Dundalk had great spells of possession 2nd half but never pushed through which was pretty annoying .DMcM spent more times on the wing rather than in his usual CF position .McEleney was the biz and there were fleeting moments from several other players.Only fleeting though
Not a good night really overall and pretty disappointed in the way we played.
Drunk and away to bed.
Gutted for Dundalk, the penalty decision was incredibly harsh in my opinion, Boyle threw his body knee first at the ball and his hand was in the only place it could be and too give a penalty was pretty shocking at this level,the second goal which killed the tie was so sloppy however and Kenny will be pulling his hair out at how avoidable it was.
I was throughly unimpressed by Legia and a little disappointed by Dundalk in the final third were I don't think they worried Legia enough.
Days like these ehh?Originally Posted by redarmyfaction
Glad you landed your stupid bet that you pished the rest of us of about.Good man
That's some ice-cold revenge right there
I thought Dundalk were unlucky to be honest, but I think they'll know themselves they underperformed. Legia, while they didn't create a lot, created more and created better. Dundalk just looked knackered by the hour mark and the second goal was always a strong possibility.
Fair play to them though - they played the riskier football so you can't criticise them for not going for it.
Just back home after a long trip. Traffic coming out of the city was absolutely insane with everyone travelling the same way.
Thought Dundalk were the better side in the first half. The big problem was creating any clear cut chances in the final third. Horgan wasn't at himself tonight, had a great chance with the shot from the edge of the box in the second half too which he made a meal of putting straight into the keepers hands.
Penalty knocked the stuffing out of Dundalk though, I thought it was incredibly harsh from where we were sitting, I've yet to see any replays though.
At 1-0, you'd have said Dundalk would have stood a chance of getting something from the tie, but it looks to be game over. They'll really need to go all out in Warsaw next week to stand any chance, but it's a tall order.
On another note, I thought the atmosphere was absolutely excellent. No idea how it came across on the TV but it was fantastic in the ground and the Legia fans in particular were incredible for most of the game.
I'm a bit shocked the crowd was only 30,400 or something of the like, looked to be a fair bit more once it filled up. Great occasion though despite the result.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Two similar but even harsher penos given on the the highlights last night in the Roma v Porto, and I think the Villarreal game. I suppose if you throw yourself in front of a goal bound shot and it hits your hand, the thinking is it's deliberate. If Rogers had stopped it like that, from that range, would he have been praised to high heavens for the amazing way he stopped it/ got his hand to it, I don't know, but I do know that the rule needs looking at, because there is are widely different interpretations of it, kudos to RTE panel for reading it out last night , they seemed very certain that Dundalk were due their penalty, but I thought that Finn clipped the defender first by backing into him.
disappointed for Dundalk but even the group stages of the CL is a major achievement.
The money from that should be enough to do the redevelopment of Oriel Park but won't be enough to eliminate all other teams chances of maybe being competitive in the league.
A strong Dundalk with a facility that might attract people to it will be good for a league that needs to be competitive
Disappointing result but I thought we played well without having a shot on target.
Penalty decision was ridiculous and we should of had one. The 2nd goal has killed the tie for us. I know we like to attack and went for a leveller but I thought so late that maybe the better option was to see out the 90 and lick our wounds at a 1 goal defeat.
Think we will win the 2nd leg. There is more to come from us. Get the next goal and who knows
Coming from the west the traffic wasn't too bad till we hit the quays, it was brutal then and no real quicker way around it but i felt for all those coming down the port tunnel as i can only imagine what it was like. Sorry if I repeat some stuff from earlier as I was flying back this morning so it was all a bit rushed and haven't read some of the earlier posts.
So the peno, for me there are two ways you land on the ground naturally when diving or falling to the ground, you either put your hands out to take the fall, or you bend your arm - particularly when diving - at the elbow(this is what Boyle did) and use the elbow to slide and take the fall, what is not natural when diving or falling is to to put your hands by your side and see what happens, but thats what the interpretation is of the "unnatural handling of the ball" - the unnatural handling is the unnatural way of actually diving or falling to the ground, so its in no way natural. The rule should be clearer in what unnatural is with regard to how you fall or dive to the ground. For me there is nothing unnatural in the movement and its very unlucky, to make it worse the shot was going wide. If you are standing still its easy keep your hands by your side, the rules need to be clearer from a standing point and from one that sees the player who handles it ending up on the ground. I think its very harsh personally and it completely changed the game.
The refs overall performance was a bag of contradictions, he gallantly threw out a yellow for O'Donnell, and time again let them off, especially when Dundalk countered and were fouled, particularly McMillian. Their number 2 should have had two yellows as well.
I thought O'Donnell played really well, he was like a slightly slower Glenn Whelan for Ireland, but who opened his body up and looked around before receiving the pass, I thought he was Dundalks best player. Horgan was poor in the second half and hit a few too many misplaced passes, especially if potential suitors were looking on he didn't do much to help himself. I thought the two centre backs did very well yesterday, overall. McEleney or however you spell his name is a bit light and got pushed off the ball too easily too often. But there were some exquisites passes from both of them either half, real top notch stuff.
The 2nd goal killed it, but I could see what they were trying to do, its a hard call, they didn't want to give away a free in midfield, they could have dragged him back at that point but knowing that they would have not got another chance to attack. Looking back its always easier say do the technical foul and there is no goal, but the other side is better defending would have prevented the second goal.
I haven't seen much of Dundalk but what I have seen of them is they are usually a decent counter attacking team, when they got into the positions through various throughballs and over the top crossfield passes, they stopped instead of attacking their men, unsure and/or almost happy to settle for a throw in or whatever. With a little more confidence a couple of times they could have attacked the last man and something more might have come out of it, instead of a throw in or whatever and then Legia the chance to regroup. But overall what really stood out for me and the lads I went with, was Dundalk can play real good stuff in close quarters, they dont lack the technical touch, what they are probably missing is a bit like Iceland at the Euros, the quality at the top, which is required to be playing in CL group stages. Still I thought it was a great night to showcase the talent that is available in Ireland and they more than looked comfortable, they werent playing against far superior opposition regardless of what everything else off the field might show.
Football at this level, like we saw in the Euros is fine margins, and scorelines often flatter the winning team unfairly. The penalty was a big call and it completely changed the dynamic of the game. Dundalk more than held their own up to this, even if Legia were pulling them over the place up until then, they held their shape well. It's unfair but unfortunately its the way things go, its how you respond, I just dont think they had the players up top to hurt them when it mattered, a 10 and an out and out pacey striker and Dundalk would have come out with a better result.
Who were the security company last night, was it the usual ones the FAI use? THey were a shambles, people queuing and all sorts of messing, then the guys taking the paper tickets cutting off the wrong end and leaving people with no seat numbers or any information where they sat. I felt sorry for them cos there was a "rush" and people were already late etc but still it was very poorly organised. The Aviva looked and sounded great on the walk up of a summers night in August, even if everything suggested it wasn't actually a summers night.
Hopefully Dundalk don't get ripped apart over there and do themseleves justice somewhat.
Last edited by paul_oshea; 18/08/2016 at 9:57 AM.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Amazing crowd last night !
Shame the middle section was empty but it sounded great on TV and just shows the appetite for soccer in this country.
It was never a Penalty but the 2nd goal killed off the tie
they are not out of the game altogether if they play like they did against Bate
We are the SR the SRFC.......
Part time Finn Harps too :)
The second goal was sickening. Such a sloppy mistake and then the naivety not to just take the man down, in stark comparison to the cynical fouling from Legia every time Dundalk threatened. Little to choose between them overall, Dundalk played the prettier football but couldn't keep it in the final third enough, Legia were clinical. Second leg will still be interesting, huge pressure on the Poles at home considering it's so long since they had a team in the group stages, no pressure on Dubdalk now at all so hopefully that frees them up to really have a go. Delighted I went along, a really historic night in Irish football history, even with the disappointing result.
For me, one of the things that stood out and made it historic was the number of non-LOI fans that stayed on to applaud Dundalk. Maybe, just maybe there is some new converts to LOI football. I don't care what team they end up supporting but more support for the league is welcome.
You summed up the fundamental differences between the 2 teams perfectly. Legia had a bit more quality in the final third and they cynically foul whenever necessary.
The only other main difference on the night was that Legia had some ref decisions go their way whereas Dundalk didn't. The peno might not have been given by another ref and Legia got away with a LOT of fouling when Dundalk were breaking. McMillan was fouled a few times but the ref never blew.
Why was it kept empty ? Seemed a very strange decision alright.
It wasn't kept empty as such; it was the Premium area at E30 a ticket (twice the price of the rest of the area).
I presume because they made a big deal of saying tickets were cheap (E10/E15), everyone went for those and automatically ignored the pricier tickets. I know I did anyway.
edit: removing my comment as stu already answered
No, the €30 were near the presidents area. The premium level wasn't released apart from a few boxes that were sold. There were club officials, family and volunteers in a block of the premium level in the west side.
Thought that Legia were the better team for spells but that Dundalk held their own.. Legia seemed to be more of a threat and Dundalk weren't quite as fluid up front and didn't seem to carve our many good chances.
The peno was harsh and if you read the rules like Tony O' Donoghue did on RTE, not actually a penalty (deliberate, hand to ball etc.) but then again we see those given all the time, it's a risk when a shot goes in on goal in the box..
It did show that we can compete at this level and that despite all the disadvantages that Dundalk had v Legia (Stadium/Players/Funds) that they are competitive and could have gotten a result...
Last goal was a killer... should have maybe fouled the lad and taken a card or they should have taken the 1-0..
All in all.. if they score first in Poland and play well who knows...
innit though??
Sorry to be negative Dundalk fans but where will the Europa league group games be played if you don't turn this around next week?
Here on a technicality.
Away with your negativity. We will win 5-0 next week. The only way to get Uefa to reluctantly accept us is through a comprehensive victory!
However, I don't think venues will be announced until we know where we are after next weeks match.
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