Dundalk FC manager Jon Daly and his players will look to put a turbulent ten days to one side for 90 minutes when they take on Waterford FC in another important SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division clash at the RSC on Friday night.
Following well-documented problems off the pitch since reports surfaced last Tuesday week about owner Brian Ainscough’s future at the club, Dundalk go in search of a first win in two months as they look to move off the bottom of the table.
The Lilywhites failed to take advantage of their game in hand on relegation rivals Drogheda United last Thursday as Eoin Kenny’s second-minute header was wiped out by second-half goals from Tom Grivosti and Mason Melia in a 2-1 win for Saint Patrick’s Athletic at Oriel Park.
That leaves Dundalk still a point behind their Co Louth neighbours with now seven games remaining for both sides. Drogheda head to Athlone this weekend for an FAI Cup quarter-final, meaning Daly’s men will sit in ninth place for at least a week if they win in the South East.
Dundalk’s form has fallen off at home since the midseason break, with four defeats in their last five outings at Oriel, a run which began with a 2-0 loss to Waterford in late June as the Blues became the first opposition side to score on the Carrick Road in almost four months.
Two weeks later, on July 12th, Daly’s players bounced back from that with an impressive 4-2 win over Drogheda, which at the time moved them five points clear of the Boynesiders. However, since then, they are winless in six games in all competitions, losing four of those, with just a single success in nine matches since returning from the break.
On a positive note, Dundalk make the long journey south on the back of what has been improved away form in the league since Daly’s appointment, with their most recent trips seeing them go two games unbeaten outside of Oriel for the first time this year.
Having recorded their sole victory on the road this campaign at Richmond Park in June, they suffered somewhat unlucky 1-0 losses at Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers before picking up good 1-1 draws at Bohemians and Derry City.
| 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 |
They showed good character to come from behind at Dalymount Park to eke out that point. On their last trip, to title-challenging Derry five weeks ago, they took a first-half lead through club captain John Mountney which was cancelled out by Danny Mullen’s 64th-minute strike.
With just three games remaining at Oriel – against Bohs, Derry and Shamrock Rovers – Dundalk know they will need to make the most of their four away games, with European-chasing Sligo and Galway United still to come after Waterford, before their final-day battle on the Boyne.
Waterford will be a tough nut to crack for Dundalk in their bid to leapfrog Drogheda, in what has been a draining months-long to-and-fro fight to avoid the automatic drop, but the Blues are on a poor run of their own and have fallen to fifth in the standings.
Keith Long’s side have lost five of their last six games, including a shock injury-time Cup defeat at home by Athlone last month, their only victory since mid-July coming in dramatic fashion at Dalymount Park on August 9th.
That exit to Athlone came in between narrow losses to Shamrock Rovers and Derry at the RSC, meaning they have lost three on the bounce there, with only Bohs and Dundalk having a worse home record in the Premier Division. Their last game, in Sligo a fortnight ago, saw them well beaten.
Still, despite their poor recent form, they are just three points behind the third-placed Bit O’Red and have had the upper hand on Dundalk this season, taking seven points from the three meetings so far in what is their first year back in the top flight since 2021.
Following a scoreless draw at Oriel in March, Dundalk had a disastrous start in Waterford in May, conceding inside two minutes as they were beaten 4-1, with the since-departed Maleace Asamoah bagging a hat-trick. Back in Louth in June, Connor Parsons and Dean McMenamy netted first-half goals in a convincing 2-0 win.
Team News
Josh O’Connor will miss out after picking up an ankle injury in training on Thursday while Bobby Faulkner and Paul Doyle (hamstring) are also sidelined.
Match Officials
Referee: Rob Hennessy
Assistants: Eoin Harte and Fintan Butler
Fourth Official: Aaron O’Dowd
