10th September
Dundalk got their first point of the season in an always interesting 1-1 draw with Shamrock Rovers at Oriel Park tonight. Yet later on in the season one thing will be remembered from this match and one question will be asked. Was it a goal ? The action leading up to the incident was fiery as always and the travelling fans added a bit more spice to the occasion. Paul Doolin made his debut and I have to admit I was wrong when I criticised the signing. He was magnificent, tackling well and making up for his lack of pace by showing intelligence on the ball and a good range of passes. With Campbell out, Lee Thew moved to the right wing with Doolin partnering Melvin in the centre of midfield. Doolin was the better of the two. Melvin failed to impose on the oppositions box although a couple of speculative first half shots went over the bar. Sherlock and Cousins made a couple of good runs but Brady redeemed some of his earlier performances by putting in a fine display at the back aided by Mick Doohan while McNulty was good defensively but his distribution was poor. Dundalk's best chance of the half was when a scrambled shot by Ward fell to Hoey who had his shot blocked from inside the box when he really should have scored.
Up front Withnell tried hard as always but seemed not to be 100% fit. He was not as dangerous with long balls over the top than he would be if he was fully fit. Ward looked dazed in the first half but in the second was very committed and battled hard. Tony Cousins hit the bar for Rovers from an impossible angle midway through the half. While the first 70 minutes had some action the last 20 were dramatic to say the least.
Just after 70 minutes, Jason Sherlock received the ball inside the box and skilfully laid it off to the onrushing Rovers attacker whose low shot seemingly went wide. He turned away but the other Rovers players went crazy as did the bench. The ref was manhandled by the Rovers players pleading that the ball had gone through a hole in the net. Cousins was adamant and pointed out the hole but the ref could not change his decision. Personally from where I sit the angle is not the best but it was a very strange miss if it was one because it went straight for the goals. If I was asked now and I had to make a decision I would say it was a goal but considering some of you stand on the far side you have a much better angle and you would know better. The irony of it is that if RTE had bothered to send a camera the angle they have is absolutely perfect. Video evidence can not be used which I have to say is an absolute disgrace and if I was a Rovers fan I would be very, very annoyed. Considering there was no counter attractions that night RTE have no excuse for not sending a camera so all comments on this will be opinion with very little proof
It's funny. Dundalk did not look like scoring in the 10 minutes before that but after that incident you felt that just to rub salt in the wounds they would. 5 minutes after a Doolin cross was cleared behind. From the resulting corner from Crawley the ball was headed home apparently by David Ward. With so many players in there and people jumping up it was hard to see but it seems he got the final touch. Dundalk fans were delighted and Rovers were furious. Unfortunately for Dundalk 3 glorious minutes later rash tackling led to a Rovers free 25 yards out and substitute Mark Kenny curled in a free that would have graced any ground in the world. That's two reasons why a RTE camera should have been there. What a national station we have that won't cover the one game that night especially as fans in Dublin of both teams find it impossible to get down on Thursday and would like to see the game. The game finished 1-1 with one more chance for each team. Another similar Kenny free kick went over while a late Tom McNulty shot tested Robert Forde. Final score 1-1
An improved Dundalk performance where the team linked up better on the ground. Mainly because of Doolin. If we can get Soupy back and possibly make one more signing I will travel to Cork in a much more positive frame of mind
Paul Doolin deserved this. With most Dundalk fans annoyed that he had been signed at the stage of his career he is at he had to win them over and he did. In fact Jim McLaughlin said before the game he wanted to give his players one more chance and one name mentioned was Brady. He also played well. But Doolin gets my vote