Far From Over - Smyth

Paul Smyth has waited a full two years to repay Dundalk FC and its supporters for his sins. However, his deliverance of penance was well worth the wait as he fired the Lilywhites to a priceless and wonderful win in Waterford last Friday night. Smyth rose from the bench late in the game to become the side’s saviour as he stole in at the back post to fire home John Flanagan’s cross, for what was just his second goal of the season.

The mood amongst the Dundalk camp at the final whistle was in stark contract to that when they last visited the RSC in June, when Waterford got an undeserved win five minutes into injury-time. And, Smyth recalled that game as being the main motivation for the Louth club to go and get maximum points this time, rather than looking to cancel out the two points which Waterford had been awarded in the hours leading up to the match.

“I was delighted to get the goal, because, obviously, I haven’t been playing recently,” a thrilled Smyth told dundalkfc.com afterwards. “I think what gave us a little bit of an incentive was the last time we were down here. We played so well - some of the lads think it was the best we’ve played all season - and we were robbed right at the death, so maybe that was more of a factor than Waterford getting their two points back. We knew if we won tonight that we’d put the gap back to five points between us and Waterford, regardless of that decision.”

Two years ago, Smyth ended Dundalk’s 20-match unbeaten run when he scored the sole goal of the game as Monaghan got the better of their locals rivals in a defeat which ultimately cost the Lilywhites the First Division crown. Now, however, Smyth is hoping that his intervention will catapult the club to Premier Division football next season. “Hopefully, it will turn out like that,” he said. “With three games to go, you can’t say it’s over just yet, but hopefully that goal can go a long way to meaning that. Maybe the tables have turned and my goal might mean the opposite for Dundalk this time.”

Smyth entered the RSC clash with just nine minutes remaining to appear for the first time since Dundalk threw away a 2-0 lead in Athlone six weeks ago. And, the Monaghan native is hoping that his goal will, at the least, help him to keep his place in the matchday squad. “Obviously, every player wants to play in every game,” the 27-year-old admitted. “Of course, I’m disappointed not to be involved. There’d be something wrong if I wasn’t disappointed, but you just have to keep at it and hope that you get another chance to prove the manager wrong. Maybe, what I done tonight will keep me in the squad or get me into the team for the finish to the season. That’s the way you have to look at it.”

Dundalk have now bounced back from a run of just one point from three games to defeat both Sporting Fingal and Waterford United in the past fortnight, with Smyth pointing to team spirit as the key to their revival. “A lot of people probably wrote us off,” he stated. “There’s a lot of critics about. But the boys, in fairness, stuck together. We got together and had our own wee discussions. We said we’d dig in for the final push, and it’s going well so far.”

However, Smyth stressed: “I want to keep saying that it’s not over yet, because there are three massive games left. Next week is another big game, and it’s going to go right down to the wire. If Shels beat Longford, they’re still level. We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and put in another good performance next week. Limerick seem to be our bogey team this year and they’re the form team in the division over the second-half of the season, but each game from hereon is massive.

“We’ve just got to focus on the next game now. It will be tough, but we’ve got to show the same spirit and intensity, and we should be okay if we do that. Tonight, it’s a job well done and hopefully we can finish the rest of the job off over the next few weeks.”