Dundalk’s final home match of the 2022 SSE Airtricity League season takes place on Friday night when Bohemians come to Casey’s Field with three precious points up for grabs.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with Lilywhites head coach Stephen O’Donnell to get his views on a number of issues.
On Bohemians…
“They obviously have a new manager in the shape of Declan Devine. He had his first game against Finn Harps last week so he’ll have gotten to know the players a bit more. From our point of view, there are two things we need to look at; first, a team can have a bounce factor when a new person comes in and second, it can be hard to get a feel of what sort of team they will play so it will be a little tricky in that regard. Bohs have some talented individuals and we will need to be ready for them. They have good offensive players and they can cause a real threat. People will look at their position and say that they have nothing to play for and that they can’t qualify for Europe but it will make no odds on the night. They will come here, want to finish the season off well and want to impress their new manager.”
On our final home game of the season…
“We want to finish on a high. One of my aims this year was to turn Oriel Park back into a notoriously tough venue. In pre-season, I spoke to the players and told them that I wanted opposition teams to make the trip up the M1 – or wherever they were coming from – thinking that they didn’t fancy it and that a draw here was a positive result. I think that was lost a bit over the past couple of years and that people fancied themselves coming to Oriel Park. We have definitely changed that. The majority of people from town come to our home games and with one defeat this season, I think we have sent them home happy most weeks and we want more of the same on Friday evening.”
On his highlights of the season at Casey’s Field…
“We went on a really good run of form during the middle of the season and, for me, the highlight of our home campaign was the win over Shamrock Rovers when we came back off the mid-season break. The performance was really good that night and we looked like a team that was ready to kick on. The win over Bohs in May was another good performance and we were also convincing here against Sligo and played very well against Derry. The players have enjoyed playing in front of the crowd and I think the crowd has enjoyed seeing a committed team. Hopefully, this is just the start of us becoming a more balanced team and going from strength to strength.”
On coming to the end of his first year back at the club…
“I knew it was a big challenge but I’ve really enjoyed it. I love the club, I love the people involved in the club and I love the synergy that can happen between the fans, the players and the club. I’m a little bit frustrated and disappointed at the way the cards have been dealt and the breaks we got in terms of personnel after that Rovers game in the summer. We hit a little bit of a bumpy spell and we went out of the FAI Cup and had a couple of disappointing results but we have bounced back well and we’re on a positive trajectory as we enter the last few games. I think the form we showed midway through the season when we had all our players available, gives me massive hope and encouragement for what’s coming down the tracks. We looked like a good side, and we weren’t far away from troubling the judge.”
On plans for next season…
“At this time of the year, it’s natural that your mind might start taking you towards next season but there is still so much to play for over the next two weeks. This is what we want to be involved in; two games to go and loads still left to play for. We don’t want to be one of those teams who are playing the season out or just looking to get it finished. We want to be involved at the back end of the season – and we are – so plans for next season haven’t taken precedence yet. We’re in the moment and we’re entirely focused on finishing the season on a high note.”
