Stephen O’Donnell was damning after a “disheartening” display from his Dundalk players in their 4-1 defeat by Derry City in the North on Friday night.
The sides were evenly matched in the opening half-hour. However, Dundalk were undone by Adam O’Reilly’s deflected strike before a second-half collapse, which began less than 40 seconds after the restart, leaving the head coach infuriated.
Now winless in their first eight games, Dundalk’s latest loss saw them cut four points adrift at the bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division table following Drogheda United’s draw with leaders Shelbourne.
A deflated O’Donnell was ‘not angry but disappointed’ with his team, who he stated were a “soft touch”, while accepting full responsibility for the performance.
“It’s not good enough. It’s just not good enough. It’s sad, it’s disheartening. That’s my instant reaction,” he said afterwards.
5 April 2024; Dundalk head coach Stephen O’Donnell during the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Derry City and Dundalk at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Despite falling behind, Dundalk were still well in the game at the half-time break, but O’Donnell refused to accept that that was relevant given their showing after the interval.
“We don’t pride ourselves on being competitive,” he said of the first 45 minutes. “We gave away a cheap goal. There wasn’t loads in it, and then 15 minutes into the second half you’re 3-0 down. Whatever way you want to look at it, it’s just not good enough.
“We can’t have fans travelling up two-and-a-half hours and giving that in the second half. We can’t. I’m just so disappointed. It’s not even anger – it’s just disappointment. That’s my overriding feeling, emotion, whatever you want to call it.
5 April 2024; Dundalk head coach Stephen O’Donnell before the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Derry City and Dundalk at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
“You’ve got to compete, you’ve got to physically be good, you’ve got to be body to body contact, you’ve got to be aggressive. At the minute, we’re just in no man’s land because we’re not that, and now we’re not good enough on it to make up for that.
“That’s ultimately it. You’re either going to excel at one or the other, and if you’re a really, really good team, you excel at both. At the minute, we’re poor at both.
“We don’t go and pick teams apart in possession, so if we’re not doing that, you’ve got to be aggressive. You’ve got to be really, really good off it, and we’re not. We’re just falling in between those stools, and when you’re in no man’s land like that, this is what happens.
“That’s my responsibility. It’s in no way shirking responsibility. It’s me and I’ll never hide away from that.”
5 April 2024; Michael Duffy of Derry City shoots to score his side’s fourth goal despite the attention of Daryl Horgan, left, and Paul Doyle of Dundalk during the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Derry City and Dundalk at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Asked if the team was missing certain personalities, O’Donnell said: “Whatever way you want to say it, it’s what it looks like now, it’s the identity of us now, it’s where we’re at now.
“I thought there was an element of it last year as well in that regard. We really needed to be better on that side of it, and we’re not. Derry go away tonight and think we’re a soft touch, and rightly so, because we were a soft touch in the second half. There’s no other way of describing it.”
Dundalk were back in Oriel Park for training on Saturday morning as they now prepare for Friday’s visit of Saint Patrick’s Athletic, which is quickly followed by Monday’s trip to face Bohemians at Dalymount Park in a rearranged fixture.
