Dundalk F.C SSE Airtricity League champions 2014

Dundalk were crowned SSE Airtricity League champions on Friday evening with a hard fought 2-0 victory over closest challengers Cork City at Oriel Park! Captain Stephen O’Donnell put the Lilywhites 1-0 just after the break and Brian Gartland sealed the club’s 10th title with a cool finish in the closing stages! The evening capped off what has been a superb season for the Lilywhites as they add the top honour in the land to add to the EA Sports Cup trophy they picked up just over a month ago. When the teams were announced an hour before kick-off, there was one notable inclusion and a welcome one. Stephen O’Donnell made his first start in over 6 months after the knee injury he sustained in April to leave the side at full strength. The game started at a frantic pace with Gearoid Morrissey hauling down O’Donnell in the opening seconds while Garry Buckley and Darren Dennehy entered the referee’s notebook a few minutes after. Chris Shields had to be replaced by the experienced Ruaidhri Higgins after just 10 minutes through injury as the game got into full flow. Colin Healy found space and threaded a perfect ball through to Billy Dennehy but his touch let him down and Peter Cherrie collected. The hosts were struggling to break down and when O’Donnell was caught in possession, John O’Flynn crossed for Mark O’Sullivan but he headed inches wide of the post. Darren Meenan found space on the right and his cross was into the path of O’Donnell but the skipper couldn’t keep his shot down. Daryl Horgan then fed Dane Massey however his shot was straight at Mark McNulty as Stephen Kenny’s troops were making inroads in the Leeside defence. The best effort of the half did indeed fall to the visitors when Buckley, bombing through on goal, was brought down by Andy Boyle. The winger Dennehy, chasing his 18th goal of the season, stepped up and struck the free-kick from just outside the box against the post as the majority of Oriel Park counted their blessings. Richie Towell shot over the bar on the volley to end a first half with Cork City edging closer to the title.. 0-0 at the break was a fair reflection however just after the re-start the game was changed dramatically. A clearance from the Cork defence fell to substitute Higgins. He plucked the ball from the air and played a terrific ball into the advanced Towell. He controlled superbly and laid it off to leader O’Donnell and his low drive from the edge of the box sent Oriel into raptures and put the side in front. It should have been 2 moments later when that man O’Donnell once again found his way into the box and Patrick Hoban found him however his header was centimetres wide of the post before former Rebel Horgan shot straight at McNulty. Dundalk were comfortable and in control however John Caulfield’s men had a golden chance to equalise and seal the title when John Kavanagh broke to cross for Rob Lehane but his glancing header was just wide of Cherrie’s right hand post. That proved costly as Stephen Kenny’s men struck a crucial blow in their next attack. Higgins swung in a perfect free-kick which wasn’t cleared by the defence and when John Mountney flicked into the path of Brian Gartland, he got his feet right and finished to the net to all but seal victory. That proved to be the end of the action as referee Neil Doyle blew the full-time whistle after 5 minutes of injury-time to confirm that Dundalk finish as league champions for the first time since 1995!