Ninth-placed Dundalk look to close the gap to safety to a single point when they face eighth-placed Bohemians in a crucial SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division clash at Dalymount Park on Friday night.
Jon Daly’s men make the trip to the capital on the back of a disappointing FAI Cup exit at their Louth and relegation rivals Drogheda United last week, but will now be determined to put that behind them in a game that could end with them suddenly looking up.
While Bohs (26 points) have two games in hand on Dundalk (22) – at home to Shelbourne and away to Shamrock Rovers, June fixtures which were postponed due to internationals – this is the Lilywhites’ chance to take real advantage of Saint Patrick’s Athletic’s European involvement.
Stephen Kenny’s side currently sit six points above Dundalk in seventh but with a game more played and the Oriel Park outfit would join them on 28 points with two wins over the next week before the Saints play again in the league.
Wishful thinking perhaps given that Dundalk have not won back-to-back games since last year. But now two-thirds of the way through the season, Daly and his players will know the importance of collecting points in these next two fixtures – with Galway United set to travel east next Friday – if Dundalk are to make an unlikely escape from the bottom two.
Dundalk lost 2-1 at Drogheda last Friday in what was a very flat performance, goals from James Bolger and Warren Davis seeing the Boynesiders through to the next round of the Cup despite recent arrival Bobby Faulkner pulling one back in injury time with his first goal for the club.
But Dundalk have improved their league form over the past couple of months and have won three of their last six games to shoot five points clear of Drogheda, who they comfortably beat 4-2 at Oriel Park a fortnight ago, at the foot of the table.
However, their away form remains a problem, losing nine of their last 11, with just four points picked up from those 33 on offer. Of their 22 points gathered to date, 17 have been won at home. Their last two road trips, to Shels and Shamrock Rovers, ended in frustrating 1-0 defeats.
Indeed, all five of their losses in Dublin this season, in seven games there, have been by one goal. Included in that is their trip to Dalymount Park back in mid-April, a rearranged Monday night meeting, when James Akintunde headed in an 80th-minute winner from a free-kick after Dundalk had done more than enough to take at least a point.
Their sole league victory away from Oriel Park this year did come in the capital on the June Bank Holiday Monday when an early blitz from Jamie Gullan, on the double, and Ryan O’Kane saw them race into a 3-0 lead against St Pat’s at Richmond Park, eventually holding out 3-2.
While Dundalk have the second-worst away record in the league, above only Drogheda, Bohemians are bottom of the home table having won just three of their 11 games in Phibsborough, scoring less than a goal per match.
They have not won in their last five Premier Division outings there, including losing three of their last four to Galway, Derry City and Sligo Rovers. The one draw in that sequence came through a last-gasp Danny Grant equaliser against St Pat’s.
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Shelbourne | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 37 | 26 | 11 | 57 |
| 2 |  Derry City | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 48 | 29 | 19 | 55 |
| 3 |  Shamrock Rovers | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 47 | 34 | 13 | 55 |
| 4 |  St Patrick’s Athletic | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 48 | 37 | 11 | 53 |
| 5 |  Galway United | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 30 | 26 | 4 | 50 |
| 6 |  Sligo Rovers | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 47 | -9 | 48 |
| 7 |  Waterford FC | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 41 | 44 | -3 | 44 |
| 8 |  Bohemians | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 37 | 41 | -4 | 40 |
| 9 |  Drogheda United | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 40 | 56 | -16 | 33 |
| 10 |  Dundalk FC | 34 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 23 | 49 | -26 | 25 |
But the Gypsies – with familiar faces to Dundalk, Alan Reynolds and Stephen O’Donnell, in their dugout – gained a confidence-boosting 1-0 Cup win at home to out-of-sorts Shamrock Rovers last week thanks to Dayle Rooney’s second-half penalty.
Now, Bohs come into this game looking for their first league win in seven, following three draws and three losses in their last six. Their 3-0 victory in Sligo on May 17th is their only one in their last 11 outings, a poor run which started with a 2-0 loss in Dundalk on April 26th – the Lilywhites’ first win of 2024.
On that occasion, beautiful first-half strikes from Scott High, now departed, and Robbie Benson saw Dundalk belatedly get their season up and running at the 12th attempt, in what was Noel King’s first match in charge. Including that, Bohs have picked up just seven points from the last 33 available.
Dundalk are going in search of a first win at Dalymount Park since August 2022 when Bohs ‘keeper Tadhg Ryan, now at Derry, scored a bizarre own-goal in first-half injury-time to see O’Donnell’s side – who finished with ten men after Andy Boyle’s 52nd-minute red card – over the line 1-0.
At the time, that win closed Dundalk to within four points of league leaders Shamrock Rovers, but this year the Louth men have a very different battle on their hands.
Team News
New loan signing Josh O’Connor is available but Andy Boyle, Dara Keane and Paul Doyle miss out with injuries.
Quotes – Jon Daly
“The result last week was poor and I thought the performance overall was poor as well, which I was really disappointed with.
“We need to try and get over it as quickly as possible and bounce back against Bohs because we’ve got an opportunity to get right behind them.
“If we turn up and play the way we did in Drogheda then we certainly won’t be coming away with three points so we need to try and improve on the performance and be better in possession.
“We were sloppy in Drogheda and we looked like a team who haven’t been together for a long time. It’s the first time since I’ve been here that I felt that so we need to improve massively.
“Bohs had a big result against Shamrock Rovers last week and they’ll get a bit of momentum and a bit of confidence from that but for us, it’s about trying to win the game to give ourselves the best chance of trying to catch them.
“Win, lose or draw, it’s not going to determine anything but it allows you to put that little bit of pressure on them.
“They’ve not been that close to us for a while so it gives us an opportunity to try and close the gap on them and Pat’s ahead of them as well.
“If we can do that and get ourselves within striking distance then there’s still plenty of tough games to come.”
Match Officials
Referee: Eoghan O’Shea
Assistants: Eoin Harte and Phillip Harrison
Fourth Official: Alan Patchell
