Dundalk FC :: News

22 March 2008: “It’s nice to look at the table and to see you at the top, but it doesn’t really give a real view of it. After ten or twelve games, that’s when we really want to be there.” - Vaughan

Not for the first time, his introduction from the bench changed a game in Dundalk’s favour, as Trevor Vaughan yet again proved the Lilywhites’ saviour. Vaughan entered the pitch just short of the hour-mark and, just sixty seconds later, began the move which led to Dundalk’s opener, before he doubled the side’s lead with a sublime solo strike on 77 minutes.

A late Darren McKenna header failed to spoil the party as Dundalk held out, and, afterwards, the hitman admitted that he felt the victory was fully deserved. “I think it was well deserved in the end,” Trevez told dundalkfc.com. “I think we’re all a little bit disappointed to concede a goal in the last few minutes. Anything can happen then when you’re holding on at 2-1, but I think we were comfortable at 2-0, and we probably should have went on and maybe got a couple more and killed the game off.

“It was a tough game. There wasn’t much in it really in the first-half. The pitch wasn’t great - I’m not making excuses because both teams have to play on it - but there wasn’t much football really being played. We knew if we kept digging in, we’d get a couple of chances, and with the fellas that we have, we always thought we’d score - so we’re just delighted with the three points.”

Vaughan’s impact was instant as he was introduced just as David Crawley’s free-kick was about to be delivered, with Dundalk’s opener coming as a result of Longford failing to properly clear their lines. “I was only on the pitch when we got the free,” Trevez explains, “and I seen the ball dropping. My first touch was good and I heard Davie O’Connor screaming at me. I just laid it off to him, and in fairness, he put a great ball in for the first goal.

“The second one, I can’t remember too much about it. I remember taking a good touch in the box, and I seen a fella coming at me; I took the ball through his legs, and at first, I thought it was a little bit heavy. But the ‘keeper stayed, it was a race to the ball, and I just dinked it over him and seen it go into the corner of the net - so I was delighted with that.”

The win moves Dundalk a point clear at the summit of the First Division, for a week at least. Next Thursday, the Lilywhites will have the chance to shoot four points ahead in the race for promotion, however, Vaughan insisted that it was too early to be looking at league standings. “It’s nice to look at the table and to see you at the top,” he admits, “but it doesn’t really give a real view of it. After ten or twelve games, that’s when we really want to be there. It’s always nice, as I say, but to be honest, we were just really concentrating on getting three points.”

Dundalk’s opening three games have appeared to show an improvement from last season’s squad, with more steel added to the side. And, Trevor admitted that he noticed that change even before the league got underway. “I think from the first couple of games, and even in pre-season, I could see the big difference,” he says. “That’s why I think everybody is disappointed at the end to concede a goal like that; it was a little bit sloppy.

“I don’t know who let someone go. He had a free header at the back post, and that makes life difficult then for everybody - because no matter who you’re playing with a few minutes to go and it’s 2-1 and they’re at home, they’re going to be pumping long balls, and anything can happen. But I think there is a resilience there not to concede, and I think, hopefully, throughout the season, you’ll be able to see that.”