Cawley delighted with Dundalk season
Credit:
Dundalk midfielder Alan Cawley emerged from the away dressing room at
the RSC a very happy man following his side’s 2-1 EA Sports Cup win
against Waterford United.
Goals from Stephen Maher and Faz Kudozovic cancelled out Willie John Kiely’s opening strike to send The Lilywhites into the last four. Riding high at the top of the table, the midfielder is enjoying his time at Oriel Park and believes the team spirit is important to the club’s success. Cawley has described his time at Dundalk as “fantastic” and “brilliant” so far.
“We have a great bunch of lads and the manager has done a great job since he’s come in," Cawley told Extratime. "You can see the spirit amongst everyone and there’s a great camaraderie with everyone. I think the results show that, like in some games we’ve gone behind in, we’ve showed great spirit to come back. Tonight as well, we went behind and came back to win. So far so good, it’s been great for me.
“We knew coming down here that it was going to be difficult. Waterford had a great start to the season, they’ve had a little slip the last two or three games, but we knew it would be difficult going away from home. It’s a cup game so it’s more on the night but we got the win, we’re happy to get it and we’ll run from here.”
With his side now through to the semi-finals of the EA Sports Cup and sitting on top of the Premier Division, Cawley believes that cup competitions are Dundalk’s best hope of silverware this year.
“The manager has three competitions in mind, the start of every season they are the three up for grabs. Although things are going well in the league, to be honest I think cup competitions are a little more realistic, purely based on the fact that they are one-off games.
“We’re a game away from the final, whereas in the league with the squad we have it’s going to be a big push. We’re still there or thereabouts and hopefully we can keep that going as long as possible. We definitely have a great chance to do well in this competition, hopefully a nice draw in the semi-finals and who knows.”
With the mid-season break to come shortly, Cawley believes the break will do his side well but knows that they have two huge games beforehand.
“We have a target going into the break. UCD was disappointing but the manager wanted us to bounce back and every time we’ve had a defeat this season we’ve bounced back really well in the next game and won.
“The FAI Cup on Friday is a huge game against St. Pats which is going to be difficult and then [Sporting] Fingal on Tuesday. If we were to go into the break on top of the league, we’d be more than happy. We can refresh everyone, we’ve a small squad and it’s a good time to get a break. It refreshes everybody and gives the players a chance to have a nice rest.”
Cawley was returning to the RSC where he played for a season before his return to Dublin and admits it was good to be back down again.
“It was nice. Any time I’ve come down since I left they have always been very welcoming, all the staff. I was just saying to John O’Sullivan [Waterford United Chairman] that it’s great to see them doing well, the stand on the far side looks really well and the pitch is in great knick so hopefully everything is in place now for them to get back into the Premier Division.”
Goals from Stephen Maher and Faz Kudozovic cancelled out Willie John Kiely’s opening strike to send The Lilywhites into the last four. Riding high at the top of the table, the midfielder is enjoying his time at Oriel Park and believes the team spirit is important to the club’s success. Cawley has described his time at Dundalk as “fantastic” and “brilliant” so far.
“We have a great bunch of lads and the manager has done a great job since he’s come in," Cawley told Extratime. "You can see the spirit amongst everyone and there’s a great camaraderie with everyone. I think the results show that, like in some games we’ve gone behind in, we’ve showed great spirit to come back. Tonight as well, we went behind and came back to win. So far so good, it’s been great for me.
“We knew coming down here that it was going to be difficult. Waterford had a great start to the season, they’ve had a little slip the last two or three games, but we knew it would be difficult going away from home. It’s a cup game so it’s more on the night but we got the win, we’re happy to get it and we’ll run from here.”
With his side now through to the semi-finals of the EA Sports Cup and sitting on top of the Premier Division, Cawley believes that cup competitions are Dundalk’s best hope of silverware this year.
“The manager has three competitions in mind, the start of every season they are the three up for grabs. Although things are going well in the league, to be honest I think cup competitions are a little more realistic, purely based on the fact that they are one-off games.
“We’re a game away from the final, whereas in the league with the squad we have it’s going to be a big push. We’re still there or thereabouts and hopefully we can keep that going as long as possible. We definitely have a great chance to do well in this competition, hopefully a nice draw in the semi-finals and who knows.”
With the mid-season break to come shortly, Cawley believes the break will do his side well but knows that they have two huge games beforehand.
“We have a target going into the break. UCD was disappointing but the manager wanted us to bounce back and every time we’ve had a defeat this season we’ve bounced back really well in the next game and won.
“The FAI Cup on Friday is a huge game against St. Pats which is going to be difficult and then [Sporting] Fingal on Tuesday. If we were to go into the break on top of the league, we’d be more than happy. We can refresh everyone, we’ve a small squad and it’s a good time to get a break. It refreshes everybody and gives the players a chance to have a nice rest.”
Cawley was returning to the RSC where he played for a season before his return to Dublin and admits it was good to be back down again.
“It was nice. Any time I’ve come down since I left they have always been very welcoming, all the staff. I was just saying to John O’Sullivan [Waterford United Chairman] that it’s great to see them doing well, the stand on the far side looks really well and the pitch is in great knick so hopefully everything is in place now for them to get back into the Premier Division.”
About Brendan White
Brendan White is Extratime News Editor and is responsible for the news section of Extratime.ie. Brendan also covers matches in Dublin and Waterford. You can contact Brendan on twitter @whitebrendan. View Full Profile