Dundalk FC :: News

3 APRIL 2008: SPORTING FINGAL V DUNDALK MATCH PREVIEW

SPORTING FINGAL -v- DUNDALK FC
The Venue: Morton Stadium, Santry
The Date: Friday 4 April, 2008
The Time: 7.45pm
The Mission: Win!

LILYWHITES LOOK TO STAY TOP
Early season pacesetters Dundalk will be aiming to maintain their lead at the summit of the eircom League of Ireland First Division when they travel to Sporting Fingal for the very first time this Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm). The Lilywhites are unbeaten so far as they have accumulated ten points from their opening four games, with an opening day draw at Shelbourne being followed up with wins over Monaghan, Longford and Wexford.
Fingal, on the other hand, have had a mixed start with two home wins against Athlone and Limerick coming in between away defeats at Longford and Waterford. This weekend’s meeting will provide another indication as to where both these teams stand for the season ahead, with the bookies making Dundalk the even money favourites to collect the three points.

TRAVEL INFORMATION
GET TO SANTRY!!!!!
As usual, the Oriel Travel Club will be running a bus to the Morton Stadium this Friday evening. The coach will leave Oriel Park at 6.00pm sharp. For more information, contact Brendan on 087-2342331.

Sporting Fingal is one of the shortest trips on the calendar for Dundalk. In fact, at a round trip of 154.6 kilometres (96.1 miles), it is the second shortest distance of the nine away destinations this year. Only Monaghan is shorter, although Shels comes a close third with it only being 2.2 kilometres longer than the journey to Santry.

The estimated time taken to get from Oriel Park to the Morton Stadium is 53 minutes. By going to this link - http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/routes/ - and typing in ‘From: Dundalk, To: Morton Stadium, Santry’, you will be given a full route of the journey, which is printable.

TEAM NEWS
As has been the case for the past four games, Dundalk will again be hit by suspension here as John Gill is forced to do without influential goalkeeper, Chris Bennion. The Scot is serving the extra match ban which has been imposed on him following his opening day sending off at Shelbourne. Back-up netminder Aaron Shanahan will deputise.

Elsewhere, the Lilywhites can welcome back left-back Shane Grimes from a ban, while it is hoped that both star midfielder David Cassidy and centre-half Ben Whelehan can make an appearance after suffering from injury in recent weeks. Sporting Fingal, meanwhile, will have ex-Dundalk striker Robbie Doyle available again after he missed last week’s loss through suspension. Doyle is one of eight former Lilywhites in the Fingal squad.

MATCH ODDS
23/10 Sporting Fingal - 11/5 Draw - Dundalk 1/1

FORM GUIDE SPORTING FINGAL 28 March - Waterford United 2-0 Fingal - (Kiely 24, Sullivan 76) 24 March - Fingal 2-2 Shelbourne - (K Byrne 30, C Byrne 93; Chambers 65, Flood 98 - Shels win 6-5 on penalties) 21 March - Fingal 1-0 Limerick 37 - (Doyle pen. 1) 16 March - Fingal 2-0 Athlone Town - (Hynes 7, C Byrne 21) 8 March - Longford Town 5-1 Fingal - (Davoren 12, 36, McKenna 51, 59, 62; Hynes 30) DUNDALK 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) 7 March - Shelbourne 0-0 Dundalk - (Bennion S/O 40)
	FORMER FACES Sporting Fingal - Steve Williams, Chris Deans, Brian Kelly, Christy Doran, Fiachra McArdle, Robbie Doyle, Peter Hynes, David Bracken Where to begin! Eight ex-Dundalk players are part of Fingal’s 25-man squad. Goalkeeper Steve Williams made 85 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites over two seasons between 1997 and 1999. In that time Steve became one of the most popular players at Oriel Park in the 1990s. Centre-half Chris Deans signed for the club in 2004 and played 25 times before departing following John Gill’s arrival. Left-back Brian Kelly was brought in by Gill the following March and played a key role with 25 appearances (one goal) during the successful 2006 season. Winger Christy Doran was another Gill signing as he arrived from Saint Patrick’s Athletic and played 33 times (three goals) between July 2006 and August 2007 before leaving for personal reasons. Striker Peter Hynes was also part of the 2006 squad, though he was let go before the end of that campaign for disciplinary reasons - his league total with Dundalk is: 68 apps/14 goals. Fellow forward Robbie Doyle played for just five months for the Lilywhites as he signed in July 2007 and netted six goals in 17 appearances. Central midfielder Fiachra McArdle made just three appearances in three separate spells at the club, the latest being in 2006, while striker David Bracken had a near as forgettable time at Oriel Park as he scored twice in twelve outings during Jim Gannon’s time in charge in 2005.

MANAGER MATCH-UP
Liam Buckley -v- John Gill
Liam Buckley had a glittering career as a player for almost twenty years, as he started out at Shelbourne in 1978 before finishing his career with Athlone Town in 1998. During his time in the League of Ireland, he played for Shels, Shamrock Rovers, Saint Patrick’s Athletic, Sligo Rovers and Athlone, as well as having spells at more exotic places like Vancouver Whitecaps, KSV Waregem, Racing Santander and Montreux-Sports. Twice he won Premier Division medals, one at Rovers (1984) and one at Pats (1996), while he also picked up a Leinster Senior Cup winners’ medal with the Hoops (1982). He also earned two caps for the Republic of Ireland senior side in 1984.

As a manager, he began at Athlone Town in 1998 when mixing his final season as a player with his first in the hotseat, before he went on to manage Saint Patrick’s Athletic, Athlone for a second time, Shamrock Rovers and now Sporting Fingal. At Inchicore, Buckley won a Premier Division with the Saints in his only year at the helm, as two humiliating defeats on the European stage saw him sacked by the Pats board in December 1999. Last January saw the 47-year-old return to management after a four-year absence when he took over newly founded Fingal.

KEY BATTLES
Dave Rodgers -v- Trevor Vaughan
32-year-old Dave Rodgers is a well travelled left-footed central defender who has been playing in the League of Ireland since 2003 when he made the move to Shelbourne. There, he helped the Tolka Park outfit to three Premier League titles in four years, as he was an ever-present in Pat Fenlon’s all conquering team. Shels’ money problems led to the whole squad departing in November 2006, with Rodgers transferring to Derry City with Fenlon in the off-season. It was an unsuccessful spell, however, as he left after just twelve appearances for the Candystripes, before moving to Saint Patrick’s Athletic in July 2007. Sixteen outings led to Rodgers earning another contract for this year, however, despite also apparently being handed the captain’s armband for the season, the Liverpool-born star left to join Sporting Fingal on-loan before the campaign commenced. Rodgers is expected to leave for England this July, but will be an extremely important player for Fingal up until then. Like his opponent, Trevor Vaughan is an experienced and well travelled player, who has shown this season that, despite being 34, he is still one of, if not the most talented man in the Dundalk squad. He began the season by sitting on the bench for the opening three games, before entering against Longford Town and producing a master class at Flancare Park.

That 30-minute performance left manager John Gill with no choice but to start the hitman in the next two matches - at home to Monaghan in the League Cup and against Wexford in the league - and Vaughan hasn’t disappointed with two eye-catching displays. His power and strength in attack, vision and perfect execution means he is a class apart in this division, and despite Rodgers’ impressive CV, he will have to be at his best to stop Trevez this weekend.

Conan Byrne -v- Paul Crowley
Despite his young years, 22-year-old Conan Byrne (above) is one of the most promising players on the island. The central midfielder made his League of Ireland bow with UCD in 2005 and remained with the Students for three seasons. In total, at Belfield, Byrne made exactly 50 league appearances, scoring three goals - all of which, incidentally, came last year, as he netted against Waterford in ALL three meetings with the Blues to help UCD avoid relegation. The off-season saw a strange move for Byrne, however, as the ‘Supporters Player of the Year’ decided to transfer to Sporting Fingal - who were at the time set for the A-Championship. The fall of Kilkenny City led to Fingal being promoted to the First Division, however, and Byrne has already proved in the opening weeks of the season that he is in a different league to the majority of his opponents in this division.

Not to his opposite number here, however. Both these players got to know each other well over the past two years at Belfield, so the pair will know exactly what to expect come Friday. Crowley had a slow start to his Dundalk career as a groin injury meant he only started once during pre-season. However, following his substitute display in Longford as he entered in place of David Cassidy during the first-half, Crowley has caught the eye. He was rewarded for that solid display in the midlands with two starts against Monaghan and Wexford last week, with the 27-year-old grabbing his first ever club goal in the League Cup win. He again showed his fondness for shooting on sight with a couple of efforts against the Youths last Thursday, and his goals from the middle of the park could prove crucial as the season progresses. His experience could also prove key in this battle, although Byrne won’t be intimidated.

Robbie Doyle -v- Ian Ryan
Ah, Robbie Doyle! The striker has continued his tour of League of Ireland clubs by signing for Sporting Fingal in the off-season, having previously spent time at Bray Wanderers, UCD, Bohemians, Saint Patrick’s Athletic and most recently Dundalk. He has also had spells across the water at Blackburn Rovers and Macclesfield Town. After returning from England last July, Doyle arrived at Oriel Park in the July transfer window and attempted to strike up a partnership with Philly Hughes. It was never to materialise, however, although he did net himself six league goals for the club as he finished the third highest scorer for Dundalk behind Shaun Williams and Trevor Vaughan. Doyle’s departure was not a surprising one, however, his quality is obvious and he will be a tough opponent to keep quiet on Friday.
The man for the job, however, should be Ian Ryan, who has been simply outstanding since joining the club from Shamrock Rovers in December. The 20-year-old was dropped for the draw at Shelbourne on the opening day of

the season a month ago despite having started every pre-season match. However, since regaining his slot in the team for the home win over Monaghan United, Ryan has been the first name on John Gill’s weekly team-sheet and has justified that with highly impressive displays. He was rewarded last week with the ‘DFC Trust Player of the Month’ for March award, and in-form and confident, the centre-half will be a major player in this meeting if Dundalk are to come away with a positive result.

RENEWING ACQUAINTANCES
Brian Kelly & John Gill
This pair became acquainted at Oriel Park in 2006 as Gill signed Kelly (above v Shelbourne) just before the season started to help solve Dundalk’s problems at left-back. And, that’s exactly what he did. Kelly, an ex-Middlesbrough apprentice, was superb throughout the season as he scored once - an absolute cracker at home to Kildare - in 25 league appearances for the club. After helping Dundalk to second in the league, he played a key role in the playoff success over Waterford United, however, it wasn’t enough to see the Lilywhites rightfully promoted. The unluckiest player in the squad, Kelly was deemed surplus to requirements by Gill as he made way for the return of David Crawley, despite the now 27-year-old having a fabulous year in his sole season in Black & White.

Jim Crawford & David Crawley
Crawley will know Crawford well, as the midfielder was at Shelbourne throughout Crawley’s time at the club between 2002 and 2006. The pair shared huge success as they were both part of a squad which won three Premier Leagues in four years. Crawley then departed before Shels were relegated in early 2007, with Crawford being one of the few to stay on for the Reds’ foray into the First Division. After eight seasons at Tolka Park, however, the Chicago-born 34-year-old finally called time on his Shels career at the end of last year, and joined Sporting Fingal in the off-season - only his third ever League of Ireland club (Bohs from 1991-1995 being the other).

FUN MATCH STAT!
- The last time Dundalk visited the Morton Stadium was back in 2002. Sunday 17 November 2002 to be exact. On that day, Dundalk recorded their first ever win under Trevor Anderson in a 4-2 victory. Garry Haylock and Martin Reilly did the damage as they both netted twice, while a certain Robbie Farrell was on the mark for the Vikings.

FIXTURE HISTORY
This will be the first ever meeting of any kind between these clubs, after Sporting Fingal were founded in 2007. Dundalk had arranged a friendly with Fingal, which was set for 28 March last at Oriel Park, before that was cancelled as the Dublin club was promoted from the A-Championship to the First Division without having kicked a ball, thanks to the fall of Kilkenny City.