It was not vintage Dundalk that we saw in Inchicore on Tuesday night.
Stephen Kenny made NINE changes from the team that clinched a third Premier Division title in-a-row against Bohemians on Sunday night for the league meeting with St Patrick’s Athletic and proceeded to lose 5-2.
The Lilywhites strength and conditioning coach went on the Second Captains podcast on Monday to outline just how hard the Dundalk players have been working in an historic season, which has seen them reach the group stages of the Europa League, retain their title and reach the FAI Cup final against great rivals Cork City.
Byrne said the squad were afforded a rare night out on Sunday and were likely to be spotted around Temple Bar on Monday as they toasted the first three-in-a-row in the club’s history.
Goalkeeper Gary Rogers and Alan Keane were the only starters from two days earlier to line-out in Inchicore on Tuesday and Kenny’s selection were 4-0 down by half-time.
Dave Robertson, the manager of Sligo Rovers (who are battling St Pat’s for fifth in the league) took to Twitter to express his displeasure with Kenny’s decision to rest key players ahead of an upcoming trip to St Petersburg, the FAI Cup final and the remainder of their Europa League campaign.
https://twitter.com/DaveRobertson11/status/790996273168015361
https://twitter.com/DaveRobertson11/status/790997143871975424
Several League of Ireland players were quick to get involved.
surely he is on the wind up Rossi. They have every right to rest a few with big games coming up. Bizarre tweet!!
— Stephen Elliott (@SleevesElliott) October 25, 2016
One fan could only think of poor Alan Keane.
ah grow up u wil ya. Sure I had2kick Alan Keane outa my gaff last night he was up drinkin cans wit my auld lass. #Champions
— Addddrrrriiiiiaaaann (@adyraff4) October 25, 2016
Another brought up his history with Daryl “Martin, Martin, sign him up” Horgan
this from the manager who thought Horgan wasn't good enough 😂😂😂😂
— Turlach (@toghar11) October 25, 2016
Another thought Kenny was still taking too many risks for the dead rubber.
https://twitter.com/ryanmcardle24/status/790999522742796288
Yet another let the insane fixture list do the talking.
Dundalk have played so many games recently and are champs for 3rd year in a row hardly throwing towel in pic.twitter.com/ZqxQ2F6L9B
— Conor Mc Brearty (@harpsman2000) October 25, 2016
After watching his notifications go a bit mental, Robertson tried to defuse the situation. Insisting that #NoIntegrity does not equal an insult.
https://twitter.com/DaveRobertson11/status/791013016829583360
Afterwards Kenny defended his selection.
“It’s a magnificent week for the club winning the league on Sunday but having to play again within 48 hours is crazy,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“Yes, we had had to make a lot of changes, but we had no choice. We had to give the players a night off.”
Spare a thought for captain for the night Shane Grimes, who suffered a season-ending hamstring tear after just 18 minutes, Like many of his colleagues Grimes did not get a lot of sleep Monday night – he was attending the birth of his first child.
Hell of a week in Dundalk.
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