DUNDALK 1
MACCABI TEL-AVIV 0
Darren Cleary at the Tallaght Stadium
Ciaran Kilduff was the hero as Dundalk made history on Thursday by becoming the only Irish side ever to win a group game in the Europa League.
The striker celebrated his 28th birthday on the day, he came off the bench to steer Daryl Horgan’s cross into the net on 72 minutes. The SSE Airticity League champions were worthy winners against a side that boasted an impressive array of internationals.
They controlled the ball for extended periods, created a number of fine chances, and looked to be completely comfortable playing at a level only one Irish side has ever reached.
They came close in the opening minute, a clearance from Andy Boyle was flicked on by David McMillan into the path of Patrick McEleney who raced towards goal, despite leaving the defenders in his wake he could only produce a tame effort straight at Predreg Rajkovic.
Some sloppy passing allowed the visitors fashion a chance on the 6th minute, from just outside the box Dor Peretz turned onto his right foot but his shot sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Dundalk began to take the game to the visitors and twice forced saves from the keeper, first some good work from Ronan Finn who played Sean Gannon in on the right flank, his cutback though took a deflection before being parried away.
Finn then came close after breaking into the box, beating his man and firing a low effort across goal that was stopped by the feet of the keeper.
Dundalk will feel they should’ve had a penalty on 19 minutes, Robbie Benson chased down a loose ball in the box but before he got there he appeared to be caught be a wild swing from Omri Ben Harush, he went down and protested but the referee Andris Treimanis wasn’t interested.
Finn and Horgan both had efforts on target before the end of the first half, but despite doing well to create the chances the shots were easily stopped by Rajkovic.
The visitors had a solid start to the second half and despite enjoying a spell of possession couldn’t apply any pressure to the Dundalk goal.
The Lilywhites had a glorious chance on 52 minutes, Dane Massey’s cross was cleared away only as far as Chris Shields, his first time effort though sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
Not able to create anything meaningful in front of goal the Maccabi were reduced to pot shots, Harsh tried one from distance but it went harmlessly wide.
Ciaran Kilduff was introduced on 64 minutes, he almost made an immediate impact, the striker climbed highest to get on the end of a Finn cross, his header though was over the crossbar.
Kilduff then netted the winner 8 minutes later to send the capacity crowd into delirious celebrations.
Dundalk started to tire and it was at that point the Isreali’s came into it, after squandering a few chances to clear their lines from mounting pressure, the relief came when Vidar Orm Kjartansson’s shot over.
The Lilywhites only appeared under pressure in the closing stages, but they survived despite having very little possession in the final 5 minutes to win 1-0.
Daryl Horgan’s form has not gone unnoticed, Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill among the 5,000 people in attendance to watch another dazzling display from the wingers.
It wasn’t just Horgan, from Rogers to McMillan, the entire team and subs put in an incredible shift. Picking a man of the match when all who played deserve the accolade is an unenviable task reserved for TV stations.
There were eleven contenders for the award, and all represented their club and their country with pride on a night that Dundalk cemented their place as the greatest club team to come from the Island of Ireland.
Next up is back to back games against Zenit St Petersburg, the Russians have set the pace in Group D with two wins from two.
Dundalk though with four points from their first two games are in second, and at this point daring to dream of getting out of the group.
