Dundalk striker Eoin Kenny wants his team to learn the lessons from their Leinster Senior Cup defeat by Usher Celtic, saying in the year ahead “there are going to be rough challenges where we have to stick together”.
Kenny came off the bench at half-time to break the deadlock with a 61st-minute strike for Ciarán Kilduff’s side, but they were left stunned by 2023 finalists Usher who scored through Graham Curran and Gary Gannon to snatch a 2-1 victory at Oriel Park on Monday night.
The result leaves Dundalk, Usher and Shamrock Rovers all tied on three points in Leinster Senior Cup Group B, and Usher could leave the Lilywhites with an uphill task to qualify for the quarter-finals if they beat Malahide United in Dublin on Friday evening.
For Kenny, though, it was not the result but the performance that was most disappointing, with the frontman – who turned 19 in late December – hoping that it will be a valuable lesson and show everyone “this year is not going to be plain sailing”.
Kenny on the game…
“It was really disappointing. I know it’s basically only pre-season for us. The result isn’t what I’m disappointed with, obviously you want to win the game, it sounds like a mad thing to say, but it’s really the performance – we know we’re capable of much better than that, and we showed it the other night.
“Usher Celtic are a good side, they’re one of the best amateur teams in the country. But, still, to lose a game in the way we did is really disappointing. I thought we should have been out of sight. We should have been better in the final third and created more chances. It’s really disappointing overall on the performance side of things.”
On learning more in defeat…
“It could end up being a good thing to learn, to show that this year is not going to be plain sailing. There are going to be rough challenges where we have to stick together. We’re obviously all at a low point now after that game, but it’s definitely not a crisis.
“It’s still pre-season, and although the result is disappointing, it’s just about finetuning things for a better performance. That’s what we’re more focussed on and then results will come with that. It is a bad result but it’s definitely not a crisis.”
On the first-half chances…
“We had all the ball. I’d like to see the stats, I’d say we had 70 percent. But a team like Usher Celtic are set up well, coached well, good players, defended their box really well, you have to give them that credit.
“But we have to be more clinical as well. When we go 1-0 up, when we did score, we just have to defend better. It’s unforgiveable the goals we gave away, we just have to defend better, it’s as simple as that.
“We should have created more chances. I don’t even think it was a finishing thing, I actually just don’t think we created enough chances to score enough goals.”
On his goal…
“I’m not too fussed about it. Obviously, it’s always nice to score a goal, but I would rather it come with a win. I’m just trying to carry that goalscoring form into the upcoming pre-season games and into the league as well.
“It’s something I want to do, score a lot of goals this season, so that was one positive for me personally, but I think the performance overall was disappointing.”
On the Irish Under-19s this Friday and Drogheda Friday week…
“That Drogheda game will be a special night at Oriel. Even though it’s technically a pre-season game, it always is an amazing night. Last year, I scored in that fixture and it was really special. That was my first Dundalk goal, so I think everyone wants to be in the team for that game.
“The game against Ireland 19s will be different. We know they’ll want to play out the whole time, which is probably different to teams we’ve played. It will be a different type of challenge. They’ll want the ball, they’ll have possession, so we might have spells without it and it’s how we react to that as well, on either side of things.”
On linking up with Leo Gaxha and Dean Ebbe…
“I actually don’t think it’s difficult (to gel with them). I think they’re really talented players. We saw that in spells tonight and we saw that against Malahide. We definitely have the potential to work very well together.
“Leo is very dynamic, he beats his man very well and gets crosses in the box, and Dean obviously is a proven goalscorer. So, playing with them, in my opinion, won’t be difficult.
“Obviously, there’ll be time to gel and that’s happening right now, so maybe it was a good thing what happened tonight. But they will be players who are easy to play with because of their talent.”
On not being too downbeat after two competitive games…
“We are down about the performance, but as I said, you can’t go in your shell and have a crisis. You just have to let the feeling marinate and then just know you don’t want to feel like that again.
“Losing any game of football is really disappointing, and in the manner we did tonight is disappointing. We’d much rather lose tonight than on the first day of the season against Athlone.”