You earn respect.
Dundalk Football Club is not reading history. Dundalk Football Club is making history.
On Thursday night, on September 15, an Irish club won its first ever point in the Europa League group stage.
Dundalk went to Holland, they went a goal down, they went a man down and they still refused to bow. They refused to give in to the occasion or the tradition or what the bookies and whoever else was saying about them. They refused to give in to the clock.
They had respect only for their own talent and they fought ’til the last.
A minute left of normal time, the home fans in party mode and the procession about to unfold, Daryl Horgan and Ciaran Kilduff ripped up the script.
A perfect free kick straight onto the head of Horgan was flicked beautifully into the net and Dundalk were sent into ecstasy.
The Lilywhites’ hero grappled with his man, he shoved him right out of his road and finished expertly to show that this Irish side are not overawed and they’re certainly not here to make up the numbers.
That goal, incidentally, was worth 120,000 euros. That’s how much it pays to draw in the Europa League. That’s how much it meant to Dundalk.
More than a full season of success could’ve given them in the League of Ireland.
If they hang on here, that goal will be worth €20,000 more to Dundalk than winning the league.
— emmet malone (@emmetmalone) September 15, 2016
Now, they move on. That’s what Dundalk do, they search for the next feat, the next scalp, the next record still unbroken.
They’re writing their story as they go and you get this special feeling that Stephen Kenny and his men are only getting started. And they’re doing it for all of Irish football.
The League of Ireland champions welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv to Tallaght in two weeks time. They do so as equals with the rest of Europe.
They do so as heroes.
One night in Amsterdam.
Stephen Rochford chats with Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour, heated Lee Keegan debate, and Barry Cahill is outnumbered by Mayo backers. Subscribe here on iTunes.
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