Friendly Report: Dundalk 4 - 2 Cabinteely

Dundalk began their preparations for the new season in style with a 4-2 win over Cabinteely in what was a somewhat entertaining encounter at Oriel Park on Tuesday night.

A sublime first half strike from Ronan Murray and a header from Stephen Folan – both recent acquisitions from Galway United – was cancelled out by a free-kick and penalty from Conor Earley, before further goals from both Michael Duffy and Dylan Connolly ensured that Dundalk emerged victorious in the second period.

Much has changed since the Lilywhites last took to the field at Oriel Park back in October, with the long-anticipated takeover of an American-based consortium led by PEAK6 Investments completed last week, meaning events out on the pitch against Cabinteely were not quite the main topic of discussion among those who braved the cold conditions to witness Dundalk’s first pre-season outing.

However, those in attendance did catch a first glimpse of Lithuania international midfielder Karolis Chvedukas – who impressed after coming on as a half-time substitute – while Folan, Murray and trialist Jeff McGowan were among those also making their unofficial debuts for the club.

Dundalk took the lead after just five minutes of play when Murray unleashed a shot from right outside the box which flew in past Cabinteely goalkeeper Jack Menton via the post before defender Karl Byrne excellently denied the hosts a second when he cleared Duffy’s effort off the line.

Cabinteely equalised against the run of play on 27 minutes when Earley curled a free-kick into the bottom left-hand corner past a helpless Gary Rogers but were level for barely a minute after Folan headed home from a Duffy corner, despite Menton getting a hand to the defender’s effort.

The visitors drew level once again shortly before the break when a calamitous mix up between Rogers and Brian Gartland saw both collide with Dean Casey, who went down in the area as a result to which referee Paul McLaughlin rightfully pointed to the spot.

Rogers was injured in the collision and had to be replaced by Gabriel Sava, though manager Stephen Kenny later insisted that the experienced netminder was only substituted as a precautionary measure and that the injury was not at all serious – Earley confidently dispatched the resulting penalty kick past Sava, who guessed correctly, as the sides went in at half-time level pegging.

The hosts restored their advantage on 56 minutes when a superb curling effort from Duffy left Menton and the rest of Oriel Park spellbound before a delightful through ball from Georgie Poynton found its way to Connolly, who lobbed the ball past the outrushing Menton to seal the victory.

Dundalk will continue their pre-season preparations with the visit of Drogheda United in the Jim Malone Cup this coming Saturday before jetting off to Spain next week, where they are to come up against Asian opposition in the form of Shanghai Shenxin and FC Seoul.

Dundalk: Gary Rogers (Gabriel Sava 40); Sean Hoare, Brian Gartland, Stephen Folan, Sean Gannon (Gavin Smith 87); Dylan Connolly, Georgie Poynton, Robbie Benson (Karolis Chvedukas 46), Michael Duffy (Jack O’Keefe 87); Ronan Murray, Jeff McGowan.

Subs not used: Adam Finnegan, Cian Flynn.

Booked: None.

Cabinteely: Jack Menton (Sean Hyland 90); Karl Byrne (Sean Bugazzi 66), Conor Kelly (Sean Fitzpatrick 80), Jack Tuite, Kevin Knight; Keith Dalton (Cian Fay 66), Conor Earley (Jamie Broderick 70), Aaron Robinson (Eoin Morgan 66), Jack Watson (Clayton Maher 70), Dean Casey (Paul Fox 46); Joe Doyle (Bradley Perry 74).

Subs not used: Adam Maher, Stephen Ball.

Booked: None.

Referee: Paul McLaughlin

Attendance: 500 (estimate)

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Ronan Murray (Dundalk)