Dundalk fans cough up cash for team's trip to Waterford, but Lilywhites are short-changed at the RSC
Dundalk's relegation woes deepen, as cash-strapped club lose in Waterford.
Dundalk's fans coughed up the cash to cover the club’s matchday expenses on Friday night - but the struggling Lilywhites couldn’t buy a win on the pitch, as their relegation woes were compounded by an early Waterford blitz at the RSC.
Goals from Sam Bellis and Padraig Amond inside the opening 16 minutes rocked the team rooted to the foot of the Premier Division.
Dundalk should have had a penalty on the half-hour, but referee Rob Hennessy somehow failed to spot a clear handball by Grant Horton inside the home penalty area.
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The official doubled down on his error by booking Eoin Kenny, whose shot was blocked by Horton’s left arm, and a member of the visitors’ coaching staff for protesting the decision.
Bellis’s goal came from poor defending and goalkeeping, while Amond netted from a free header inside the six-yard box.
But Dundalk’s players could be forgiven for being distracted, given the club’s perilous financial situation.
They received overdue wages in the days before Friday night’s clash, but the club is so cash-strapped that fans had to stump up for the coach to take them to Waterford.
And the 1903 Dundalk Supporters Club, who this week set up a GoFundMe page, also paid for the players’ food.
It’s a sorry state of affairs for a side that twice in the last eight years reached the lucrative Europa League group stage.
The seriousness of their current situation was underlined earlier in the week when owner Brian Ainscough wrote that his immediate concern was that the club would “carry on for the remainder of the season.”
Whether they get to the start of the 2025 campaign is another question.
But there is growing certainty over where they might play next season - with relegation from the Premier Division a real danger.
The defeat meant they missed out on the chance to leapfrog Louth rivals Drogheda United, who were in FAI Cup action.
Instead, they are a point behind the Boynesiders with a game extra played.
And with nine points separating them and eighth placed Bohemians, who have two games in hand, it seems the best Jon Daly’s side can hope for now is a promotion-relegation play-off.
They did pull a goal back through substitute Jamie Gullan, who was just five minutes on the pitch when he finished fellow sub Jad Hakiki’s low cross at the near post.
However, they looked vulnerable in defence throughout - starting from the fifth minute when they conceded the opener to Euro chasers Waterford.
Horton’s long punt forward hung in the air for an age, yet Hayden Cann still managed to misjudge his leap as he challenged Amond, and the ball dropped into the path of Bellis.
He raced into the area and shot low inside the near post. Goalkeeper Ross Munro’s angles were all wrong, as he left far too much space for Bellis to aim at.
Amond’s second came from a Barry Baggley cross from the left. Again, the defending was poor, as the veteran striker was barely challenged.
Despite the poor start, Dundalk should have taken a point. There was the first-half penalty appeal and a host of near misses, before and after Gullan’s strike.
Daryl Horgan slid in and poked a low Eoin Kenny centre just wide of the far post in the first-half, while late in the game Dara Keane and John Mountney both failed to convert from corners.
Keane’s header was pushed behind by goalkeeper Louis Jones, while Mountney’s free header sailed wide of the far post.
Waterford had a few more chances of their own, with Baggley striking the bar directly from a corner, and Dean McMenemy forcing a smart save from Munro, and had a strong second-half penalty shout waved away.
It’s a vital win for the Blues, who remain in third, in the race for Europe, given Shamrock Rovers’ success over Sligo Rovers.
But for Dundalk memories of European challenges must seem like a lifetime ago.
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