Dundalk are champions for the third year running and their reward is less than third of what they received for beating Maccabi Tel Aviv last month.
The Lilywhites pocketed €360,000 for beating the Israeli side in September and a season’s worth of toil in the Premier Division ended with a 2-1 win over Bohemians at Oriel Park and €110,000.
They won’t care about that. In 15 days Stephen Kenny’s men have played six games, winning four of them. They are one of the most remarkable teams in Irish sport, remember they were leading Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 on Thursday night only for the richest club in Russia to turn the screw and inflict defeat on the Louth side.
Their will to win is epitomised by their manager, who never takes anything for granted. Not when there is a league title on the line.
Stephen Kenny won’t get too comfortable with the score at 2-1 https://t.co/F4mfeqxRcl
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) October 23, 2016
Dundalk’s most famous native son was on hand in Oriel Park to witness Ireland’s best football team do their thing. Needless to say former Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton was impressd.
Stan is very impressed with Dundalk’s efforts https://t.co/LuzNz7HXz0
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) October 23, 2016
But this was not a vintage Dundalk performance. Perhaps in part due to the intense, cruel fixture list, Dundalk’s third league title in a row was earned thanks to a pair of setpiece goals from their central defenders.
Andy Boyle put them ahead in the 15th minute from a corner, only for Mark Quigley to equalise for Bohs from the penalty spot. It was level at the break but Brian Gartland came up for a free kick and bundled the ball over the line from close range.
The league wrapped up with two games to spare, Dundalk can now turn their focus to the FAI Cup final and the Europa League, which is where the money is!
The treble is on.
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