Dundalk 0-2 Legia Warsaw
The sporting conversation has strayed from the mainstream over this past week as the nation has delighted and indulged in all things rowing, sailing, hurdling and even springboard diving.
And tonight at the Aviva Stadium there was another minority sport set to get tongues wagging around the four corners of the country.
The League of Ireland champions were in town.
Dundalk were within touching distance of the qualifying stages of the Champions League, with Legia Warsaw standing in the way of their historic place in the group stages of Europe’s elite competition.
Even the Irish athletes’ schedule in Rio was playing its part, as it was a very quiet day with only a few green singlets in action over beyond.
But in the early hours of this historic day for ‘Da Town’, things started to change.
First of all, Big Chief Pat was arrested by the Brazilian police and stripped of his duties and suddenly all media attention was firmly back at Rio.
Then, back in Dublin, the summer suddenly came to a close as the heavens opened to put a real dampener on the Dundalk party, as the Dublin 4 venue and its surroundings were washed out.
Traffic came to a standstill around the venue and with just 20 minutes before the biggest night in Dundalk and the League of Ireland’s history, the crowd looked like it had decided to stay away.
But things started to brighten up at the ‘Dublin Arena’ as the away end glowed in warming pyrotechnic amber, while that spine-tingling Champions League anthem teased the travelling Lilywhites of what might be on the horizon.
Just over 30,000 hardy souls eventually fought their way through the Dublin deluge and the many first-time attendees may have been forgiven for asking which team were the part-timers, with Dundalk controlling the early play, knocking the ball at will around the slick Lansdowne surface.
The visitors possessed a number of international players in their squad, with captain Michal Pazdan recently returned from Poland’s Euro 2016 adventure in France and Nemanja Nikolic also back from a summer sojourn, where he played for Hungary in their 1-1 draw with the mighty Iceland.
DUNDALK IMPRESS
But in those early stages, it was the non-internationals of Daryl Horgan, Patrick McEleney and Stephen O’Donnell who were showing their class, clearly dominating, as the visitors were taking a lot longer than they would have hoped to settle.
The Polish side are currently going through a minor club crisis with their early season form far from their usual standard, as an unsettled team is adapting to playing for a new coach.
And it showed in the opening half with coach Besnik Hasi admitting after the game that his side looked nervous in the opening 45 minutes, as a result of that poor form.
In fact, it took Legia 20 minutes to put any sort of pressure on Gary Rogers’ goal and apart from the following five minutes of sustained pressure, the visitors rarely, if ever, forced the Dundalk keeper to make any kind of save.
Dundalk looked very much at home at the Lansdowne Road venue, playing the game that has terrorised league teams for the past two and a half years, and Legia were also finding it difficult to contain.
Yet the penetration was lacking as captain Pazdan and his fellow defenders ran a tight ship, allowing little through with Dundalk not really making inroads into that final third.
But as the half progressed, that early confidence was building throughout the team with David McMillan now proving a real handful in attack, perhaps just lacking a bit of support from his midfield.
Scoreless at the break, the masses retreated from this chilly August evening to partake in an extended break, enjoying the refreshments being served under the stand.
The Dundalk faithful were gathered in the old South Terrace end of the stadium but it was the noisy visitors who were making their presence felt with a take on Boney M’s Rivers of Babylon ringing around the Havelock Square End.
The neutrals joined in with the sporadic Lilywhites chants and the League of Ireland family was also very much in evidence, with many jerseys from rival sides in attendance – club rivalries perhaps left aside for this special night for Irish football.
Back on the pitch, Dundalk’s confidence remained with Stephen Kenny’s side looking to burst forward in those early stages of the second half.
And three minutes in, a delightful ball was stood up to the back post with Sean Gannon arriving unchallenged, as the ball drifted beyond the last Legia defender.
But there was a mix-up in communication as midfielder Chris Shields was following the ball and his half-hearted header prevented Gannon from nodding home at the back post.
PENALTY CONTROVERSY
On such moment games change and five minutes later, Dundalk were remarkably picking the ball out of the back of their own net, as Legia grabbed than all-important away goal.
An offside line breached, a keeper rounded, a shot at goal – perhaps going wide – blocked by the arm of the diving Andy Boyle and the German referee, without hesitation, pointing to the spot.
The cruellest of calls for the home side and most definitely unintentional, as it was Boyle’s trailing arm that made contact, but Nikolic made no mistake slamming the spot-kick home.
Nemanja Nikolic gives Legia Warsaw a 1-0 lead over Dundalk from the penalty spot https://t.co/nxBIxKSziA
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) August 17, 2016
The goal knocked the confidence out of the Dundalk side and their manager would later rail raucously against the perceived unfair decision, and the Oriel Park side were now faced with the dilemma of trying to restore parity, while making sure not to leave huge gaps at the back for Legia to exploit.
Whether an element of conservatism kicked in or the legs started to go in the tiring Dundalk players, Legia sensed that they could kill the game off and for the first time in this contest, the visitors started to look like the better side.
Dundalk, to their credit, kept it tight at the back, with Rogers making some standard saves to keep the tie alive and they looked to have weathered the storm as the final minutes wound down.
A brief spurt of energy caused a moment or two of panic in the Legia penalty box as Ciaran Kilduff and Ronan Finn entered the fray, attempting to reignite their team-mates’ challenge.
But then, with the three minutes of injury time elapsed, and in a week where decisions have not been kind for Irish sport, Legia substitute Aleksandar Prijovic skipped through and lifted the ball into the back of the net to perhaps call time on Dundalk’s Champions League ambitions.
Michael Conlan had no avenue to appeal after his shocking exit from the Olympic boxing. Dundalk, at least, have the second leg.
