John Caulfield has admitted that Cork City will have to “shuffle the pack” to bridge the gap between themselves and Dundalk after their 1-0 extra-time defeat in the FAI Cup final.
Richie Towell’s 106th-minute strike settled a cagey decider, and wrapped up the double for the Lilywhites after they cruised to the league, 11 points ahead of runners-up Cork.
Stephen Kenny's men have been a class apart this season and Caulfield acknowledged their rivals must step up tot the plate of they are to challenge their dominance.
“I think it’s quite obvious that we need to bring more pace and energy into our team,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“Not much, obviously the bulk of the lads will be there but some guys are going to move on and we need to shuffle the pack a bit.
“The good thing is we’ve been there for two years, we’ve got into Europe twice, a cup final, and the challenge for the rest of the league is to see if they can match Dundalk. From our point of view we’ve been the closest to them, but we still have a bit to go. I’m aware of that and our work begins tomorrow morning.”
Towell’s 29th goal of a remarkable campaign cemented his place in Dundalk folklore, and he revealed that he was desperate for the chance to decide the cup final.
“I said to Horgs [Daryl Horgan], when it went into extra-time, ‘give me one chance’. That’s all I wanted, one chance," the prolific midfielder said.
"I was very confident of putting it away. He picked me out perfectly with a great ball and luckily enough I seen it hit the back of the net.”
