Sean Gannon hailed goalscorer Ciaran Kilduff after the substitute’s strike earned Dundalk an historic Europa League victory.
Stephen Kenny’s men also made history in the first game, courtesy of a 1-1 draw against AZ Alkmaar, becoming the first Irish side to earn a point in the group stages of a European competition.
But it was to get better for the League of Ireland champions on Thursday night as Kilduff, the goalscorer in Holland, latched on to Daryl Horgan’s 72nd-minute cross to tap home the winner against Maccabi - a goal that is worth €360,000 in UEFA prize money.
Gannon was full of praise for the striker who missed a chunk of the season with a back injury.
“To see Ciaran coming on and scoring again, he seems a bit lucky with his season, the way it’s gone with injuries, but we’re all absolutely over the moon,” Gannon told Dundalkfclive.
“He’s a top bloke and we’re delighted to see him get just rewards for all his hard work.
“We are over the moon with the first win in the group stages. It was a great performance.
“It just goes to show the strength of our squad. We had a good few chances in the first half that we didn’t take.
"And if you do that in these types of games you’re thinking ‘we need to take one of these soon’. But we played very well.
“It was a great performance.”
Next up for Dundalk in the Europa League is back-to-back ties against Zenit St Petersburg, who beat Alkmaar 5-0 on Thursday night and top group D with six points.
