Manager Ciarán Kilduff was delighted with “a good night’s work” but says there is plenty of room for improvement, after his first competitive match in charge of Dundalk ended in an easy 4-0 win over Malahide United in the Leinster Senior Cup at Oriel Park on Friday night.
The new-look Lilywhites were impressive from the first minute, dominating the ball throughout, with goals from Daryl Horgan, Dean Ebbe, Aodh Dervin and Aidan Russell Vargas, while 41-year-old ‘keeper Peter Cherrie was never tested at the other end.
It was a first victory for Dundalk since winning the Louth Derby last July and marked the beginning of a new era in perfect style, with the team now preparing for a quick return to action as Usher Celtic visit Oriel Park on Monday for another Leinster Senior Cup Group B match (kick-off 7.45pm).
Kilduff on the overall night…
“I’m delighted. I think there were a lot of positives out there, and stuff to work on. A clean sheet and a couple of goals, and created a couple of more chances that on another night you might have been a bit more clinical with later in the season. A good night’s work.
“There is still stuff that we’ll go back and we’ll debrief that we weren’t perfect, but how could they be, it’s our second game as a group, lads making their competitive debuts, their first games in Oriel, a brand-new team, a brand-new style. I think it went quite well.
“As I said, stuff to work on, but we’ll build on it and we’ll build on the positives.”
17 January 2025; Dean Ebbe of Dundalk scores during the Leinster Senior Cup match between Dundalk and Malahide United at Oriel Park, Co Louth. Photo by Gerry Scully/Dundalk FC.
On Dundalk’s dominance…
“I don’t know if Malahide had a shot on target, but of course, we are a League of Ireland team, they were coming up and probably set up to frustrate at times. We dominated the ball, but you might have expected that.
“To keep a clean sheet, no matter who you’re playing against, is always the basic thing that you look for in a game. Then scoring a couple of goals as well. We’re delighted with it. We’ll take those positives but we’ve definitely got stuff to work on too. At least we have a nice base to build on tonight.”
On Seán McHale’s injury and Vinnie Leonard’s early introduction…
“Vinnie was brilliant. Vinnie was coming on at half-time anyway or just after it. I said when he was coming on ‘you’re meant to get 45, you’re getting about 75’. He’s a great kid. He’s ready. You’d have no problem throwing him in, you can see he’s calm and accomplished, and he’s a great size.
“I thought he was excellent when he came on, all things considered, he was just thrown in cold from the bench. I thought he did very well.
“Seán, we’ll get him assessed on Sunday morning, there are no major issues there. We just need to be careful with him. Fingers crossed, they’ll be all alright and we’ll be ready to go again on Monday.”
17 January 2025; Aodh Dervin of Dundalk celebrates with teammates Daryl Horgan and Eoin Kenny after scoring in the Leinster Senior Cup match between Dundalk and Malahide United at Oriel Park, Co Louth. Photo by Gerry Scully/Dundalk FC.
On Peter Cherrie starting and no Enda Minogue in the squad…
“Enda got a bad knock to the face, his modelling career is in trouble now! He got a knock in training, so he needs a few days’ rest. You wouldn’t risk him in pre-season with a bang to the head like that.
“He’ll hopefully come in the tail end of next week. He won’t be available Monday either. We might look at Sammy (Safaei) on Monday. I’m looking forward to everyone taking their opportunities.
“Enda will be back at the end of the week. Games are coming thick and fast in pre-season so they’ll all get their minutes under their belts ok.”
17 January 2025; Daryl Horgan of Dundalk celebrates with teammates Dean Ebbe and Aodh Dervin after scoring in the Leinster Senior Cup match between Dundalk and Malahide United at Oriel Park, Co Louth. Photo by Gerry Scully/Dundalk FC.
On Ebbe’s and Dervin’s first goals for the club…
“I’m delighted – there was a lot of good play and they were probably two of our better goals when you think of the finishing off of good moves.
“Ebbe’s goal was a great bit of intricate play between Eoin Kenny, Leo Gaxha into Dean. It was probably something that we were trying to work on from an attacking in wide area point of view.
“Aodh, I was saying he is such a threat from those kinds of runs from deep. He’s a powerful runner, he’s strong, he’s fit and he can make those late runs in. I was delighted to see Eoin pick out a great pass, put him in and he tucked it away well. There were some great moments in the game.
“Dean is a goalscorer, he’s a finisher. There were a couple of breaks in play and I had said to him, he got in one-on-one and he tried to square it, ‘get your shots in and be clinical’. Two to three minutes later, he had one in the net.
“Life of a striker, isn’t it? You’re getting criticised one minute, and then he’s celebrating the next. Strikers thrive on those moments and when his big chance came, he took it. I was delighted for him.”
17 January 2025; Aidan Russell Vargas of Dundalk is congratulated by teammate Muhammad Haris after scoring in the Leinster Senior Cup match between Dundalk and Malahide United at Oriel Park, Co Louth. Photo by Gerry Scully/Dundalk FC.
On Muhammad Haris…
“He deserved a goal. He worked very hard. He has been so impressive in pre-season that you can’t not keep giving him opportunities when he’s like that. He’s so lively and a threat. I think he hit the ‘keeper, post and everything else that went with it.
“He’s a proper threat and I thought he deserved a goal tonight, but I have no doubt they’ll come in the future.”
On Monday v Usher Celtic…
“You’re not getting too bogged down in what a result will mean (in the competition). You’re managing players now so that they’re ready to go in a month’s time.
“I’ll talk to the S&C lads and we’ll monitor minutes, get in Sunday morning and assess bodies, for example Seán McHale, and see where these lads are. Then we’ll pick our team from there.
“Of course, it’s important that lads are getting minutes. I know there was a lot right here tonight, you’re saying there was some nice link-up and some nice combinations.
“I think it could have been better as well, but that only comes with games and lads need to be able to play again and again, and get into a rhythm so that we’re ready in a month’s time.
“We’re going out to win the game, we’ll always do that once we’re here, but I also think we have to assess the bodies and pick a team accordingly, take no risks, try to get the players on the pitch who need it and get those relationships up and running.”
17 January 2025; Vinnie Leonard, Conor O’Keeffe, Mayowa Animasahun and Dean Ebbe attack a set-piece during the Leinster Senior Cup match between Dundalk and Malahide United at Oriel Park, Co Louth. Photo by Gerry Scully/Dundalk FC.
On his first night in the dugout at Oriel…
“It was amazing. It didn’t feel like a Leinster Senior Cup game in January. It was a great crowd, they got behind us, I hope they enjoyed it. It meant a lot to the players and it meant a lot to the staff to have a great crowd here for the 17th of January.
“You don’t usually get it like that. I don’t think there’ll be many crowds as big as that in the Leinster Senior Cup this year, especially this time of the year.
“It was brilliant and it felt like a proper game of football. We know there are bigger ones to come obviously, but I think it’s a good atmosphere and a good start for the lads to build on.
“We’ll try to take as much confidence from tonight as we can, i.e. the big crowd that got out to support us, the goals and the clean sheet. We have a lot of positives to go home with and we’ll take them into next week’s work.”
