaghan had plenty of good chances in the half, mostly from set pieces. Roy Fox was behind most of the moves. His 30 yard free kick was brilliantly saved by Murphy on the half hour and a shot from the resulting short corner was also saved by the Meathman. Before half time Fox dinked a free kick delicately over the wall but saw his shot come back off the crossbar. Dundalk had at this stage made their first substitution with Derek Delaney replacing the injured John Sharkey.

With the second half came the rain. The wind was favouring Dundalk in this half and actually set up an awful lot of chances for Dundalk. Dundalk threatened from the restart with a drilled David Hoey shot causing much problems for Van Boxtel. Morris-Roe had to drift infield as service to the left wing dried up in the second half. Delaney was bitterly disappointing on the right wing with McNulty and Hoey not impressive at all in the centre of the park. This added to the calamitous front pair of Ward and Moore did not make pleasant viewing for Dundalk fans with only Melvin and Staunton doing well for Dundalk. Monaghan came forward more and more with Paul Smith of Monaghan causing problems for the Dundalk defence. Notaro was also getting forward down the right and Monaghans counter attacking made it harder for Dundalk to throw players forward in search of a winner. Melvin was very unlucky though after a corner from the left fell right onto his head but it was cleared off the line by a Monaghan defender

Dundalk threw new signing Brian Honan on for the largely ineffective Moore fifteen minutes into the half. Honan was making his debut for Dundalk at a very crucial time but he had a great chance to make it 1-0 when he broke past the last line of Monaghan defence but he was painfully slow when put through and was eventually caught up and lost possession. Ward got through with 20 minutes to go but his day was summed up when he missed the ball completely and ended up in a heap on the ground. This could have been fatal for Dundalk as Monaghan picked up the ball and broke down the left. Smith created an opening and Andy Myler was left free in the six yard box with Murphy beaten but incredibly blasted the ball over the bar. Dundalk had a received a major let off and David Ward must have been one relieved man/boy. The wind was to be a crucial factor with 15 minutes left when a punt forward was carried past the Monaghan defence by the wind and put David Ward through on goal but again his tame shot was straight at Van Boxtel. Once again a striker of quality would have got the goal. This was becoming more and more ominous for Dundalk as Monaghan were showing dangerous signs on the break. McNulty had to pull Myler down on one occasion when he was about to slot Smith clean through.

Dundalk were to have one major chance though when pressuring from Honan, Ward and especially Hoey forced Van Boxtel into picking up a poor passback from Dundalk old boy Bobby Browne. An indirect free kick 10 yards out was awarded to Dundalk but Morris-Roe shot wide. The rain became more incessant as the crowd of around 300 or so looked for shelter in the wide confines of Oriel Park. Substitute Derek Delaney was replaced by Michael Harte. The mere fact Delany was taken off despite being a sub sums up his performance. Dundalk had run out of ideas by now and Monaghan looked happy with a point. However when Monaghan won a free 25 yards out in injury time it was clear that Roy Fox fancied another pop at goal. Just when Dundalk fans thought they had seen the end of last gasp defeats Fox stepped up and curled a low shot around the wall and into the bottom corner of the net. Murphy was badly positioned and how it got past the wall is a mystery but again Dundalk had paid the penalty for not taking chances. Today though was not as clear cut as the first four games of the season. Monaghan had their fair share of chances as well and it would not be fair to say Dundalk completely dominated.

If Dundalk want promotion then they have to grab 1-0 victories out of nothing. We need a striker who can grab those chances. Our new policy of giving any Dublin strikers without a club a game should stop. Honan and Moore should be disposed of. Ward should be told to go back to the reserves or possibly be sold to Linfield and then maybe Dundalk could sign some good strikers who are prepared to score goals. The return of Mark Reid to the team will be a boost but Dundalk need someone to play off him and he has to be better than the blunt strikeforce we again fielded today. We need goals or else we won't win games. It sounds so simple but we make it look so hard. This policy of trying any striker with a pair of boots is not advisable, that should have been done 2 months ago. Good players have been snapped up by clubs now. Maybe Dundalk should look at the option of loaning a Premier Division striker to fill a gap while a search for a permanent replacement goes on. I have to finish with a positive thought. This division is so tight that only 8 points seperates first and last, the situation is not irretrievable. Dundalk have to put this match behind them and move onto the next match. We have seven days to find a striker who will stop the rot. Our current strikeforce will get us nowhere, apart from seeking re-election. That is too frightening a thought to contemplate.

DUNDALK FC

1 Brendan Murphy 6

2 John Whyte 5

3 David Crawley 5

4 Padraig Staunton 7

5 David Hoey 4

6 Noel Melvin 7

7 Tom McNulty 4

8 John Sharkey 5

9 Gavin Moore 3

10 David Ward 1

11 Brian Morris-Roe 6

SUBS

13 Derek Delaney 2 for Sharkey

15 Brian Honan 3 for Moore

17 Michael Harte [not on long enough] for Delaney