Dundalk's Double Fixture Trouble

Dundalk’s success in Europe in 2016 has been a remarkable story and there are some exciting chapters on this season to be written yet with a domestic double-double on the line. However maybe the greatest tale of them all would be qualification out of their Europa League group.

Extratime.ie looks at just what faces Dundalk in terms of fixtures for the rest of this year and what they need to do in Europe if they want 2017 to begin with a Round of 32 Europa League tie in mid-February.

Stephen Kenny’s men have gone where no League of Ireland club has gone before with their results in Europe so far and their story isn’t over yet. Their European run to date will bring in excess of €6m into the club, with the four points earned in the group stage alone bringing them just €20,000 short of half a million euro.

Fixture Fiasco

There has been plenty of talk of fixture headaches and for the players there will be plenty of aches elsewhere in their bodies as they look from Saturday to squeeze in 10 games in 30 days. At the end of that period they must play in Russia on Thursday 3 November before travelling back to Dublin to take on Cork City in the FAI Cup Final the following Sunday. They then get a couple of weeks break following that match in the Aviva before their final two Europa League games.

Dundalk's confirmed remaining fixtures in all competitions

Saturday        08-Oct     LOI Sligo Rovers              H

Tuesday          11-Oct    LOI Cork City                   H

Friday             14-Oct    LOI Shamrock Rovers      A

Monday          17-Oct    LOI Longford Town           A

Thursday       20-Oct    EL   Zenit St. Petersburg   H

Sunday           23-Oct   LOI Bohemians                 H

Tuesday          25-Oct  LOI St. Pats                       A

Friday             28-Oct   LOI Galway United            H

Thursday       03-Nov  EL   Zenit St. Petersburg    A

Sunday           06-Nov FAI Cork City                    Aviva

Thursday       24-Nov  EL   AZ Alkmaar                 H

Thursday       08-Dec  EL   Maccabi Tel Aviv         A

In 2016 Dundalk’s season started with the President’s Cup on  February 27^th  and will run right through to their trip to Tel Aviv on 8 December; 55 matches in total. While that is five games less than Shamrock Rovers played in 2011 when the Hoops won the Premier Division title, Setanta Cup and qualified for the Europa League, unlike Dundalk, Rovers were beaten in all six of their Europa League games.

Five years on from that, in the Europa League Dundalk have deservedly got a win and a draw from their first two group games.  They are also in the driving seat to make it three league titles in a row, as they are four points clear of Cork City with seven games remaining, with a cup final also to come against the Leesiders.

The Lilywhites have put in superb performances against teams ranked significantly above them in Europe all season. So could the Lilywhites go on to push their long season into 2017 by qualifying out of their Europa League group?

The manager’s view

The view from Dundalk is certainly that they have qualification in their minds. That was the case when extratime.ie reporters spoke with various members of their camp after their win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght last week.

“When you play BATE Borisov, AZ Alkmaar and Legia Warsaw you wonder where do they (Dundalk players) rank?” Stephen Kenny mused after the Maccabi game, a match he wasn’t shocked that his side had won. “If you ask me, do they surprise me, then the answer would have to be no.

“If we can beat BATE convincingly 3-0, and then go and dominate for long periods against Legia and then go and play like we did against AZ, then why should we be surprised at winning the game (against Maccabi)?

“There is not an incredibly euphoric feeling in the dressing room at the minute. Fellas are just taking it in their stride.”

From AZ to Zenit

Having begun with the draw against AZ and the win over Maccabi, next up in Europe will be two games against Zenit St. Petersburg (home on October 20^th and away on November 3^rd ). Daryl Horgan and his teammates are looking to pick up more points but it will be a challenge against the team who are the second highest ranked in the competition.

“In the group we are slightly in the driving seat with the three sides behind Zenit,” said Horgan. “It will be fantastic to have the next two games against them. We are confident going into every game. The plan is to get out of the group.”

Zenit have two wins out of two to date. Even if Dundalk cannot gain any points against the Russian side, Zenit could do the Lilywhites a favour if they can gain maximum points in their remaining games against AZ Alkmaar and Maccabi. That would likely leave the three other sides fighting it out for the second runners up spot.

Points target for qualification

If Dundalk could fashion another win, seven points would give them a slim shot at qualification. Last season Midtylland qualified with that total out of Group D when Napoli topped the table with six wins out of six. Similarly in 2014 one team also qualified with seven points.

In last year’s competition, from the 12 Europa League groups, six teams finished on nine points with four of them qualifying out of their groups. In the previous season, eight points would have guaranteed progression to the last 32 of the competition and that total is certainly attainable by this resilient Dundalk side.

In 2017 the knock out stages begin in February with the first leg set for the 16th and the second leg a week later. If Dundalk can make that round of 32 then they would net themselves a further €480,000 on top of any cash they can claim for draws (€120,000) or wins (€360,000) in this current group stage.

Not here to make up the numbers

The Lilywhites will be targeting a win over AZ when they travel to Tallaght to take on Dundalk on 24 November and Stephen Kenny’s men will go to Israel with confidence in their last game looking to get a result against Maccabi. Ciarán Kilduff has been their goalscoring hero in the group stages so far getting the winner against Maccabi to go with his late headed equaliser in Alkmaar.

 “To have four points from six is an amazing feat,” said Kilduff who turned 28 on the day of the Maccabi game. “It’s something that we’re proud of but we’re not here to make up the numbers. Our aim is to get out of this group and we still have a lot of work to do.

“It’s going to be huge. We have seen two of the teams so far and we probably have the toughest test to come in Zenit who are probably a Champions League team so we’ll prepare for that.”

The final two games of the group stages take place in the last week of November and first week of December and Kilduff thinks that his side can use that to their advantage. “By that stage all of the league games will be over and then we can focus our concentration solely on those two games, give it 100% and whole-heartedly prepare for them.”

Qualification goal

For goalkeeper Gary Rogers, he notes that it is Dundalk’s “goal” to be the first Irish side to get out of the group stages. “That has to be our target. I think if we don’t aim for that we won’t achieve it. We are in a good position but there are lots of tough games to come. We can see the quality of opposition. We have to go and play Maccabi in the last game but it would be great to go into that with a shout of getting out of the group.”

Additional reporting: Caoimhin O’Reilly and Tom O’Connor.