Reynolds rules himself out of Dundalk job, no wiser on Perth successor

Daniel Kelly of Dundalk after his side conceded a second goal during the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match between Sligo Rovers and Dundalk at The Showgrounds in Sligo. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Premier Division: 

Sligo Rovers 3 Dundalk 1 

In normal times, a defeat away to Sligo Rovers after a draining midweek trip to Budapest may not be that shocking for Dundalk. But these are not ordinary times, and Saturday’s reversal – coming days after Vinny Perth’s enforced departure from the club - means they are now five games without a win since football resumed.

A missed first-half penalty, and the concession of two goals from set-pieces compounded the situation for caretaker mangers John Gill and Alan Reynolds, and the latter bemoaned his side’s misfortune.

“It’s been a difficult week for everyone. Things just aren’t going our way at the minute and that is disappointing. The group are working really hard but are just not getting the break of the ball. There is no easy way out of it. The players haven’t faced a slump like this for a long time, so it is asking different questions of them, but there is real quality there.” 

 Reynolds has ruled himself out of the race to succeed Perth, and says he is no wiser as to who might fill the vacancy.

“The club want to get the right man to take charge. If he comes from abroad the quarantine thing might come into it. If he is from here he can come straight in obviously, so for us, we’ll just carry on until we are told differently.” 

The home side scored with their first attack on Saturday, Regan Donelon drilling the ball into the bottom corner from a free-kick on the edge of the box. Dundalk dominated for long periods, but Daniel Kelly saw his goalbound effort cleared off the line by Kyle Callan-McFadden, while goalkeeper Ed MccGinty deflected Patrick Hoban’s penalty onto the crossbar.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic though, and Ryan de Vries should have scored not long after Donelon’s opener, but dragged his shot wide. But he made no mistake next time around, as he slid the ball home on 50 minutes after a superb flowing attack that also featured David Cawley and Ronan Coughlan. Cawley also provided the assist from a free-kick for Junior Ogedi-Ozokwe to head home the third, rending Stefan Colovic’s converted penalty as mere consolation for the visitors.

SLIGO: McGinty, Banks, Callan-McFadden, Penninkangas, Donelon (Cooper ht), Morahan, Cawley, de Vries (Olberkis 86), Devers (Noone 70), Ogedi-Ozokwe, Coughlan.

DUNDALK: Rogers, Hoare, Gartland (Oduwa 54), Cleary (Massey 60), Leahy, Shields, McEleney, Mountney, Kelly (Colovic 54), Duffy (Murray 82), Hoban (McMillan 82).

Referee: R Hennessy.