Kenny pleased with opening night display

The Stephen Kenny era at Dundalk began on Friday evening with a hard fought draw against his previous employers Shamrock Rovers at Oriel Park. After the match, Stephen spoke to Extratime.ieand started by expressing his delight at the way his new side performed.

“I thought it was a very good performance. We were brave in possession and we showed a lot of character throughout. We controlled a lot of the game and had some good chances, not real clear cut chances but good opportunities. There wasn’t many clear cut chances in the game but I am very happy with the way we performed.”

Kenny was full of praise for his defence while he spoke on the penalty incident.

“The defending was very good on the night. We didn’t concede many chances and the penalty. I thought it was outside the box and our players thought it was outside. It was definitely a foul by Dane Massey. Peter(Cherrie) made a great save, a tremendous save to keep it level.”

Peter Cherrie did save the penalty and the 41 year-old gaffer is over the moon with his form this year.

“Everyone is important. Peter has done exceptionally well to come back from last season, conceding a lot of goals. He has been brilliant in pre-season and it looks like he has carried that form into the league.”

During the week Kenny encouraged supporters to come out in force on the night and he is pleased that they followed his instruction.

“There was a great crowd. We’re very pleased with that. Hopefully we can keep that going for the season ahead and get even more people here, try to capture the imagination of the town.”

Overall though, the former Derry City manager was pleased with his side’s opening night but won’t be getting carried away.

“I would have liked three (points). It’s only a point. We can’t be jumping up and down about getting a point but certainly it is a very good performance. The players have worked hard against a very good team. They’re a top team, Shamrock Rovers, they’re favourites this year. This is their fourth competitive game and our first so we did well.”