OFFICIAL DUNDALK FC MAGAZINE | ISSUE 9 - €3
DUNDALK v BOHEMIANS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16TH 2020
KICK-OFF 5.45PM
FROM THE DUGOUT
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FILIPPO GIOVAGNOLI
t was a really important win in Cork on Tuesday night but it was also a very good performance, especially from a technical point of view. The quality of our possession was really good. It wasn’t easy to find an opening against a team who were organised and who defended with a block in the middle third. We didn’t lose our composure, we kept on playing and kept possession. We were calm and composed
which is what Im looking for. I think we dominated the game and we deserved to win it. At half-time, I told the players that we just had to keep things going. In the first half, we did really well and we just had to trust in what we were doing. We knew an opportunity would come and it did. It was a good night for Patrick Hoban. People must remember that the game in Cork was the first league game he has played for me since I came to the club.
He is doing well, he is fit and he is looking sharp. We also have David McMillan looking very fit and sharp as well so we have two great number nines to alternate in the next month ahead. We also kept another clean sheet which I was very happy with. As a team, we always want to be organised defensively. It’s something we work on a lot during the week. The players understand the collaboration and organisation we want at the back. Being organised is one of the priorities of our style of play. We have some players still to come back into the squad like Darragh Leahy, Sean Hore and John Mountney. We are really careful with all of the players if they feel any soreness or pain. The roster is scientifically managed. We did that in the past with the Finn Harps game where we rotated after the Europa League. We were criticised by some people who thought we made too many changes but this is what you have to do if you want to compete in every competition. We had many good performances in Cork and I think all of the players now are at the level we need them to play all of the games that we have in October. Finally, I’m really looking forward to tonight’s game against Bohemians. They are a great team and we want to see where we are at. Both teams will try and win the game - and that is important. May the best team win. Enjoy the game. Filippo Giovagnoli
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FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
NATHAN ODUWA
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irst and foremost we got the victory in Cork on Tuesday night but speaking personally, it was my second start in a row, which was good. I’ve been working hard and we have a good group of players here. Everyone is fighting for a place and the competition is healthy. The game at Turner’s Cross was similar to the previous one with Finn Harps. Cork worked very hard off the ball and they restricted space but they got a bit tired in the second half and we were able to open them up and we didn’t force it as much as we did against Finn Harps. Once we got the first goal, the second one came almost straight after because Cork had to come out a bit more. That left the space open for us. Patience was the key. We’re a team that likes to keep the ball and to try and find the space in behind. We ended with the win and
that was the most important thing. We’ve been training well recently and we just want to keep the momentum going now against Bohemians. I started on the right against Cork. I don’t really mind where I’m playing, as long as I’m on the pitch! I can operate on the left, on the right and through the middle and I thought myself and Sean Gannon played really well and we had a good understanding with each other.. We’re going into a really busy schedule now but as a player, I just want to play as much as possible. We have three European games coming up that are back to back and in between those we have some league and cup games but we have a big squad and we’ll be able to cope. Before I came here I hadn’t played much football so the busy schedule is actually good for me because it consistently gets some minutes into my legs. 26
I think our supporters are beginning to see the best of not just me, but the team as a whole. You can see what Filippo has done with us and what way he wants us to play and the way he wants us to try and control games. Even off the ball, I’ve been impressed with the way we’ve started to press. Even if teams beat our press we have got back into shape and tried to recover the ball as quickly as possible. We’re in third place at the moment with a couple of games in hand but we just need to take it game by game, starting with Bohemians this evening. They’ve been having a good season. You don’t sit in second place for that long through luck; they’ve really earned it and they’ll come up here and attack us. They’re a good team but we’re also a good team and it might suit us better because we like it when the game is a bit more open.
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CLUB NEWS
EUROPA LEAGUE SQUAD Jordan Flores
We have submitted our squad to UEFA for the upcoming Europa League group stage campaign which gets underway against Molde FK at Tallaght Stadium on October 22nd. Filippo Giovagnoli’s 23-man panel includes midfielder Jordan Flores, who played no part in the qualifying rounds against Inter Club Escaldes, Sheriff Tiraspol and KI Klaksvik, but Will Patching and Josh Gatt both miss out, as does the injured Dane Massey. “When I arrived, Jordan was coming back from an injury and little by little he has been getting his form back,” explained Giovagnoli. “He is a good player and he has different characteristics to the midfielders I have. He has been doing really good in practice and I have made my decisions based on what has been happening on the field.”
Teenager Jamie Wynne, who was part of the squad for the trip to Moldova and the playoff win over KI, is named on List B which includes players born on or after January 1st, 1998 who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years after their 15th birthday. UEFA rules state that a club can register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season but the list must be submitted no later than midnight the day before a match. “There are a couple of rules that didn’t help us but players are professional and have to accept the decisions,” said Giovagnoli. “I have to bring 22 players and the 22 players I picked are the ones who I think are the best options for the club.” Five substitutions will be permitted in each Europa League game this season, which means an extended 23-matchday squad can be named.
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Europa League Squad
Europa League fixtures
Goalkeepers: Gary Rogers, Aaron McCarey, Jimmy Corcoran. Defenders: Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Sean Hoare, Darragh Leahy, Daniel Cleary, Cameron Dummigan, Andy Boyle. Midfielders: Chris Shields, Jordan Flores, John Mountney, Greg Sloggett, Patrick McEleney, Sean Murray, Stefan Colovic, Daniel Kelly. Attackers: Michael Duffy, Patrick Hoban, Nathan Oduwa, David McMillan, Jamie Wynne.
October 22nd - 5.55pm Dundalk FC v Molde (Tallaght Stadium) October 29th - 8pm Arsenal v Dundalk FC November 5th - 5.55pm Rapid Wien v Dundalk November 26th - 8pm Dundalk v Rapid Wien (Aviva Stadium) December 3rd - 8pm Molde v Dundalk December 10th - 8pm Dundalk v Arsenal (Aviva Stadium)
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RETRO
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BOHS ‘AT HOME’ IN ORIEL
or the majority of their visits to Oriel Park, Bohemians have always been the official ‘away’ team but on a couple of occasions, Bohs have actually been the home side. Intrigued? Please read on….
1977: East meets west Back in 1977, Bohemians played Newcastle Utd in the old UEFA Cup competition at Dalymount Park. The Gypsies recorded a very credible 0-0 draw but the game was marred by crowd trouble, particularly during the half time interval which meant there was a lengthy delay to the second half kicking off. UEFA subsequently imposed a three-year ban on Bohs playing their home European ties at Dalymount and dictated that any of their games in European competition should not take place within a 100-mile radius of their Dublin home. After winning the League of Ireland title in 1978, Bohs entered the European Cup where they were drawn against Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus. Because of the UEFA ban, the ‘home tie’ was played at Flower Lodge in Cork. It proved to be a disaster for Bohs and with very few people coming through the gate, they lost a lot of money. To try to avoid another lossmaking tie, they appealed the original ban and the sentence was reduced whereby the club could now play their European games outside a 50 miles radius of Dublin, which consequently brought Oriel Park into play. Despite the lack of
supporters, Bohemians still had enough about them to beat the Cypriots and progress to the second round of the European Cup. Their reward, if you could call it that, was a showdown with the three-in-a-row East German champions, Dynamo Dresden, with the ‘home tie’ pencilled in for Oriel Park on October 18th, 1978. The East German team and officials stayed at the
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Ballymascanlon Hotel during their visit but the Iron Curtain that divided Europe between east and west meant that there were no Dresden fans in attendance. The Dundalk Democrat reported that the visitors were extremely complimentary of the Oriel Park surface and the groundsman, Mickey Fox, was singled out for special praise. A crowd of 2,000 were
in attendance for the match, meaning that another financial fiasco like the first-round game in Flower Lodge had been avoided! While the East Germans were heavy favourites to win the game, Bohemians held firm to record a well deserved 0-0 draw with a line out that consisted of Mick Smyth in goal, a defence made up of Austin Brady, Joe Burke, Eamonn Gregg, John ‘The Count’ McCormack and Padraig O’Connor. The midfield and forward line consisted of Tommy Kelly, Gino Lawless, Terry Eviston, Paddy Joyce and Turlough O’Connor. While Turlie had already been a Dundalk player between 1968 and 1972, Gregg, Lawless, Eviston and Joyce - as well as substitutes Joey Malone and Mick Shelley - would go on to have distinguished careers with the Lilywhites! Despite holding Dresden scoreless in Oriel, Bohemians could not prevent the East Germans scoring six at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion two weeks later in front of an estimated 33,000 fans, and they exited the competition on a 6-0 aggregate scoreline.
While the first game and the second replay were played at Tolka Park, the first replay between the sides took place at Oriel on Wednesday, April 6th 1983. A reported crowd of 1,500 fans travelled from Drogheda but even though the Boynesiders dominated the game, they failed to take their chances and they were made to rue those missed chances in the second replay a week later when a Jackie Jameson hattrick sealed a 3-0 win for the
1983: FAI Cup Marathons While the 1983 FAI Cup will always be remembered for the marathon fourgame semi-final tie between Sligo Rovers and Cobh Ramblers - Sligo subsequently winning the cup for the first time in their history - few will remember that it took Bohemians three games to overcome Drogheda United in the other semifinal tie.
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Gypsies. Our visitors won’t wish to be reminded of that final defeat against Sligo Rovers, meaning that they had lost FAI Cup finals in successive years! The Bohemians squad for the Oriel Park replay was as follows: Dermot O’Neill, Dave Connell, Kevin Brady, Barry Murphy, Gino Lawless, Paul Doolin, Pat Walker, Alan Kinsella, Jackie Jameson, Rocky O’Brien, Terry Eviston, Donal Murphy, Mick Shelley, Pearse Walsh and John Reynor.