Dundalk FC made to sweat it out despite Gbemi Arubi double against Wexford

Irish Independent

4 days ago

Dundalk might have strengthened their advantage at the top of the SSE Airtricity Men's First Division table on Friday night to six points, but the performance against Wexford FC was another reminder that we can't expect this side to do anything easy between now and the end of the season.
While Ciarán Kilduff's side deservedly remain favourites for promotion, they once again managed to make difficult work of winning a game which they dominated.
That's not to say there wasn't a number of positives to take from a victory that coincided with Cobh Ramblers being held to a 2-2 draw away to Finn Harps.
Gbemi Arubi's double was the first time he has managed such a feat in his career. His first-half brace was also the first time that Dundalk had scored two goals in the opening 45 minutes at home in over 12 months - since the 4-2 victory over Drogheda United on July 12 2024. Indeed, on only two other occasions this season have the Lilywhites struck two or more in the first half – the 3-1 victory over Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds in March and the 2-1 win away to Cobh in May.
The quality of Arubi's second and Keith Ward's goals were also worth the admission, but how soft goals were given up to the opposition remains a worry.
Dundalk once again dominated pretty much every attacking metric but, as has been the norm of late, they're having to work far harder than their opponents to actually put the ball in the net.
While three goals was a good return – particularly coming on the back of back-to-back blanks in the 2-0 defeats against Bray Wanderers in the league and Sligo Rovers in the FAI Cup – the fact that the three points was even in question entering the closing stages was somewhat alarming.
Friday night, on the whole, was a great night for Dundalk – back to winning ways, three goals (two of the highest quality) and an extension of their lead at the top. However, the fact fans were left sweating on the outcome – not for the first time – was a reminder that if Dundalk are going to finish top, they're unlikely to do it by steamrolling their way to the title. Bar a small number of games, Kilduff's men haven't won many matches convincingly.
Until they manage to turn their dominance into goals, they're unlikely to do so either, and you'd have to wonder whether it will happen at all. Yet two-thirds in Dundalk are on top, with a bit of room for error. There are definitely worse positions to be in.
Having failed to score in their last two matches, the home side got off to a dream start when Arubi fired them in front after just 96 seconds, finishing from close range after Wexford goalkeeper Paul Martin was only able to parry clear Eoin Kenny's header from Daryl Horgan's cross.
Dundalk continued to dominate and deservedly doubled their lead on the half-hour mark, with Arubi meeting Declan McDaid's flicked-on header with a superb first-time effort that flew past Martin to the right-hand corner.
Stephen Elliott's side were gifted a route back into the game five minutes after the restart when Lilywhites keeper Enda Minogue let a punt forward from defence slip through his body, allowing half-time substitute Muhammad Haris to tap home his first goal at senior level against his old club.
It looked like the Lilywhites had steadied the ship when Keith Ward volleyed to the net after a McDaid cross was headed up in the air by Dean Larkin on 63 minutes, but a nervous finish was ensured when Mikie Rowe finished from close range three minutes from the end after Larkin's header had kept a cross alive.
Despite Larkin going close in the fourth minute of stoppage time, the home side were able to see it through, however, to take advantage of Cobh's slip-up in Ballybofey.
Dundalk: Minogue; Wilson, O'Keeffe, Leonard, Tracey (Mulligan 90); Dervin, Groome (Paraschiv 56); McDaid, Kenny (Ward 56), Horgan (R Vaughan 78); Arubi (Ebbe 78).
Wexford: Martin; McCarthy, Larkin, McCourt, Crawford (Browne 64); Harnett (Haris HT), O'Brien (Levingston 58); Rowe, McCormack, Oluwabiyi (Wasilewski 64); Dobbs (Flynn 71).
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