Dundalk FC :: News

13 MARCH 2008 // POST MATCH REACTION: ROBBIE MARTIN

“I didn’t really know much about it. I just ran at the ‘keeper. The lads said he hasn’t got the best of kick-outs and he kind of smacks it all over the place. I just went in to see where it would go, but I didn’t know much about it - I felt it for the next ten minutes, mind you!” - Martin

He may not have scored a goal in League of Ireland football in almost a year, however, his match-winning performance against Monaghan United suggests that Dundalk could well have the answer to their scoring problems. Robbie Martin, a close-season signing from Longford Town, hadn’t scored since last April - due mainly to being played out of position on the wing at the midlands club - however, he more than made up for that long drought on Thursday night, as he hit a double on his home debut in Dundalk’s 3-0 win over their neighbours.

The 25-year-old netted his first after only eight minutes, before adding a cracking second late on, and, afterwards, Robbie was understandably thrilled with the side’s win and his two-goal haul. “It’s a good start in our first home game,” a delighted Martin told dundalkfc.com. “I know the lads were saying Monaghan were a bit of a bogey team up here, but I think the best thing was that we had six or seven lads who didn’t know anything about that. I think we played very well and did what we had to do, and we could have maybe had five or six, to be honest. I’m delighted to get two goals myself, and, hopefully, I’ll get a lot more this season. I thought last week, we showed a lot of character, and I thought tonight that we showed a lot of professionalism, so we’re delighted.”

Martin’s opener came as a result of him chasing down a clearance from Monaghan netminder Brendan Kennedy, with his work paying off, as a lowly struck kick-out rebounded off the striker's face and into the visiting net. “I didn’t really know much about it,” Martin admitted. “I just ran at the ‘keeper. The lads said he hasn’t got the best of kick-outs and he kind of smacks it all over the place. I just went in to see where it would go, but I didn’t know much about it - I felt it for the next ten minutes, mind you! I was delighted with it, though, and the second goal then was nice to finish it off. We were strong, I thought. You can see the bench tonight - there’s a lot of lads who aren’t playing, who are well able to be playing.”

One of those players on the bench was winger Paul Smyth, who entered as a late substitute to assist Robbie for his second goal of the night - an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area. “Smythy has come on, and he’s been brilliant in pre-season,” Robbie said, “and that just goes to show the squad depth that we have. It was a good ball in; I just took a touch and smacked it. I’m just delighted; I’m very happy to get two goals on my debut here.”

The win brought Dundalk’s tally to four points from their opening two games, and though the plan would have been to have the maximum possible at this stage, Martin admitted that with the way events unfolded, that the squad are more than happy with their points total so far. “We obviously would have been looking for six from six,” he stated, “but after losing Benno (Chris Bennion) in the first-half last week, if we had been offered a point then, we would have taken it. And I think it showed a lot of character the way we played after that.

“Going into tonight, we were confident, but we knew we had a different game than last week. Last week was very much about defending, and literally trying to run the clock down. Tonight, we were the ones who had to take the game to them, because we’re at home, the crowd is here, and everybody wants to see goals. We could have maybe got a couple more goals, but we’re delighted to get three.”

Next up for the striker is a trip to his old home, Flancare Park, next weekend, and he stated that the side won’t be fearing any away trip. “We’ve been to Tolka, and we had no worries there, even with nine men for ten minutes at the end. We have no fears going to Longford or anywhere else. We’re well capable of getting points there. We’re very happy with tonight, and we’ll just keep going now.”