Patrick McEleney is hoping that Friday night’s win over Shamrock Rovers will finally breathe some life into Dundalk’s season.
After three games without a win, the Lilywhites produced a gritty display to end Rovers’ 33-game unbeaten league run with McEleney and Daniel Kelly scoring either side of Joey O’Brien’s equaliser.
Speaking to dundalkfc.com after the match, McEleney said it was a ‘big win’ that would go some way to lifting the confidence of everyone around the club.
“Yeah, it’s a big win for us,” said the Derryman. “It was needed, for the group and for the fans. It hasn’t been an easy time, there’s no getting away from it. Hopefully, this picks everyone’s spirits up and we can try to kick on and put a run together.
“We had a bit of luck tonight but I think we deserved it because things haven’t been going our way. We are an honest bunch. I am here every day, and I see everyone every day. We are trying and we got our reward off that tonight.”
McEleney put Dundalk in front with 11 minutes on the clock when he raced on to Daniel ‘Dicky’ Kelly’s pass to beat Alan Mannus with a cool finish and Kelly, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Friday, secured the win with a stunning effort in the second half.
“For my goal, Dicky was facing the other way so I screamed as loud as I could!” smiled McEleney. “It was brilliant from him to be fair and it felt like I was one on one in about five years!
“We went on to win it in the end with Dicky’s finish and I am delighted for him. He has had a difficult six months with injuries but, again, I see him every day and know how hard he has been working to get back to this.”
Next up for Dundalk is a trip to Dalymount Park to face Bohemians on Monday night and McEleney said that it was imperative to build on the win over the league champions.
“I am just buzzing we won, just to get that feeling back again,” said the 28-year-old. “I hope we can all come together now and we have to get on a run.
“We have to do that to get ourselves back fighting for things. Shamrock Rovers are an outstanding team but we have brilliant players too.
“Confidence is a massive thing in football and it’s easy to kick people when they are down but I think everyone should get behind us. Things haven’t broken for us for whatever reason but this is an opportunity for us to kick on.”
