Player Ratings: Dundalk 0 - 1 AZ Alkmaar

Gary Rogers: 8

Rogers had a sticky start coming nowhere near a few early deliveries but as the game went on he was superb. The 35-year-old was inspired in the second-half, pulling off two tremendous saves in particular from Weghorst and Rienstra. Certainly, a worthy man of the match.

Seán Gannon: 6

Gannon, on the rare occasions that he did advance, attacked well down the right flank and wasn’t blatantly at fault for any of AZ’s chances. However, quite a lot seems to source from his flank and on such occasions his positioning can be questioned.

Brian Gartland: 7

A rock solid performance from Dundalk’s Mr. Reliable. Gartland was at his typical bullish best last night offering little to AZ in the way of chances when the ball was in his vicinity. Carried the ball onwards when options were lacking and never stopped trying to get the ball forward.

Andy Boyle: 7

Generally, when you say that you didn’t notice someone that means that they did a pretty solid job. This was precise in Boyle’s case. The defender did everything that was required off him and apart from getting a huge slice of luck for the goal, Weghorst never got a sniff with Gartland and Boyle in attention.

Dane Massey: 5

It’s harsh to blame him alone for the goal but considering the time he had to clear the ball out of his box, Massey should have done better. The left-back admirably fought on though and did the best he could up against the tricky Jahanbakhsh. Seemed to be more subdued than normal in attack.

Ronan Finn: 7

Daryl Horgan has stolen the show for the Lilywhites this season, but Finn showed last night why many consider him to have been Dundalk’s best player this season. He looked like the only one that AZ were struggling to contain with his incisive runs from midfield and refined technical play. Another fine performance in Europe for the shrewd number 10.

Stephen O’Donnell: 6

Undoubtedly a huge loss having retired through injury minutes before the interval. It was clear however that he was struggling long before that but despite all this he still gave a leader’s performance, especially when Dundalk were under the cosh. His calm head was missing during the second period.

Robbie Benson: 6

Looked like the only one prepared to gamble on Kilduff’s forward flick-ons, but in truth Benson’s impact was limited. He filled the sitting void left by O’Donnell and tried very hard to make the telling breaks into the box, but the ball just wouldn’t fall for him.

Patrick McEleney: 5

A rare off night for the Derry man. McEleney didn’t look to be fully fit as he laboriously shadowed his opponents until eventually being hauled off shortly before the end. If the Lilywhites were going to get back into the game, he was the only one with the magic to breach AZ’s tough rear-guard and unfortunately he wasn’t able to produce it.

Ciaran Kilduff: 7

A surprise inclusion with Stephen Kenny seemingly choosing him following good training form. Still, Kilduff did well and put in a good shift, especially having been left isolated a lot of the time. Combined well with Horgan for a flurry of late first-half chances, none of which he was able to take.

Daryl Horgan: 6

Unable to have the impact that he usually has. Horgan had to spend a lot of time defending with his number of possessions, on first glance, down from the previous European games. The left-flank seemed to be top-heavily guarded by AZ assumedly owing to the winger’s recent domination of games. His night summed up Dundalk’s, frustrating.

Subs:

John Mountney: 5

Introduced before half-time for O’Donnell having been potentially unlucky not to have started. Provided good cover for Gannon but lacked the ability to trouble AZ defensively with the limited supply that he was given.

David McMillan: 6

An impact role for McMillan last night as the striker came off the bench to no avail.  He struggled to get ball to feet but it’s no coincidence that upon his arrival that Dundalk began to stretch the visitors more thanks to his darting runs in behind. Could have been awarded a penalty following an agricultural shove into his back by Vlaar.

Dean Shiels: 6

Shiels always adds something different to the side when introduced and last night could possibly have seen him come on earlier with Dundalk struggling to make things happen.  He added a dimension of life but was often crowded out.