AFTER FRIDAY’S DEFEAT to St Patrick’s Athletic, Premier Division leaders Dundalk should the resilience needed to win a title by hammering Derry City side 5-0.
At Richmond Park, St Pat’s started extremely well with high intensity and effectively won the game in the first two minutes with Christy Fagan’s decisive goal.
You can’t really fault Dundalk as they were simply out-worked by the Saints, who were excellent on the night, although the defending was poor in the lead-up to the goal.
Focusing on one player to mark him out of the game isn’t always a good idea, but I thought Greg Bolger did really well in not allowing Richie Towell to play.
He was given the job of keeping an eye on the midfielder and when he wasn’t available others such as Killian Brennan chipped in while that whole midfield five with Keith Fahey, Chris Forrester and Conan Byrne all got through a hell of a lot of work. That was where they won the game.
Pat’s weren’t going to allow Dundalk to come to Richmond Park and take their league title without a fight. They would also have been sore from the meeting earlier in the season when they were beaten 4-1.
They obviously wouldn’t have wanted to, but it was a game which Dundalk could effectively afford to lose.
It might well have been the perfect reminder that, with five games to go, they can’t take their eye off the ball. Stephen Kenny’s men must start every match with the intensity that they have shown throughout this season.
Coming off the back of that defeat, the big question was whether they would react in their next league match. Last night, they were 1-0 up against the Candystripes after just 12 seconds and you could see they went out there with a purpose. By the final whistle, they had scored five unanswered goals to re-establish that six-point lead at the top of the table.
If I’m being honest, I don’t see anyone catching Dundalk. It could still be close but I fully expect them to go win it now.
Realistically, it is only Cork City who can catch them. Though they would have expected to have a good season, I don’t think the Rebels could have predicted that they would be pushing to win a league title after such an exceptional campaign.
You have to be psychologically ready for the run-in because winning a title is a very mentally draining process. It requires total focus from the start of the season right to the end. Dundalk have learned from the disappointment of missing out last season but I don’t think Cork are there yet. I could be proved wrong but I have to call it the way I see it.
There are going to be occasions between now and the end of the season that it might get a bit hairy and Dundalk won’t get the title handed to them on a plate.
Any league-winning team I have been involved with has been a building process, not just in terms of squad but mentally. You have to be prepared for it as there is a hell of a lot of pressure but Dundalk are well-equipped to see the final set of fixtures out.
