“I think it was a magnificent result considering the obstacles that were put in front of us. Overall, I’m very, very pleased. You have to be pleased coming down here and getting a point with what we had to contend with.” - John Gill
 
Dundalk began their league campaign by claiming a precious point at Tolka Park, a draw which they were made to battle all the way for as they finished with just nine men. Unfortunately on a night which saw two of the favourites for the First Division crown clash in the curtain raiser to the 2008 season, it was the man in the middle, Neil Doyle, who stole the headlines with a ‘you’d have to see it (or not, as was the case with this ref) to believe it’ shocker. Highlight of the horror show was goalkeeper Chris Bennion’s first-half sending-off, a decision which bemused Dundalk boss John Gill, who is hoping to use a DVD supplied by Shelbourne to help appeal the decision.
 
Speaking to dundalkfc.com at the final whistle, Gill said: “The problem was that there was two players behind him (Bennion). We were in an excellent position to see it from where we were, and he won the ball - I’m telling you, he made contact with the ball, and that will be proven by the video footage. I don’t know how much time we’ll have to appeal the decision, but I will be looking to appeal it. Chris is distraught up there. The two assessors are away up to the referee now, and I’ve already told them my feelings. I’m definitely going to review it on the video. I know, I saw what I saw - I had the best view.
 
“But I don’t really want to dwell on that tonight, I want to look at the positives. Usually, I’m not happy with moral victories - I’ve had too many of them in my time as Dundalk manager, where we’ve done well and people clap us on the back. But I actually think tonight is a moral victory in the true sense. But it’s not about John Gill, it’s full credit to the players - they’re a magnificent bunch. I’ve gone on record to say it already, they’re the most focussed and best conditioned squad of players that I’ve had. They got their rewards tonight, and probably should have got more than they got. Other teams, I think, would have capitulated, but that group didn’t.
 
“When Ben went off with ten minutes to go, I thought to myself ‘the gods aren’t just praying on us tonight’, but I thought we dug in even more then. I think they only had one chance in the second-half, and that’s testament to our organisation. I thought the back four were magnificent, particularly Lynch, who led like a leader should. Cassidy was magnificent too. But tonight will mean little unless we go and get a win against Monaghan on Thursday. We’ve got to build on this now. I think most teams would be very, very happy to come away from here with a point, and we possibly could have come away with all three. In fairness, it was a game of the proverbial two halves. I thought we didn’t compete enough in the first-half, but in the second-half, you would have thought that we were the team with an extra man.
 
“I think it was a magnificent result considering the obstacles that were put in front of us. Overall, I’m very, very pleased. You have to be pleased coming down here and getting a point with what we had to contend with. As for our supporters, they were absolutely magnificent. I’ve gone on record to say this before - they’re fantastic. We may have lost a player before half-time, but they were an extra man for us in the second-half.”