DUNDALK FC -v- WATERFORD UNITED
The Competition: eircom League of Ireland First Division, Series 6
The Venue: Oriel Park, Dundalk
The Date: Thursday 10 April, 2008
The Time: 7.45pm
The Mission: Shoot clear!
 
TABLE TOPPERS CLASH AT ORIEL
Joint-top sides and title rivals Dundalk and Waterford United meet for the first time this season when they clash in a crucial eircom League of Ireland First Division fixture at Oriel Park this Thursday evening (kick-off 7.45pm). With only alphabetical order seeing Dundalk sit on top of the standings, this clash is sure to be the most intriguing of the year so far. Installed now as high as 2/1 favourites for the league, John Gill’s men will be expected by the experts to make home advantage count here, against a Waterford side who are sitting just behind them in the outright betting at 9/4.
 
However, with five games played, three won, two drawn, none lost, eight goals scored, three conceded and eleven points accumulated, the pair cannot be separated at the summit. Dundalk go into the game on the back of two disappointing displays against Wexford Youths and Sporting Fingal, however, they will be looking to keep their one-hundred percent home record going here. Waterford, on the other hand, enter on the back of two convincing home wins over Fingal and Limerick 37, though they did drop points on their last away trip as they were held to a scoreless draw by Athlone Town three weeks ago.
 
Thursday will be exactly seven years to the day since Dundalk’s last league victory over Waterford. Interestingly, David Crawley scored from the penalty spot that day, while the Lilywhites went on to lift the First Division title just weeks later.
 
DUNDALK FC MATCH SPONSORSHIP
Dundalk FC would like to welcome local radio station LMFM to Oriel Park this Thursday night as the sponsors of our crucial meeting with Waterford United. You can view more about LMFM on www.lmfm.ie.
 
Our Matchball Sponsors for this game is Duffy’s Furniture Store, Centenary Business Park, Coe’s Road, Dundalk. Tel: 042-9334601.

MATCHDAY MAGAZINE The DFC Trust will again be selling the new-look, full colour and very impressive Dundalk FC Magazine at Oriel Park on Thursday night. Priced at only €3, the magazine features all the latest news from the club. In this week’s edition, Issue Two of the season, we have the latest news from John Gill, views from the dressing-room from club captain Aidan Lynch, as well as an update from the treatment room from club physio Paul Cheshire. Our main feature this week sees an in-depth interview with Dundalk’s star player David Cassidy, with the straight talking 22-year-old speaking about his career to date, how he’s settling in at Oriel Park under John Gill and his hopes for the future.

The Spectator also gets his claws stuck into another subject, CPO Paul Johnson gives us news direct from Oriel, we have our usual quiz and player Q&A, plus much, much more! Make sure to pick up your copy! Trust us, it’s worth it!
 
TEAM NEWS
Dundalk boss John Gill is able to recall goalkeeper Chris Bennion to the squad after the Scot served an extra one-match ban last week. This game will also, hopefully, see the return of captain Aidan Lynch and midfielder Paul Shiels, although right-back John Flanagan is a doubt having been forced off with an ankle injury at Fingal. Star midfielder David Cassidy should now be available from the start, while the same should go for central defender Ben Whelehan. Waterford United, meanwhile, will be without suspended striker Karl Bermingham, who received a straight red card for dissent late on in last weekend’s home win over Limerick 37. Gareth Cronin will, however, have both star hitman Vinny Sullivan and captain John Hayes available after the pair sat in the stands last Friday due to bans.
 
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Undoubtedly Dundalk’s biggest game of the season so far, the Lilywhites need a big performance to banish the nightmares of Santry. And, both boss John Gill and defender David Crawley are hopeful of a much improved display. “It’s going to be a big game,” Crawley acknowledges, “but these are the games that you want to play in. We knew it was going to be tough, with Waterford, Shelbourne and Fingal. It’s going to be nip and tuck until the end; it’s going to be about who wants it a wee bit more. We’re going to need a wee bit of luck on the way, but I think we have the squad that’s going to be up for it. We probably had a wee bit of an off-night last week, but we’ll focus on Waterford now.”
 
Manager Gill has already been to see Waterford in the league this term, and admits that he was impressed by what he saw. “They’re a very good side,” Gill says, “and it’s a big test for us. But we’ve played them before; we’ve been down this route before. This league is going to go right to the end. It’s going to be a rollercoaster ride, as it always is. I feel I have a good enough squad, and I’m not going to lose belief in them. I think that if we stick together, work a little bit harder and make better decisions in certain areas of the pitch, that we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
 
Meanwhile, in his programme notes for Thursday night, club captain Aidan Lynch has refused to label the game a ‘massive’ one. In his log, to be published in the Waterford Matchday Magazine, he wrote: “At this stage, I don’t know if I’d term it a massive game. It’s still the first series of matches. Yes, you don’t want to lose at home, and you don’t want anyone to get a psychological advantage over you. But it’s just another game, another home one; we just need to get at it and win our games here at Oriel, and that’s what we’re aiming for. I think it is important to be taking points off the teams up there with you, because they're not going to drop too many points elsewhere."
 
FORM GUIDE
DUNDALK
4 April - Sporting Fingal 1-1 Dundalk - (Collins 50; Crawley 78)
27 March - Dundalk 2-1 Wexford Youths - (Flanagan 20, Martin 24; Malone 57)
25 March - Dundalk 3-0 Monaghan United - (Crowley 22, Mulvenna 34, 63)
22 March - Longford Town 1-2 Dundalk - (McKenna 88; Lynch 59, Vaughan 77)
13 March - Dundalk 3-0 Monaghan United - (Martin 8, 87, Cassidy 44)
 
WATERFORD UNITED
4 April - Waterford United 3-1 Limerick 37 - (Kiely 44, 80, Bermingham 58; Tracy 93)
28 March - Waterford United 2-0 Sporting Fingal - (Kiely 25, Sullivan 81)
24 March - Kerry League 1-1 Waterford United - (Kerins 30; Coleman 33) - Kerry League win on penalties
21 March - Athlone Town 0-0 Waterford United
14 March - Waterford United 1-1 Longford Town - (Warren 54; Kelch pen. 88)
 

FORMER FACES
DUNDALK: Paul Crowley & Ben Whelehan
Both Paul Crowley and Ben Whelehan spent short spells at Waterford United. Whelehan’s move to the RSC came about after he was axed from Dublin City by Roddy Collins, in the manager’s high profile squad cutting exercise after taking over from John Gill in mid-2004. Whelehan made eleven appearances in the league, scoring one goal, as the Blues finished fifth, while the centre-half also picked up an FAI Cup runners-up medal that year - although it should have been a winners one as Waterford went from being one goal up to being one down in the final five minutes of the decider against Longford Town. He then left to sign for Dublin City again, and exchanged places with Paul Crowley, as the central midfielder joined Waterford from the Vikings. One season, 24 appearances, five goals and an eighth-placed finish was his RSC career in a nutshell, as he returned to Dublin City before departing for UCD after the Whitehall club ceased to trade in July 2006.
 

WATERFORD UNITED: Robbie Clarke & Stephen Quigley
Like the above pair, neither left-back Robbie Clarke or right-back Stephen Quigley lasted long at Oriel Park, as both their stints came to a forgettable end. Clarke, after winning a First Division title under John Gill at Dublin City the previous season, was signed by Trevor Anderson at the beginning of 2004. A regular throughout the season, both under Anderson and shortly after under Jim Gannon, Clarke did little to impress the Oriel faithful in 35 league appearances. He soon departed to sign for Kildare County, before going on to capture another First Division winners medal with Shamrock Rovers in 2006. Stephen Quigley spent the second-half of last season at Dundalk, as he entered from Saint Patrick’s Athletic in the July transfer window to provide cover for John Flanagan, who was absent due to an operation on his ankle. Despite only making eight league appearances, however, the now 23-year-old showed his quality in his only outings for the Lilywhites, and will be better remembered by fans than his current Waterford team-mate.

MANAGER MATCH-UP
John Gill -v- Gareth Cronin
Contrasting fortunes for these managers, as one has won promotion twice and one has suffered relegation twice. Two seasons ago, however, neither counted due to the infamous IAG decision, so technically the above honour has only been registered once each by the pair. Gareth Cronin’s playing career was ended prematurely in 2004 after suffering a knee injury while at Kildare County, which forced him to retire from the game at just 29. He had earlier played for his native Cork City, where he made over 400 appearances, winning the FAI Cup in 1998 and helping the Leesiders to runners-up spot twice in the Premier League, as well as later spending two seasons at Shamrock Rovers.
 
On 8 August 2006, he took over the reigns at the RSC following the resignation of Mike Kerley. He had earlier worked as assistant manager to Dermot Keely at Dublin City before their death just weeks before his appointment to the Blues hotseat. At the end of last season, Waterford were relegated for the second time in two years under Cronin’s leadership, however, this time it was for real. Cronin announced his resignation from the job live on local radio following a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of the ‘Promotion/Relegation Playoff Final’ away to Finn Harps in November, before later retracting that statement. This year is his second full season at the helm, and he has started well, with Waterford currently unbeaten and sitting joint-top ahead of this week’s trip to Dundalk.

 
KEY CLASHES
Ben Whelehan -v- Willie John Kiely
An intriguing clash, if it happens. Ben Whelehan has only appeared once for Dundalk so far this season, as he was forced to withdraw late on in the opening day deadlock at Shelbourne with a nasty ankle injury. That was the defender’s first outing since last May against the Reds at Oriel Park, where he picked up a serious knee injury which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. Rather than injury prone, it appears Whelehan has just been the victim of two freak accidents, and now fully recovered, he could take his place in the centre of defence. Since joining in December 2006, the 27-year-old has only played twelve times for Dundalk - the Lilywhites have kept clean-sheets in eight of those games. Whelehan is a major player in Dundalk’s promotion push, and a prolonged run in the team now will prove that he is the club’s classiest defender.
 
His opponent here could be one of the most promising strikers in the league, Willie John Kiely (pictured above). The 19-year-old was born in Dungarvan and played at local junior sides, Ballinroad and Abbeyside, while he also spent time at both Bohemians and Cherry Orchard. He then went on to spend two seasons at Aberdeen in Scotland, but failed to break into the first-team during his time there and, so, returned to Ireland to join his native Waterford United in mid-2007. He made his club debut against Saint Patrick’s Athletic on 6 July last year, and assisted the match winner. He went on to make seventeen appearances in total and scored the winner at home to Derry City in October before hitting Waterford’s goal in their 1-1 draw at Longford Town ten days later. He has stayed on for this year, and has already netted three goals in four appearances, including a double in last weekend’s 3-1 win over Limerick at the RSC. However, Whelehan is likely to be the best centre-half Kiely has come up against this term, with a tight battle looking assured.
 

Paul Crowley -v- Paul McCarthy The centre of the park could well prove key here. A former team-mate of Paul McCarthy’s at Waterford, Paul Crowley could line-up alongside David Cassidy in the Dundalk central midfield pairing. Crowley has only started the last two league games - against Wexford Youths and Sporting Fingal - after missing the opening two matches, and has impressed with his displays so far. His competitive club debut came with a substitute appearance in Longford nearly three weeks ago, and he has played every minute since. He was one of the very few to come out with any credit from the Lilywhites’ draw in Santry last Friday, after being the sole midfield performer until Cassidy’s introduction on 54 minutes. He has shown a good appetite from shooting on sight, making attacking runs into the box (highlighted by his goal against Monaghan in the League Cup) and is certainly not afraid to mix it. Crowley has already proved himself to be one of John Gill’s best off-season signings, and is tipped to be chosen ahead of both Paul Shiels and Paul Marney here, assuming that star man Cassidy is fit to start. 23-year-old Paul McCarthy only played a total of ten minutes competitive football in two appearances at the end of the season during Crowley’s time at the RSC in 2005. That was his second year in the senior set-up, though it was the following season that saw McCarthy make his mark in the United team. He made 25 appearances and scored one goal (vs.

UCD) in a season which saw Waterford finish bottom and get relegated, only to later gain promotion following the relegation of champions, Shelbourne. Last year, McCarthy played in all bar one of Waterford’s league games and scored three times, as the Blues snatched the playoff place from Longford Town. It wasn’t to matter, though, as Finn Harps defeated United 6-3 on aggregate in the two-legged affair. He remained for this season, and has started all five of Waterford’s games to date, although he was substituted at half-time at home to Limerick last week. Reported by the experts to be ‘the real deal’, McCarthy will be a very tough opponent for Crowley, although a partnership of Cassidy & Crowley in the centre certainly won’t be overrun by whatever pairing Gareth Cronin calls on.


Robbie Martin -v- Kenny Browne
The only Dundalk forward to really spark so far this season, Robbie Martin has struggled to find a strike partner. John Gill also knows a problem exists as Martin is the only player to start in attack in the opening five games. Paired with Robbie Farrell for the opening three matches, Trevor Vaughan has come in for the last two, however, both have failed to hit it off with Martin. The former UCD goal machine arrived from Longford Town in December, and impressed in pre-season despite not scoring. In the opening league match at Shels, he smashed the bar with a thumping header, before netting a double at home to Monaghan the following week. Another goal, the winner, in the win over Wexford Youths at Oriel Park a fortnight ago was another important contribution from the exciting 25-year-old. The lack of any support for the majority of the game at Sporting Fingal last weekend meant he was unable to trouble Steve Williams until late in the match, as he forced the Welsh man into two good saves in the final ten minutes. The man who has the potential to fire Dundalk to the title, Martin’s performance here will decide whether or not the Lilywhites take maximum points.
 
A tough tackling central defender, Kenny Browne has spent virtually all of his career at Waterford United, with 62 appearances for the Blues over the past five seasons. “Fletch” made his RSC bow with three first-team appearances in 2004, before transferring on-loan to Kilkenny City, where he had ten outings, before returning to Waterford for the beginning of the 2005 season. Fifteen impressive appearances brought him more into the manager’s plans, and, a year later, he lined-out nineteen times, scoring three goals along the way, as Waterford finished the season under the reign of Gareth Cronin. Last term, Browne was hit by injury, but still started almost half of the Blues’ Premier Division games, however, he was unable to help them avoid the pain of relegation. To date in 2008, Browne has started four of Waterford’s five league games, while in the other match, on the opening day in Wexford, he entered as a late substitute. Still only 21, Browne has plenty of experience for his age, and will be an extremely tough player for Martin to gain the upper hand against this Thursday.
 
RENEWING ACQUAINTANCES
John Gill & Robbie Clarke
Very well travelled for his age, Waterford United is 23-year-old Robbie Clarke’s sixth League of Ireland club. His second was Dublin City, where he worked under John Gill in 2003. In a loan spell from Saint Patrick’s Athletic, Clarke spent the entire season with the Whitehall-based club, and made 32 appearances as the Vikings captured the First Division title. He scored an important goal on the way to that triumph in a 2-2 draw at Finn Harps in September - that strike, incidentally, being his last goal in football. Former Dundalk left-back Clarke, quite astonishingly, in a four season spell between 2003 and 2006, appeared in 138 of the possible 141 league games that he could have!
 
Ben Whelehan & Gareth Cronin
This pair became acquainted during spells at Kildare County and Dublin City. During the 2003 season, central midfielder Whelehan - 25 appearances and six goals - and left-back Cronin - 23 outings and one goal - both played for Kildare in the First Division, as the Thoroughbreds finished fifth, just two points behind the playoff positions. Cronin remained at Station Road but retired the following season, while Whelehan had already moved to Dublin City, where the pair would again come together two years later. Working as assistant manager to Dermot Keely, Cronin was over club captain Whelehan in a coaching capacity, however, they again parted ways as the Vikings ceased to trade midway through the 2006 season.
 
STATS MAGIC!
- Dundalk have played, to the second, exactly 478 minutes and 33 seconds of league football this season. That’s 7 hours, 58 minutes and 33 seconds to put it another way. (Don’t doubt us, we’ve timed every second of action). To tell it a different way, it means that the Lilywhite Army has played injury-time totalling 27 minutes and 33 seconds in their opening five league games. In that extra time played, not one goal has been scored!
 
- Only David Crawley has played every second of Dundalk’s league campaign to date, while only six of the squad have appeared in all five games - Crawley, Robbie Martin, Davie O’Connor, Ian Ryan, Jamie Duffy and Robbie Farrell.
 
- Dundalk have so far conceded three goals in the league. However, they have yet to concede in 234 minutes and 51 seconds of first-half football. In other terms, that’s 3 hours, 54 minutes and 51 seconds of action. The three goals shipped came in minutes 88 (Longford Town), 56 (Wexford Youths) and 50 (Sporting Fingal).
 
- In the opening 279 minutes and 33 seconds (4 hours, 39 minutes and 33 seconds) of league football this year, Dundalk kept a clean-sheet all the way. That was until Darren McKenna’s headed consolation for Longford in Flancare Park over a fortnight ago. John Gill’s men are now without a clean-sheet since their easy home win over Monaghan United almost a month ago.
 
- Dundalk’s top scorer so far this season is Robbie Martin. The 25-year-old has netted three times in five appearances. The Lilywhites’ other five goals have been shared by David Cassidy, Aidan Lynch, Trevor Vaughan, John Flanagan and David Crawley. Waterford’s top marksmen, Willie John Kiely and Dave Warren, also have three goals to their name. Karl Bermingham and Vinny Sullivan, one each, have scored the Blues’ other goals so far in the league.
 
- Dundalk are putting their proud home record on the line once more this week. Since June 2006, the Lilywhites have played 31 league games at Oriel Park and lost just once. Their overall home record during that near two-year period reads: P31 - W23 - D7 - L1 - F66 - A20.
 
- Dundalk’s only defeat at home since June 2006 came last October when an early John Tierney double gave Limerick 37 a shock 2-0 win. (Not to be making excuses!), but that was the Lilywhites’ first real meaningless home game in the league in two years.

- Under John Gill, Dundalk have never been beaten when they’ve taken the lead at Oriel Park. In fact, it has been three-and-a-half years since that last happened, as promotion winning UCD cancelled out a first-half opener to win 3-1 on 11 November 2004.

- In 38 league matches at Oriel Park under John Gill’s reign, only three games have ended scoreless (Cobh twice and Limerick once, all in 2007). Dundalk have scored in 31 of those games.
 
- Two players in each squad have played for the opposition before. Paul Crowley and Ben Whelehan both spent time at Waterford, while Robbie Clarke and Stephen Quigley are ex-Lilywhites.
 
- This will be the first time that Dundalk and Waterford United have met each other in a league game since the Blues sealed the First Division crown and promotion to the Premier Division at Oriel Park in January 2003. Current Sunderland forward Daryl Murphy scored the only goal of the game that night - Thursday 16 January - as the wind helped his strike past Michael Dempsey in the Dundalk goal.
 
- The clubs, more recently, met in the 2006 ‘Promotion/Relegation Playoff Final’, as Dundalk defeated Waterford 3-2 on aggregate thanks to a Trevor Vaughan hat-trick over the two legs. In the end, the playoff was rendered meaningless, as Waterford eventually kept their top flight status, while the Lilywhites were denied their right by the IAG, who instead promoted Galway United, a club without a league title in their history.
 
- Thursday will be exactly seven years to the day since Dundalk last defeated Waterford in the league. On that occasion, 10 April 2001, a David Crawley spot-kick and a David Ward strike gave Dundalk an important win at the RSC on the league run-in, as the Lilywhites went on to capture the First Division title just weeks later.
 
- Since the clubs’ first ever league meeting, way back on 24 August 1930 - a home game which Dundalk won 7-3 - they have met a total of 124 times in league competition. Dundalk’s total record reads: P124 - W53 - D26 - L45 - F230 - A200.
 
- Waterford’s overall record in the league at Oriel Park is: P62 - W13 - D12 - L37 - F72 - A141. Dundalk’s visits to the RSC have obviously proved way more profitable for the Blues - P62 - W32 - D14 - L16 - F128 - A89.
 
- Sixteen members of the squad scored Dundalk’s 40 league goals at home last year. Robbie Doyle and Trevor Vaughan were joint-top of the Oriel scorers’ list with five goals each. Robbie Martin has already scored three times in only two home appearances this term.

- In contrast, only seven players scored away from home for Dundalk in 2007, as they netted just sixteen goals on the road all season, the lowest tally apart from Wexford Youths. Shaun Williams was the Lilywhites’ highest scorer on the road with five goals.

- Last year, Dundalk were awarded NO penalties at Oriel Park. Visitors Athlone Town and Limerick 37 both converted from the two spot-kicks at the venue in 2007.

- In fact, John Gill has never seen his side take a penalty at home in league competition in the 38 matches he has managed! Amazingly, it has been three-and-a-half years since such a decision has been given at Oriel, with Trevor Vaughan’s double spot-kick at home to Kilkenny City on 7 October 2004 being the last.

- The last red card at Oriel Park was shown to Kenny Coleman of Cobh Ramblers on 12 August last year. The last Dundalk player to receive his marching orders at the ground was goalkeeper Chris Bennion when he was dismissed against Kildare County a month earlier.
 
RECENT HISTORY
The most recent meetings between these clubs came in strange circumstances, as Dundalk and Waterford entered a ‘Promotion/Relegation Playoff Final’ in November 2006, not knowing for sure whether or not the winner would gain promotion. In the end, their fears proved right, as Dundalk won the playoff over two legs, but failed to win a top flight place, while Waterford stayed up because Premier Division champions Shelbourne got relegated and Galway United somehow got promoted despite finishing third in the First Division. Strange, we know!
 
So, if you want to trace back to the last ‘real’ game between these two, you have to look at the interim season of 2002/03. In a short 22 game campaign, relegated but FAI Cup winners Dundalk entered the First Division as hot favourites to bounce straight back up, however, it was Waterford who ended up capturing the crown. In fact, Dundalk didn’t even count as they finished a (very!) lowly ninth. In the sides’ two meetings that season, Waterford came out on top by a single goal twice, as a Brendan Rea header in October and a Daryl Murphy strike in January sealed two 1-0 wins for the Blues and, ultimately, promotion. United went on to spend the next five years in the Premier Division, before returning to the second tier last November. Both clubs are again, like 2003, tipped for title glory this year, although Waterford are sure (we sincerely hope so anyway!) to face a bigger challenge from the Lilywhites this time around.
 
Since 24 January 1999, the clubs have gone to battle ten times, with Dundalk holding the upper hand with five wins and two draws. The five meetings at Oriel Park in that period sees the Lilywhites’ record reading: P5 - W3 - D1 - L1 - F5 - A2.
 
PAST TEN MEETINGS: DUNDALK - W5 - D2 - L3 - F9 - A7
25 November 2006 - Waterford United 1-2 Dundalk
22 November 2006 - Dundalk 1-1 Waterford United
16 January 2003 - Dundalk 0-1 Waterford United
31 October 2002 - Waterford United 1-0 Dundalk
10 April 2001 - Waterford United 1-2 Dundalk
13 January 2001 - Dundalk 1-0 Waterford United
3 November 2000 - Waterford United 0-0 Dundalk
31 August 2000 -Dundalk 1-0 Waterford United
16 April 1999 - Waterford United 2-0 Dundalk
24 January 1999 - Dundalk 2-0 Waterford United