After a record breaking season, Dundalk dominate our SSE Airtricity League of Ireland team of the season.
Stephen Kenny’s side finished 11 points clear of second place Cork City as they retained the SSE Airtricity Premier Division title and, in the process, broke a record that had stood for 92 years.
Dundalk’s tally of 78 goals, 25 of them by talisman, and shoe-in for player of the year, Richie Towell, was the most by a League of Ireland side since Shamrock Rovers scored 76 back in 1923.
The Lilywhites only lost one game all season and were worthy champions.
As a result, they’ve five players in our team of the season. At the opposite end of the table, Limerick’s improbable escape from relegation warrants one player’s inclusion, while title chasers Shamrock Rovers and Cork City have two players each.
A now departed midfielder, who’s been likened to a Manchester United player in recent days, completes our team.
Goalkeeper
Honourable mentions to Brendan Clarke and Mark McNulty, of St Patrick’s Athletic and Cork City respectively, but we’ve opted for Dundalk ‘keeper Gary Rogers.
The 32 year old may have scored an own-goal in Dundalk’s only defeat of the season, at home to Bohemians back in June, but Rogers has been otherwise dependable as part of the tightest defence in the division.
Dundalk only conceded 23 goals all season, including just nine at home, and Rogers pulled off his fair share of saves.
Defence
We’ve selected a defender each from the three tightest defences in the league. Dundalk defender Brian Gartland was a rock in defence for the best team in the country, and even pitched in with an impressive six goals.
Alan Bennett lines up alongside Gartland at centre-half. The Cork City captain scored a crucial goal against St Pats back in August and was a indispensable part of the Leesiders’ attempts to reign in Dundalk.
Conor Kenna showed great form and leadership for Shamrock Rovers as the Tallaght side kept an impressive 16 clean sheets, and will have do a job for us as, out of position, at right-back. While Dundalk’s Dane Massey takes his place at left-back.
Very honourable mentions to Andy Boyle and Sean Gannon
Midfield
Unsurprisingly, Richie Towell leads the way in our midfield. The Dundalk midfielder’s form in 2015 was nothing short of incredible, and arguably the difference between the side’s at the top of the table.
Towell became just the third player, after Glenn Crowe and Jason Byrne, in the last 39 years to score 25 league goals in season, and the first to do so from midfield.
TOWELL | Just looking at Richie Towell's stats again. He has now scored 43 goals in just 96 league games for @DundalkFC.
— Gavin McLaughlin (@gav_mclaughlin) November 1, 2015
Towell’s undoubtedly the best player in Ireland at the moment, and his talents extend to scoring spectacular goals
Alongside Towell, we’ve opted for Dundalk teammate Daryl Horgan. The pacey winger scored nine goals, netting five in May alone, and was nominated for the PFAI player of the year award.
Damien Duff may have garnered all the headlines upon signing for Shamrock Rovers, but his teammate Brandon Miele had a brilliant 2015 for the Tallaght side.
The 21 year old, in his debut campaign, was named Rovers’ player of the season, and scored 11 goals as they finished third behind Cork and Dundalk. The former Newcastle United youth team player has a bright future ahead of him.
Brandon Miele's free-kick was enough for @shamrockrovers to beat Bray last night. More on @soccrepublic on Monday.https://t.co/vW1qzSGlqj
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 23, 2015
Chris Forrester completes our midfield. The former St Pat’s midfielder, currently performing well for Peterborough United in England’s League One, but had lit up the Irish domestic league before departing at the end of August.
The 22 year old has been compared to Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick recently, and while it’s an undoubted compliment, we’ve never seen Carrick do this:
Forwards
Up front, we’ve opted for Vinny Faherty for his efforts in keeping Limerick off the bottom of the table. Limerick hadn’t won a game until August, but mounted a brilliant run of form, winning 7 of their next 12 games, and now face a promotion/relegation play-off against Finn Harps.
If it wasn’t for Faherty’s 12 goals, the Munster side would have been already relegated.
58: GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOLAZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! VINNY FAHERTY!!!!!!!!!! 3-1!!!!
— Limerick FC (@LimerickFCie) October 30, 2015
Alongside Faherty, we’ve selected Karl Sheppard. The Cork City striker scored 13 goals this season, the most by a striker, and just gets the nod ahead of teammate Mark O’Sullivan, who was named in the PFAI team of the season.
Very honourable mentions to Mikey Drennan of Shamrock Rovers, Ismahil Akinade of Bohemians and David McMillan of Dundalk.
