Season Preview 2014 - Dundalk
Manager: Stephen Kenny
Stadium: Oriel Park
Players In: Gabriel Sava (Drogheda), Sean Gannon (St. Pats), Daryl Horgan (Cork), Ruaidhri Higgins (Derry), David McMillan (Sligo), Marc Griffin (Derry)
Players Out: Stephen McDonnell (Shelbourne), John Dillon (Southport), Aaron Shanahan (Ballymena Utd), John Sullivan (Shelbourne), Tiarnan Mulvenna (Glenavon), Vinny Faherty (Galway), Conor Winn (Finn Harps), Jordan Keegan (Shelbourne), Francis McCafferty (Released), Nathan Murphy (Released)
Extratime.ie Key Man: Richie Towell
Richie Towell exploded on to the League of Ireland scene last season following his arrival at Dundalk FC from the wilderness of non-league football. The ex-Celtic and Hibernian midfielder grew in stature as the season progressed, adding a goalscoring dimension to his game during the last third of the season and picked up the PFAI Young Player of the Year award for 2013 as well as featuring on the PFAI League of Ireland Team of the Year.
Extratime.ie One to Watch: Daryl Horgan
Dundalk fans have high expectations of Daryl Horgan following the exciting winger’s arrival from Cork City during the off-season. Horgan was selected in the 2013 PFAI League of Ireland Team of the Year and he’ll be looking to justify the €10k that Dundalk forked out for him in compensation to Cork City.
How they did last season:
League: 2nd
FAI Cup: Semi-Final
EA Sports Cup: Second Round
Setanta Sports Cup: N/A
Top League Goalscorer: Pat Hoban (14)
What to expect for 2014:
Dundalk have had a distinctly average pre-season and lost 3-2 to Coleraine in the first leg of their Setanta Cup tie on Monday (24th Feb). Nonetheless, Stephen Kenny will be hoping the Lillywhites can go one better than their second place finish last season. They have added real quality to the backbone of last season’s squad and on paper look like real contenders.
Title Odds: 11/2
First Game: vs Drogheda United (United Park - Fri 7th March 2014)
League of Ireland fever hits the Oscars... #FourDaysToGo#Extratimepic.twitter.com/PbI5wgc1cY
— Extratime.ie News (@ExtratimeNews) March 3, 2014