Perth: Derby win was deserved
Dundalk first team coach Vinny Perth hailed his side’s performance in the derby win over Drogheda United on Friday night and feels that a number of players are hitting their peak at just the right time of the season.
Two goals from Darren Meenan — the second a wicked deflection off John Mountney’s free-kick — gave the champions their first win at United Park in over two years and Perth said the result was a fair one.
“We got what we deserved tonight. We’ve had a bit of bad luck over the years at United Park and I thought we should have had a couple of definite penalties but we kept going to the end.
“Darren was claiming the second goal in the dressing room and I didn’t know what he was talking about, to be honest!,” smiled Perth.
“His first goal was brilliant, there was a lot of good football in the build up to it, and I thought he was excellent overall.
“Ronan Finn gave the ball away for their goal but it didn’t take the gloss of his best performance in a long time. He was very unlucky not to have a hat trick tonight and his interlink play with David McMillan and Daryl Horgan was sensational.
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“A lot of people got back to their A game tonight, lads like Meenan, Horgan, McMillan and Stephen O’Donnell so it was a really good night for us.”
The victory was Dundalk’s second in a three game series of domestic fixtures before they head to Belarus for the first leg of the Champions League qualifier with BATE Borisov next week and Perth said that the challenge now is to win the third, against Galway at Eamonn Deacy Park tonight (Tuesday).
“Tuesday night will be an awfully difficult game. Galway are a really good attacking team. We’ve done a lot of homework on them but we knew this was a big week.
“We spoke about winning the three games — Limerick, Drogheda and Galway — and the challenge now is to complete that job before we go to Belarus.”
A win in the west would put Dundalk nine points clear of the chasing pack and Perth said that Friday night’s late, late show will have had an impact on their title rivals.
“It’s always nice to win in that fashion. I think it hurts people a little bit. Other clubs will be looking on tonight and they’ll be disappointed by that result.
“The thing about us is that we never give up. We were ready to make a change and bring Chris Shields on but myself and Stephen said we’d leave it until after the free kick in case we scored! He always believes that we will score eventually and so do the players.”
The three points were celebrated in style by a large travelling contingent who made the short journey to Boyneside and Perth said it was good to secure the local bragging rights again.
“Derby matches are about giving the supporters something back. I said to the lads that the fans would still be loyal to us whether we won or lost but it’s important to give them something back.
“It’s great to see that travelling support here tonight. The players gave them a show and although they might have wanted another five or six goal win, I think the way we won it is the sweetest way to win a derby.”
