John Caulfield was reminding people yesterday that he had been telling them for months Cork City could make a genuine race of this title run in. He could be forgiven if there were times when, deep down, he doubted it himself but his team has been as good as his word and so the southerners head this evening to Oriel Park where a win would put them two points clear at the top of the table.
That they are really are within striking distance of the champions is down to a remarkable run of form in recent weeks with City scoring 23 goals as they took 19 points from 21.
And just to add spice to it all, Seán Maguire, released by Dundalk at the end of last season, has overtaken David McMillan as the league’s top scorer.
Throw in the fact that they have beaten Stephen Kenny’s side both home and away already this season and have not conceded a league goal on the road since April. It is not hard to see why there is a fearlessness about them.
The stakes are high, though, and a home win might well still prove a fatal blow to Cork City’s hopes of finishing above their rivals in three weeks’ time.
Progressed
“Over the last three years, we have progressed,” says Caulfield, who has felt the pressure more than once during that time. “I think our supporters can see that this is by far the best team we have had.
“We have already beaten Dundalk this year, we hadn’t done that in the previous two years, so we are going there to win the match. That is what we go out to do every week, all of our preparation is geared towards doing that.”
For all the wind in their sails, it will not be easy. The champions have struggled to maintain their own outstanding early season form but in the 12 league games they have played since losing in Cork they have averaged just short of 2.1 points per game, only fractionally less than Shamrock Rovers managed through the triumphant 2011 campaign when the Dublin club was also involved in the Europa League group stages.
Improvement
On Saturday Dundalk were well beaten by Sligo, with Andy Boyle conceding that they simply “did not to enough over the 90 minutes,” and there will have to be a considerable improvement tonight.
Dundalk, though, have consistently raised their game when the situation has required them to and within the dressing-room at least this will be surely seen as an occasion to rival the big European outings in terms of importance.
Kenny will be without Pat McEleney (hip) and Robbie Benson (groin), while Caulfield has all of the players who have carried the club back into contention over recent weeks, except Gearoid Morrissey, who has not recovered from the hamstring injury sustained in the cup semi-final defeat of St Patrick’s Athletic.
That win, and Dundalk’s in their replay over Derry a couple of days later, means these two must meet again in the final but this evening will surely feel as though there will be no second chances.
