Dundalk Youths manager Ciarán Bond has admitted that “the pressure is on” his side for perhaps the first time since he took charge at the beginning of last season, when the young Lilywhites aim to end a two-match losing streak when they travel to face Saint Paul’s Artane in Dublin on Sunday morning (kick-off 11am). After a lightening start to the campaign, which saw Dundalk win six and draw once in their opening seven games, they missed the chance to open up a commanding lead at the top of the DDSL U18 Super League with back-to-back defeats by Saint Kevin’s Boys and Drogheda United over the last month – the absence of star striker Mark Griffin limiting Bond’s attacking options.

Late losses
Despite that, last year’s runners-up remain ahead of St. Kevin’s at the top by virtue of a better goal difference, although third-placed Crumlin United could jump to the head of affairs if they win their game in hand, while Saint Joseph’s Boys are also in touch. And Bond knows that there is no more room for error. “They were our two games in hand and we had a chance of going six points clear of everybody else, and we’ve squandered that chance,” Bond told dundalkfc.com. “What’s annoying about both games is that we conceded last-minute goals in both of them. Against St. Kevin’s, we were winning the game 1-0 and they equalised. Then we had two great chances to win the game, but we ended up conceding a goal, basically at the death, in the 95th minute. Against Drogheda, we were 2-1 down and chasing the game, we got the equaliser that we deserved, and from the restart they scored, so we’ve dropped six points.

‘Big blow’
“Our points tally is probably as good as it was last year, but St. Kevin’s closed the gap to three points, and then being beaten by Drogheda, who wouldn’t be the strongest in the league – they’re mid-table, it’s a big blow, because we have some hard games still to come. Whatever we’ve done to date is gone now, we’re basically starting from scratch again. We have ten games left, four at home and six away. We have to really do what we did last year and not lose a game away from home really.” Due to the Christmas break, there was a full month between the defeats, but Bond doesn’t feel that a lack of match action was a reason for either reversal. “Definitely against St. Kevin’s, we done enough to win the game,” he said. “Likewise against Drogheda, we had a lot of possession, without creating a lot of chances. Three injuries in the second half didn’t help us. Mark Griffin is still out injured and that is a big loss to us up front. It means you’re changing the team, as you have Johnny Breen, who has been playing very well at centre-half, going back up front, and we just lack that wee bit of firepower when we’re missing Griffin.”

Griffin sidelined
Griffin, who was interestingly born in Melbourne, has been out of action for the past six weeks because of a foot injury, and the 18-year-old’s spell on the sidelines looks likes continuing as he faces an MRI scan to determine the extent of the problem. “Mark has been with the physio and he is going for an MRI scan to get the foot checked,” Bond said. It’s a blow for the young man, but hopefully we’ll get him back soon and that it will clear itself up in time.” This Sunday, Dundalk face St. Paul’s Artane for the first time this season and Bond knows his side won’t have an easy task against the ninth-placed Dubliners. “They’re strong enough, they beat St. Kevin’s in the FAI Cup,” he said. “And every game away in Dublin is difficult, no matter who you play.

Pressure on
“Look, the ball is still in our court – if we win our last eight or nine games, we should win the league – we’ll be there or thereabouts,” he added. “But we’ve just made it difficult for ourselves. We could have given ourselves a nice wee six-point cushion with those two home games. The pressure is on us now. It’s the first time since I’ve been involved in this team that we’ve gone through a patch where we’ve lost two games on the trot. We only lost one league game in the whole of last season. We did draw a couple on the trot last year, and we bounced back, so we’re looking at Sunday to be the stepping stone to go on, get a win and try to get a run going again, where we can pick up five or six wins in a row and put the pressure on everybody else again. A double defeat presents a test of character to the lads and this is part and parcel of their development so hopefully we wont be found wanting.”

Murphy mention
One of the Youth team’s most promising stars, Nathan Murphy – whose impressive performances saw him break into Dundalk’s first-team last season – got another boost on Thursday when he made his debut for the FAI Schools U18 team when starting at left-back against Australia in an International Friendly in Dublin. Murphy played around an hour of a 3-1 win for Ireland, and Bond reported that the 17-year-old put in a solid performance. “He played a full 60 minutes, I was talking to Mick Neville and he said that Nathan had a good game,” the former Muirhevnamor boss said. “He hadn’t got a lot to do, but anything he had to do, he done well.” While Griffin remains out through injury, Dundalk will be boosted by the inclusion of Murphy in Sunday’s squad. Dundalkfc.com will carry a full report of the game on Monday.