FOR THE FIRST time in quite awhile, Richie Towell is really enjoying his football.
The 22-year-old has been one of the Airtricity League’s star performers in a Dundalk side which has exceeded expectations by pushing St Patrick’s Athletic close in the title race.
They currently sit second in the table with two games remaining but, after the Saints overcome UCD on Friday night, the Premier Division is all but wrapped up.
Dubliner Towell arrived at the Louth club at the beginning of the season having spent a five-year spell on the books at Celtic, who he joined from DDSL heavyweight Crumlin United in 2007, and hasn’t looked back since.
“It’s been a great year,” he told The Score this week. ”We’re weren’t expected to do as well as we have but when you see players like Andy Boyle, Dane Massey and Kurtis Byrne coming into the team you know it’s going to be good. We’ve all gelled well together.”
“Stephen has been great. We’ve responded to the way he tries to get us playing football. It’s how we want to play too and when the manager has the same views as the players it works well.”
The Ireland U21 international has admitted finding it tough in Scotland while on the fringes at Celtic, and later Hibernian where he enjoyed two loan spells but became surplus to requirements around the time that Pat Fenlon took over.
“I spent five years with Celtic and it was a great introduction to football. I loved my time there.
“I still have a lot of good friends there so I always want them to do well. There are a lot of younger lads coming through that I played with so to see them playing Champions League football is great.
The last year or two have been difficult but since I’ve been home my football has been going well and I’ve been enjoying it which is the main thing.”
As he mentions, a return to Ireland beckoned after his contracted wasn’t renewed by the Hoops and, with the transfer window closed, he followed in the footsteps of Keith Fahey by joining top Leinster Senior League side Bluebell United for a short period.
“Andy Noonan and Trevor Molloy were great with me. They had me training all the time and gave me games and it was great platform for me before I went to play in the League of Ireland.”
Offers from the likes of Shamrock Rovers and Derry were on the table but upon seeing the young talented side that Stephen Kenny was building, he was sold.
“Once I saw the calibre of players Stephen was bringing in I could see something special was going to happen. I was just lucky I made the right choice.”
Back-to-back defeats to title rivals St Pat’s and Limerick in September effectively ended their chance of a fist league win since 1995.
At Oriel Park last weekend, however, Dundalk got back to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Derry. What made it particularly special for Towell was the fact that he scored his first hat-trick in senior football.
“We were all dying for the Derry game because it was disappointing to lose two on the trot and we wanted to get back to winning ways,” says the midfielder. “To win in the way that we did was great.
“Dane and Kurtis put it on a plate for me and I was just in the right place at the right time.
I like where I’ve been playing in the last few weeks as Stephen has been letting me get forward a lot more.”
This afternoon sees the Lilywhites turn their attention to the cup this afternoon with an FAI Ford Cup semi-final meeting against local rivals Drogheda United.
Playing in the last four of a major cup competition is always massive but there is bound to be added spice to the game considering it’s also a Louth derby.
“They’ve been tough games against Drogheda all year and this won’t be any different,” Towell explains.
“I don’t think there will be a lot of football but it will be a blood and guts game with a lot of tackles flying in. The ball could be in the air more than anything else but once we get the win I’ll be happy.”
Towell’s performances for Dundalk this season will have no doubt caught the eye of more than a couple of scouts and he is certain to face a big decision once the season draws to a close.
While he admits returning back across the water remains an ambition, his past experiences have clearly taught him to show an extra degree of caution if and when he decides to move.
“Ideally, everybody wants to play at the highest standard that they can. If you ask any young lad they would tell you they want to play in the Premier League.
“Realistically though, I just want to play football again next year. I need to make sure that if I do go anywhere that it’s the right move for myself and I’m not going to be on the bench.
“At the moment I’m happy at Dundalk, playing every week and putting in good performances. It’s hard to move away from that when you have a close-knit group.
People get caught up with things like that and believe that the be-all and end-all is in England but it’s not. I know it’s not having experience playing in the UK already. There’s good money to be made over here and I’m at home with my family and my friends.
“If I wasn’t getting into the team I’d have the comfort of them but when you’re over there and you’re not playing it’s difficult. That’s something people don’t realise.
“They think it’s the big-time but it’s not what everyone makes it out to be. You just need to look after yourself at the end of the day.”
