Dundalk FC :: News

ATHLONE TOWN -v- DUNDALK FC
The Competition: eircom League of Ireland First Division, Series 8
The Venue: Lissywoollen, Athlone
The Date: Saturday 26 April, 2008
The Time: 7.30pm
The Mission: Net another win!

DUNDALK TAKE UNBEATEN RECORD TO MIDLANDS
Undefeated league leaders Dundalk travel to Lissywoollen this Saturday evening hoping to maintain, and possibly extend, their three-point lead at the top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division table when they do battle with Athlone Town (kick-off 7.30pm). If Waterford fail to beat Shelbourne at Tolka Park on Friday night, then Dundalk will shoot five points clear at the summit should they take a win away from the midlands 24 hours later.

With two wins on the trot against Waterford United and Limerick 37, the confident Lilywhites will enter this weekend’s clash with a chance to extend the club’s longest ever winning sequence against Athlone. John Gill has seen his side take victory away from this fixture on seven consecutive occasions since August 2006, with the aggregate score from those matches reading 21-3 in favour of Dundalk.

Still, however, history will count for little here, as the hosts will be bidding to kick-start their season following a disappointing opening to the campaign. The midlanders have won just one of their seven games to date - that sole win coming in Monaghan three weeks ago. They are, however, unbeaten at home so far, as they have drawn all three of their league games at Lissywoollen.

GET TO ATHLONE!!!
As usual, the Oriel Travel Club will be running a bus to Athlone this Saturday. The coach will leave Oriel Park at 2.30pm sharp. For further information, contact Brendan on 087-2342331.

Athlone is the fourth longest trip of the year for Dundalk. At a round trip of 285.6 kilometres (177.46 miles), it is the furthest journey on the calendar behind Limerick, Waterford and Wexford respectively. The estimated time taken to get from Oriel Park to Athlone is 2 hours 16 minutes! By going to this link - http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/routes/ - and typing in ‘From: Dundalk, To: Athlone’, you will be given a full route of the trek to Athlone, which is printable.

Dundalk manager John Gill again has no suspension worries, however, doubts surround the participation of both striker Trevor Vaughan and winger Davie O’Connor. Vaughan sat out last week’s trip to Limerick with an ankle knock, while O’Connor was forced off in the first-half of that win with a nasty knee injury. Elsewhere, Gill should have a full panel to choose from, though goalkeeper Aaron Shanahan is still struggling following a tackle from Robbie Doyle at Sporting Fingal three weeks ago, a challenge which resulted in the striker being sent-off. Athlone Town, meanwhile, will be without suspended midfielder Davy Byrne, who has been given an additional one-match ban following a red card at Shelbourne last month

.CRAWLEY KEEN TO AVOID REPEAT COLLAPSE
His first-half penalty in Limerick last weekend helped title favourites Dundalk to maintain their three-point cushion at the top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division standings - a win which sees the Louth club now sit on the exact same total as they did at this stage last year. Left-back David Crawley knows, though, how quickly the season could change, having witnessed the Lilywhites implode twelve months ago.

However, speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Athlone Town this Saturday evening, Crawley has admitted that he feels there’s a little more steel to John Gill’s squad this time around. “Hopefully, now, we can go on from here,” the 30-year-old told dundalkfc.com. “I know we’re good enough, but we have to show that we want it that wee bit more. Training has been very good this week, and we’re all buzzing. It’s going to be a long, hard season, but we know we’re capable of winning this league.

“We’ve started this year the same way as we did last season, but there’s just a wee bit more buzz about this team. The players are working a wee bit harder, and if you look at the players that John has brought in, there’s a lot of young fellas and there’s a lot of experience in there. We have a smaller squad this year, but there’s more people pushing for positions, and that’s good for the manager, because it gives him nice headaches.

“There’s a great buzz about the place and around the town now, and, hopefully, this year, we can see the final furlong out. We’re doing alright at the moment; we can play better and we know we can, but if we have to win playing ugly, then so be it. It’s very hard getting out of this division, and that’s the way it has always been.”

ATHLONE TOWN
18 April - Wexford Youths 2-0 Athlone - (Doyle 39, Furlong 93)
15 April - Athlone 1-1 Kildare County - (McGee 90; Gorman 43)
12 April - Athlone 2-2 Limerick 37 - (Reilly 76, pen. 81; Hayes 40, Ryan S/O 80, Ryan 90)
4 April - Monaghan United 1-2 Athlone - (Meenan 52; Jinks 50, Rossiter 74)
28 March - Shelbourne 2-0 Athlone - (Flood 36, 64, Byrne S/O 56; Byrne S/O 78)

DUNDALK
18 April - Limerick 1-2 Dundalk - (Barrett 56, missed pen. 92; Crawley pen. 17, Duffy 50)
10 April - Dundalk 1-0 Waterford United - (Cassidy 63)
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)

DUNDALK: John Gill, Gerry Scully & John Flanagan
Athlone currently don’t have any ex-Dundalk players in their ranks. However, the Lilywhites do have three faces that fans of the midlands club will be familiar with. Two of those, John Gill and Gerry Scully, became the management team at Saint Mel’s Park in mid-2005 with Athlone struggling badly at the foot of the First Division table. Their spell there only lasted until the end of that season, however, as they soon joined Dundalk, where they have been ever since. Defender John Flanagan, meanwhile, was also at Athlone during 2005, however, he returned to Dundalk in midseason shortly after Gill’s predecessor Stephen Kelly was removed from the hotseat at Mel’s.

MANAGER MATCH-UP
Dermot Lennon took over as boss of Athlone Town following the resignation of Michael O’Connor in July of last year as the midlanders, who were expected title rivals, struggled for form. Lennon had worked as assistant manager to O’Connor, and entered the hotseat on a caretaker basis until the end of the season. He guided the midlanders to sixth position, and, as a result, was given a one-year contract by the Lissywoollen club for 2008. Lennon also previously spent time at Athlone during his playing career.

KEY BATTLES
Des Hope -v- Robbie Martin
Having missed out on last week’s loss in Wexford due to a calf injury, central defender Des Hope could return to the Athlone backline here. The 26-year-old, a Kildare native, has spent all of his career at the midlands club, making over 100 league appearances during the past seven seasons. The first of those outings came way back in 2002, however, he has been unable to help Athlone out of the First Division. A fans favourite, Hope was an ever-present for four straight years, however, injury interrupted his campaign last season. With four starts in Athlone’s opening six games, Hope appeared to be over his problems, however, he was forced off at half-time in the home draw with Kildare County last week, and subsequently sat out last weekend’s match at Wexford. Hope could return here, though, and his reappearance could prove crucial for the hosts against the joint-highest scorers in the division.

Another Kildare man, Robbie Martin will be looking for his first goal in a month, having failed to score in the Lilywhites’ last three games. The striker is Dundalk’s top goalscorer so far this season with three goals, however, a lack of service in the game at Sporting Fingal and an early injury in the clash with Waterford a week later contributed to the 25-year-old finding scoring chances hard to come by. Martin’s last goal came as he scored what proved to be the winner against Wexford Youths at the end of March, however, a nasty ankle knock prevented him from adding to that Oriel Park tally a fortnight ago as he was forced off at half-time in the win over Waterford having failed to recover from the ankle injury he picked up early on in the match. After going close to scoring on a couple of occasions in Limerick last Friday, Robbie was withdrawn midway through the second-half, however, with another week of recovery now in, he should be confident of finding himself another goal here.

Anthony Hayes -v- Paul Crowley
After spending a spell at Athlone a couple of seasons ago, Anthony Hayes spent last year at Limerick, where he was an ever-present in the Blues side which finished fourth in the First Division. In 29 appearances (24 starts/5 subs), Hayes failed to find a goal from the middle of the park, however, he did impress, and transferred back to Athlone during the winter break. So far in 2008, Hayes has appeared in five of the midlanders’ opening seven matches, however, only two of those have come from the start. He has yet to play the full 90 minutes, however, having been withdrawn on the hour-mark last Friday in Wexford, Hayes can be expected to be chosen in Dermot Lennon’s starting XI here, as regular central midfielder Davy Byrne serves another one-match ban.
Here, Hayes could come up against former Dublin City, Waterford United and UCD midfielder Paul Crowley, who has done extremely well to battle his way into the Lilywhites’ team in recent weeks. With star player David Cassidy the first name on Gill’s weekly team-sheet, Crowley looks like he has nailed down the one other slot in the centre of the park, with Paul Shiels, who has suffered with injury recently, and Paul Marney both losing out to the 27-year-old. Since entering as a first-half substitute at Longford five weeks ago, Crowley has become a regular in the team with five consecutive starts. His strength and tackling in the middle, his darting forward runs and eye for goal, and his defensive abilities have all stood out in his appearances for the club to date, and, as stated previously in this section, Crowley is proving to be one of Gill’s best winter buys.

Eric Lavine -v- Aidan Lynch

One of the longest serving strikers currently still playing in the League of Ireland, Eric Lavine has made over 300 league appearances since his first outing ten years ago. The forward, who has been capped 34 times by his home country Barbados, has spent that decade between three clubs - Galway United, Longford Town and now Athlone for the past three seasons. After four years at Terryland Park, Lavine left for Longford in 2001/02, and remained there until returning to Galway on-loan in 2005, before making that deal permanent the following season. He would only appear four times for the Tribesmen that year, however, as he departed for Athlone in May 2006. And, he has been there ever since, making a total of 64 appearances. His average strike-rate shows only one goal every eight games, however, despite not yet scoring this term, his work-rate means that he is always dangerous, and he will have to be closely watched by Dundalk’s backline on Saturday.

The man set with the task of keeping Lavine quiet should be the Lilywhites’ captain, Aidan Lynch. Now in his fourteenth season in senior football, Lynch is still going strong and has been vitally important to Dundalk’s promotion push so far this term. Now under pressure as the club’s three centre-halves - Lynch, Ian Ryan and Ben Whelehan - battle it out for the two available slots,

Lynch has excelled, and is one of the main reasons that John Gill’s men are top of the table and still unbeaten. Thankfully - touch wood - Lynch has also been able to shake off his injury woes of the past two seasons, as the 30-year-old has started five of Dundalk’s opening seven league games. Hardly a coincidence, the only match where Lynch was absent through injury proved to be the team’s poorest display of the season to date at Fingal three weeks ago. However, he soon returned and led the Lilywhites in their most impressive performances of the year, at home to Waterford and away to Limerick, and he will again be key here as Dundalk go in search of another three points.

- Dundalk have played, to the second, exactly 672 minutes and 25 seconds of league football this season. That’s 11 hours, 12 minutes and 25 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 42 minutes and 25 seconds in their opening seven 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 seven games - Crawley, Robbie Martin, Davie O’Connor, Ian Ryan, Jamie Duffy and Robbie Farrell. Ryan has played the most minutes apart from Crawley, as he has been on the pitch for a total of 625 minutes and 11 seconds (10 hours, 25 minutes and 11 seconds).

- Dundalk have so far conceded four goals in the league. However, they have yet to concede in 329 minutes and 29 seconds of first-half football. In other terms, that’s 5 hours, 29 minutes and 29 seconds of action. The four goals shipped came in minutes 88 (Longford Town), 56 (Wexford Youths), 50 (Sporting Fingal) and 56 (Limerick 37).

- 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 on 22 March. Since then, the Lilywhites have kept just one clean-sheet (vs. Waterford) in four attempts.

- Dundalk’s top scorer so far this season is Robbie Martin. The 25-year-old has netted three times in seven appearances. David Cassidy and David Crawley are the second highest scorers with two, while the Lilywhites’ other four goals have been shared by Aidan Lynch, Trevor Vaughan, John Flanagan and Jamie Duffy.

- Athlone have so far drawn all three of their games at Lissywoollen in the league this year. Their home record in full reads: P3 - W0 - D3 - L0 - F3 - A3. Unfortunately for Athlone, it hasn’t proved to be such a magic number, as they currently sit eighth in the table.

- Last year, Athlone finished in sixth place at the end of a disappointing campaign. Their form at home was slightly better than it was on the road. In their first season at their new stadium, their record was: P18 - W6 - D5 - L7 - F22 - A22. Away, it read: P18 - W5 - D3 - L10 - F18 - A33. A difference of five points.

- Athlone have no ex-Dundalk players in their squad. John Flanagan is the sole Lilywhite who has previously played for the opposition.

As stated above, Dundalk are currently on their longest ever winning sequence against Athlone Town. This incredible run against the midlanders began back on 11 August 2006 when an 86th minute cracker from Philly Hughes at Saint Mel’s Park handed John Gill his first win over Athlone as Dundalk boss, after losing the previous two meetings. Indeed, this fixture has had its fair share of spectacular goals over the past few seasons to add to that goal from Hughes.

In 2005, Shane Grimes netted his first ever club goal with a stunning free-kick. Keith Dunne then bettered that effort with a 25-yard thunderbolt twelve months later, before Cathal O’Connor’s delightful chip, Philly Hughes’ cracking cup double, Paul Smyth’s 35-yard wonder goal and Robbie Doyle’s long-range free-kick all lit up Oriel in 2007. Not to be outdone, however, Dundalk’s king of magical goals, Trevor Vaughan struck a superlative 30-yard goal in the latest encounter between these clubs last October.

PAST TEN MEETINGS - DUNDALK - W7 - D1 - L2 - F24 - A9
6 October 2007 - Athlone Town 1-2 Dundalk
31 July 2007 - Dundalk 3-0 Athlone Town
14 June 2007 - Dundalk 3-0 Athlone Town (FAI Cup)
28 May 2007 - Athlone Town 0-2 Dundalk
29 March 2007 - Dundalk 6-2 Athlone Town
12 October 2006 - Dundalk 4-0 Athlone Town
11 August 2006 - Athlone Town 0-1 Dundalk
22 June 2006 - Dundalk 1-2 Athlone Town
1 April 2006 - Athlone Town 2-0 Dundalk
22 September 2005 - Dundalk 2-2 Athlone Town