Seven Dundalk players in PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year

Seven Dundalk players have been named in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year.

The entire Dundalk defence of Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Andy Boyle and Dane Massey is included along with midfielders Daryl Horgan, Stephen O’Donnell and the league’s top scorer, Richie Towell.

In goal is Drogheda Utd’s Micheal Schlingermann, with St Patrick’s Athletic’s James Chambers in midfield, Shamrock Rovers’ Brandon Miele on the right wing and Mark O’Sullivan of Cork City up front.

Horgan, O’Donnell and Towell are nominated for the PFAI Player of the Year along with O’Sullivan while Gannon is up for the Young Player of the Year prize alongside Miele and Bohemians’ Ismahil Akinade.

The winners will be announced at the annual PFAI awards on Friday November 20th.

Last year six Dundalk players were included in the team, including the departed Pat Hoban. O’Donnell and Massey are new additions this year.

Dundalk’s rivals look set to Luas out on the title

 

Credit to local Dundalk supporter Ruairí Murphy, son of club historian Jim, who came up with this hilarious picture in the build-up to tomorrow’s clash between the Lilywhites and Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium.

With Stephen Kenny’s side having a chance to win the league on the night with a victory, Ruairí brilliantly captures the Dundalk manager at the head of a Luas on the way to Tallaght with players Richie Towell, Stephen O’Donnell and Andy Boyle on board, as well as local celebrities Freddy Fyffes, Maxi and David Keenan.

Looking on glumly are Rovers boss Pat Fenlon and Cork City manager John Caulfield, whose side Dundalk will meet in the FAI Cup final in the Aviva Stadium next month.

Tomorrow’s game against Shamrock Rovers is live on RTÉ Two at 7.45pm.

Dundalk FC duo named on FIFA 16 cover

Dundalk FC’s Andy Boyle showcases the Irish cover of the FIFA 16 game which features him and Derry City loanee Ciaran O’Connor

Two Dundalk players will appear on the cover of this year’s FIFA 16 game following a public vote.

Centre back Andy Boyle will be joined on the cover by Derry City’s Ciaran O’Connor, who is on loan at the Candystripes until the end of the season when he will return to his hometown club. Both appear alongside Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

This is the third successive year that a Dundalk player has appeared on the cover of the EA Sports game, following on from Pat Hoban on FIFA 14 and Richie Towell on FIFA 15.

The unveiling of the cover was made at HMV on Henry Street today with the game going on sale at midnight tonight. Smyth’s toy store in Dundalk Retail Park is one of several outlets which will be open for the launch. The Irish cover will then be available to download for free at http://www.easports.com/fifa

Meanwhile, Dundalk FC captain Stephen O’Donnell was today unveiled as the new soccer coach at Dundalk IT.

This is expected to be the 29-year-old’s first step towards a career in coaching and management when his playing days are over.

Stephen O’Donnell, with Dundalk IT president Denis Cummins and members of the Dundalk IT soccer team at his unveiling as the college’s coach this afternoon

Boyle Dundalk’s representative in battle for place on FIFA 16 cover

Dundalk’s Richie Towell appeared on last year’s FIFA 15 cover along with Barca’s Lionel Messi and Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper Barry Murphy

Dundalk FC defender Andy Boyle is the club’s finalist to appear on the cover of this year’s FIFA 16 game from EA Sports.

In the last two seasons Lilywhites stars Patrick Hoban and Richie Towell have adorned the Irish cover of the popular game with Boyle hoping to make it a treble for the club.

The voting process was slightly different this year with every player from each club in the league nominated before one finalist was decided from each club.

Boyle is the selection for Dundalk but Lilywhites fans will also have the option to choose from a few other familiar faces with eight of the other finalists former Oriel Park favourites.

They include Peter Cherrie (Bray Wanderers), Michael Daly (Drogheda Utd), Ross Gaynor (Cork City), Jake Kelly (Bohemians), Shaun Kelly (Limerick FC), Mark Rossiter (Longford Town), Gary Shanahan (Galway Utd) and local teenager Ciaran O’Connor of Derry City, who is still on the books of the club.

The three other finalists are Brandon Miele (Shamrock Rovers), John Russell (Sligo Rovers) and Kenny Browne (St Patrick’s Athletic).

The two winning players will be unveiled on Wednesday September 23rd, with the exclusive cover available to download for free via easports.com/fifa from Thursday 24th of September. Once you’ve printed out your preferred sleeve, you can simply replace the existing cover in your FIFA 16 pack and start playing with your very own League of Ireland cover stars.

For the past eight years, FIFA has exclusively featured the League of Ireland, giving local fans the chance to play out their ultimate footy fantasies.

FIFA 16 will be available nationwide from Thursday 24th September.

So what are you waiting for? Get voting at www.extratime.ie/promotion/fifa16

Major boost for Dundalk as Boyle declares himself fit for Champions League clash

Dundalk’s Andy Boyle (left) with Richie Towell and Daryl Horgan on the flight to Minsk yesterday

Dundalk defender Andy Boyle has been declared fit for tonight’s Champions League second qualifying round first leg clash with BATE Borisov in Belarus.

The 24-year-old had been a major doubt for the game after limping out of last week’s 4-2 victory over Galway Utd at Eamonn Deacy Park with a calf problem.

However, he took part in light training with his team-mates at the Borisov Arena last night and should he come through today’s warm-up he will take his place at centre back alongside Brian Gartland.

Paddy Barrett is on stand by should Boyle fail to overcome the injury in time.

Stephen Kenny has an otherwise full squad to choose from ahead of the game, which gets underway at 6.30pm.

Bohs inflict first defeat of the season on Dundalk

A Dave Mulcahy header 16 minutes from time saw Bohemians end Dundalk’s unbeaten start to the season at Oriel Park last night as they ran out 2-1 winners.

Keith Long’s side had got off to a dream start when an Adam Evans shot came back off the crossbar before hitting goalkeeper Gary Rogers on the back to cross the line after just two minutes.

Their lead was short-lived, however, as Dane Massey headed an equaliser in the 10th minute from Daryl Horgan’s corner.

The champions dominated for long periods after that but found themselves behind in the 74^th minute when Lorcan Fitzgerald – who had earlier headed an Andy Boyle effort off the line – placed an inch-perfect free-kick onto the head of Mulcahy to steer home from six yards.

The hosts had Paddy Barrett sent off late on for a foul in the box, with Rogers denying Kealan Dillon from the spot.

Dundalk put eight past hapless Bray

Dundalk FC moved six points clear at the top of the Premier Division table with an 8-1 victory over Bray Wanderers at Oriel Park yesterday.

Richie Towell set the ball rolling in the second minute with a stunning volley before Brian Gartland headed home a corner on nine minutes.

The visitors managed to pull a goal back from the spot through David Cassidy on 20 minutes but within three minutes Dundalk’s two goal cushion was restored through Andy Boyle.

Gartland then headed home his second goal on the stroke of half-time to leave it 4-1 at the break.

Daryl Horgan made it 5-1 just shy of the hour mark before Dane Massey become the third defender to get his name on the scoresheet in the 70^th minute.

Ronan Finn made it seven in the 81^st minute before Horgan completed the side’s biggest win of the season with a superb finish four minutes later.

Dundalk see off Drogheda to clinch Malone Cup

Dundalk FC clinched the Malone Cup for only the third time since it was introduced in 1997 when they beat neighbours Drogheda Utd 2-0 at Oriel Park last night.

The annual pre-season game between the Co Louth rivals was largely a one-sided affair with the Lilywhites dictating things. That said, the best chance of a scoreless first half arguably fell the Boynesiders’ way after just two minutes when Tiarnan Mulvenna was picked out on the edge of the six yard box but the Muirhevnamor man failed to get the power on his shot to really trouble Gary Rogers.

Stephen Kenny’s side upped the ante in the second half and finally made a breakthrough just after the hour mark when Andy Boyle headed home a Darren Meenan corner.

Local youngster Ciaran O’Connor then made sure of the victory five minutes from time when he bundled home from close range with Chris Shields collecting the trophy afterwards from Caoimhe Malone and Killian Moran.

Gartland and Boyle commit to Dundalk for 2015 campaign

Dundalk fan Mark ‘Maxi’ McAllister with Kurtis Byrne

Dundalk FC have announced that both Brian Gartland and Kurtis Byrne have re-signed for the club ahead of the 2015 campaign.

The pair join Dane Massey, Andy Boyle, Chris Shields, David McMillan and Darren Meenan in committing themselves to Oriel Park for next season.

Gartland, who joined the club from Portadown in the summer of 2013, scored an impressive 11 goals in all competitions last season, including the second in the 2-0 victory over Cork City on the final day of the season that clinched the league title.

It will be Byrne’s third straight season at the club. He featured 44 times last season, scoring 10 goals including the winner over Hajduk Split in the Europa League in Croatia last summer.

Five Dundalk players sign up for title defence in 2015

Just days after winning the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title, Dundalk FC have secured the signatures of five players for the 2016 campaign.

Darren Meenan, Chris Shields, Dane Massey, David McMillan and Andy Boyle have all committed themselves to Oriel Park for next season and fans will undoubtedly be delighted to see them back.

Boyle captained the side for much of the season in the absence of Stephen O’Donnell and helped the club to the best defensive record in the league.

Holding midfielder Shields and left back Massey also contributed to that stat, with the latter picking up the SWAI’s Player of the Month award for September after grabbing a brace in the club’s EA Sports Cup triumph over Shamrock Rovers last month.

Despite long spells on the bench last season, McMillan – who ended the campaign on the sidelines with an ankle injury – hit a hugely impressive 15 goals in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Meenan was arguably one of Dundalk’s finest players in the run-in, contributing 32 assists in what was a brilliant campaign.

Dundalk will hold a victory parade this Saturday through Dundalk, starting at approximately 3.30pm from the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The club will then host their Player of the Year awards that night in the Lisdoo, starting at 8pm.