League positions mean nothing - Foster
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Dundalk FC manager Ian Foster says that league positions mean nothing and that “local derbies are always competitive and always tight”, as he looked ahead to the visit of ninth-place Drogheda United to Oriel Park on Friday night. The Liverpool-born boss has taken 13 points from a possible 15 in this fixture since his appointment in December 2009, but he knows that his players will have to play “incredibly well” to continue that fine record this weekend.
Looking forward
“The games have always been tight enough since I’ve been here,” Foster, who has won four on the trot against the Boynesiders, told dundalkfc.com. “They’ve always been really, really competitive. I think I’ve had a decent record in those games. The first game here last year was 2-2. It was a crucial game for us, our first home game, and we managed to come back from 2-0 down. The game this season, we went behind and managed to claw it back and win 2-1. Hopefully, we won’t have to come back from behind this time. We always look forward to the Louth Derby; the fans get behind both teams and it’s always a decent spectacle.”
Two in three
The only meeting this season, at United Park on 22 April, saw Dundalk win 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Colin Hawkins and Daniel Kearns after Daniel Corcoran had given the home side a 25th-minute lead. After that, the Drogs lost seven on the bounce in all competitions, before winning two of the last three, a defeat by Bray Wanderers sandwiched in between wins over Galway United and Mervue United.
“I saw them against Mervue and obviously it was a very accomplished and convincing win by Drogheda,” Ian said. “They’ve adapted a 4-3-3 formation and you can see they get plenty of players forward when they’re attacking and they can be a threat from wide areas. We’ll have to play incredibly well to get a result. Regardless of league positions, local derbies are always competitive and they’re always tight.”
Fighting Drogs
Drogheda are currently second from bottom on just five points, with Galway only propping up the table on goal difference, the pair a massive 20 points behind Foster’s side. The Tribesmen have lost 11 games in a row and have suffered a number of heavy defeats in recent weeks, including last Sunday when Dundalk came from behind to win 4-1 in the FAI Ford Cup. And Foster is expecting a tougher test than last weekend.
“It seems that way (that Drogheda have more fight in them than Galway),” Foster said. “Both sets of teams met each other after a long run of defeats. In fairness to Mick Cooke’s team, they weren’t getting convincingly beaten every week; you could see they were almost there, and obviously they’ve gone to Galway and come from a goal behind and showed plenty of character to win the game.
Maximum points
“They’re desperate for points, as are we,” the 34-year-old added. “I’m sure that both sets of supporters will be getting behind their teams and looking for their players to put on a decent performance. We can’t wait for the game; it’s always one you look for on the fixture list.” Dundalk follow up Friday with three games in the space of eight days as they welcome Saint Patrick’s Athletic on Monday before travelling to Bray Wanderers on Friday and Shamrock Rovers on Tuesday (21 June). And with that difficult schedule coming up, Foster knows it is “vital” to get maximum points against Drogheda.
“It’s vital,” he said. “It’s vital that we win our home games, it’s as simple as that, regardless of whether it was Drogheda or Shamrock Rovers. We’ll look to try to win the game. Obviously, we’re still unbeaten at home and we’d love that to continue. This weekend is going to be very tough, but we’ll be looking for maximum points. It will be very difficult but that’s our aim.”
Looking forward
“The games have always been tight enough since I’ve been here,” Foster, who has won four on the trot against the Boynesiders, told dundalkfc.com. “They’ve always been really, really competitive. I think I’ve had a decent record in those games. The first game here last year was 2-2. It was a crucial game for us, our first home game, and we managed to come back from 2-0 down. The game this season, we went behind and managed to claw it back and win 2-1. Hopefully, we won’t have to come back from behind this time. We always look forward to the Louth Derby; the fans get behind both teams and it’s always a decent spectacle.”
Two in three
The only meeting this season, at United Park on 22 April, saw Dundalk win 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Colin Hawkins and Daniel Kearns after Daniel Corcoran had given the home side a 25th-minute lead. After that, the Drogs lost seven on the bounce in all competitions, before winning two of the last three, a defeat by Bray Wanderers sandwiched in between wins over Galway United and Mervue United.
“I saw them against Mervue and obviously it was a very accomplished and convincing win by Drogheda,” Ian said. “They’ve adapted a 4-3-3 formation and you can see they get plenty of players forward when they’re attacking and they can be a threat from wide areas. We’ll have to play incredibly well to get a result. Regardless of league positions, local derbies are always competitive and they’re always tight.”
Fighting Drogs
Drogheda are currently second from bottom on just five points, with Galway only propping up the table on goal difference, the pair a massive 20 points behind Foster’s side. The Tribesmen have lost 11 games in a row and have suffered a number of heavy defeats in recent weeks, including last Sunday when Dundalk came from behind to win 4-1 in the FAI Ford Cup. And Foster is expecting a tougher test than last weekend.
“It seems that way (that Drogheda have more fight in them than Galway),” Foster said. “Both sets of teams met each other after a long run of defeats. In fairness to Mick Cooke’s team, they weren’t getting convincingly beaten every week; you could see they were almost there, and obviously they’ve gone to Galway and come from a goal behind and showed plenty of character to win the game.
Maximum points
“They’re desperate for points, as are we,” the 34-year-old added. “I’m sure that both sets of supporters will be getting behind their teams and looking for their players to put on a decent performance. We can’t wait for the game; it’s always one you look for on the fixture list.” Dundalk follow up Friday with three games in the space of eight days as they welcome Saint Patrick’s Athletic on Monday before travelling to Bray Wanderers on Friday and Shamrock Rovers on Tuesday (21 June). And with that difficult schedule coming up, Foster knows it is “vital” to get maximum points against Drogheda.
“It’s vital,” he said. “It’s vital that we win our home games, it’s as simple as that, regardless of whether it was Drogheda or Shamrock Rovers. We’ll look to try to win the game. Obviously, we’re still unbeaten at home and we’d love that to continue. This weekend is going to be very tough, but we’ll be looking for maximum points. It will be very difficult but that’s our aim.”
