The League Cup provided a distraction which Dundalk could perhaps have done without with an important league fixture 48 hours later, however, the Lilywhites’ facile win over Monaghan in the competition confirmed that the squad possesses plenty of strength in depth. Only three of the players which lined-out in the win over Longford Town at the weekend appeared in Tuesday’s cup encounter, however, the team played just as well, blowing Monaghan away with an excellent performance.
 
And, afterwards, home manager John Gill admitted his obvious pleasure with the win. “I’m very pleased, with the number of changes that we made,” the boss told dundalkfc.com. “I thought the young boys really acquitted themselves well. We had a very young side, with a lot of changes. The whole team were excellent, with their work-rate and ethic, the honesty of it and the tempo we played at. I thought we were full value for our win. Other teams might look for excuses; they might say it’s the pitch or whatever - it’s nothing, it’s the way that we play.
 
“I’ve said it before - we have a very good, focussed bunch of players. Only three of that side tonight started on Saturday, where if you look at their team, a number of them played on Friday against Shels. I’m not saying that means anything, but we’ve got a good squad of players, and that was very refreshing tonight to know that we’ve got players that can come in and do a job. But I knew that anyway. I just hope now that they get enough rest in and that we’re focussed enough on Thursday, because it’s a massive night for us.
 
“I want to try and keep this little run that we have going, and if we go out with the same attitude that we went out with tonight, I’m convinced that we’ll give anybody a game. I think Paul Crowley and Paul Marney were excellent, Jamie Duffy was super - Crowley’s goal was a great first goal, the move. I think somebody was saying we don’t have wingers - well, I must have horns, because we played with width tonight, both Paul Smyth and Duffy.
 
“At the back, Ryan and Flanagan were excellent. And two very young full-backs in Grimes and McKevitt did everything that was asked of them; they were aggressive and supported the two wide players very, very well. And, overall, all bodes well for the future. But we’re still picking up niggling little injuries and we’re having nearly one suspension a week, so we’re going to need everybody that’s in the squad. I was very pleased with young Shane Greene that came on as well; he’s only 17 years of age, and he looks a real find. People say that I maybe don’t give locals a chance, but I think there tonight proved that I do, if they’re good enough and if they have the right attitude.”
 
Star of the show was 19-year-old Tiarnàn Mulvenna, who netted a double on his very first competitive start for the club. The youngster will have to wait a little longer for his full league debut, though Gill knows that he will come under even more pressure now to hand Mulvenna that honour. “Well, that’s what is going to happen,” Gill asserted.
 
“There has been pressure on me since Tiarnàn has come into the equation. But you saw there tonight that with twenty minutes to go, he was getting cramp. You can do all the training in the world, but that’s the intensity of the game when you play at that level. He nearly didn’t finish the game, so if you start him in a game and you make your substitutions and he gets cramp, you’re stuck with ten men.
 
“I’ll use Tiarnàn when I feel necessary or when the circumstances dictate it. He’s only a young boy - he only turned 19 in December. Websites will be going nuts tonight saying ‘he has to start him’, but I don’t have to do anything. I do what’s best for the team, and any decision that I make is based on the team - not on individuals.
 
“I know he’s the future of this club. He could be the next hero - another Dessie Gorman in the making; he’s similar in stature and in the way he plays. It’s a very unforgiving league, the First Division, and he’ll be a marked man after tonight’s performance as well. The one good thing about Tiarnàn now is he’s unknown - there’s a surprise element. I still prefer to use him in the way I’ve been using him. I’m not going to be pressurised into just throwing him in at the deep end. You seen tonight that he’s still developing as a player, but he has a great future ahead of him.”
 
Gill must now prepare for another game on Thursday - the side’s third match in six days - as Wexford Youths are the visitors to Oriel Park. And, the manager knows that another tough match awaits. “It will be (difficult),” he admits. “They play a very funny system, this three at the back. They’re a dogged side, they don’t take many hidings, and they’re very hard to break down. But if we go about our work with the same intensity, intelligence and attitude that we showed tonight, not only do I not fear Wexford, but we’ll give anybody a game.”