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There is nothing ordinary about life around Dundalk these days and a five-goal thriller to kick off the reign of Filippo Giovagnoli sits comfortably with the twists of the plot.
The Italian faced questions about Giovanni Trapattoni at his inauguration, but the great man would have had nightmares about the outspoken nature of this matter. Still, a win is a win, as Dundalk native Steve Staunton once said and Giovagnoli now has a 100% record at Oriel Park.
Local fans wondering what their owners have in mind for their next stunt read to their horror that the idea of hosting Dundalk’s home games at Aviva Stadium was part of Peak6’s plan to take the FAI stake in the venue. of Ballsbridge.
The doomed plan is understood to have involved the Louth club playing around ten games a year at Dublin 4, with loyal fans brought back and forth by train. This isn’t the first conversation alluding to ‘moving the franchise’, with alarm bells ringing when a plan to relaunch the club’s website was met with the suggestion that using the moniker Lilywhites might be preferable to the name Dundalk. .
Frustration with the facilities and local council perception may be fueling some comments, but it provides a stark reminder that this story has miles to go and no one is quite sure where it is headed.
In the short term, President Bill Hulsizer is rumored to be mulling over whether to use the media to address recent reports, while Giovagnoli heads to Andorra next week, under pressure to deliver a Europa League result for generate cash and good vibes.
After two weeks to properly take stock of the team at his disposal, the crash date left goalkeeper Gary Rogers on the bench here and he opted for Aaron McCarey. Seán Gannon remained among the substitutes with Seán Hoare favored out of position as a right back.
Patrick Hoban missed due to injury, and Patrick McEleney was ruled out after hurting himself in the warm-up.
That was a sign that there would be nothing routine on Oriel’s opening night. The game then threw up four goals in 23 minutes. Dundalk tuned in early on, and a Michael Duffy stunner when he was invited in with his favorite right foot 25 yards from goal broke the deadlock.
Duffy is one of many uncontracted Dundalk players and is apparently drawing interest from the League One level in addition to the local suitors.
Brian Gartland doubled the lead by nodding to Duffy’s corner. This was quickly canceled by a Dan Byrne header before Shels tied in controversial circumstances when referee Paul McLaughlin made the curious decision to punish Gartland when he pushed former Dundalk forward Ciarán Kilduff into the box.
Another former Lilywhite, Poynton, sent the penalty. There were still three-quarters of the game left.
Animated
And he stayed encouraged. Dundalk seemed the stronger side, but Shels grew in confidence after his double hit.
Since the restart, Dundalk tried to regain his earlier momentum, but his lead goal was helped by Seán Quinn’s heavy play with Greg Sloggett pocketing at the edge of the area before firing another bolt past the unfortunate Colin McCabe. Giovagnoli was already prepping Daniel Kelly at this point, and the speedy sub was busy as Shels had to take risks.
Guests continued to find holes in Dundalk’s rear with sub Karl Sheppard squandering a golden opportunity to square off the strong side of Ian Morris on set pieces.
Giovagnoli shuffled his deck in an attempt to see the game over, and his team almost succeeded with spooky moments at both ends of the final. They should be more disciplined in their travels in Europe.
Dundalk: McCarey, Hoare, Gartland, Boyle, Leahy; Shields, Sloggett; Colovic (Kelly 60), Murray (Mountney 82), Duffy (Gannon 82); McMillan (Oduwa 74)
Shelbourne: McCabe, Poynton, L. Byrne, D. Byrne, O’Hanlon; Deegan (O Brennan 87), Quinn; Fernandes (Sheppard 63), R Brennan (M Byrne 63), Rooney (Kabia 75); Kilduff (Dobbs 87)
REFEREE: P McLaughlin
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