LEAGUE OF IRELAND:Emmet Malone talks to Dundalk's captain Thomas Heary as he prepares for the visit of former club Bohemians
THERE’S LIKELY to be more than a hint of Bohemians about the Dundalk team that takes the field against last year’s double winners at Oriel Park this evening and as the home side marks its return from a prolonged spell of exile in the First Division.
Dundalk supporters would presumably settle for just a fraction of the success achieved by Pat Fenlon’s men during 2008.
Seán Connor has certainly been quick to recruit some of the players he brought to Dalymount Park during his time there and he has handed the captain’s armband to one of those he inherited, Thomas Heary. The 30-year-old was one of Connor’s first targets after succeeding John Gill with the Dubliner bringing experience and versatility to a team whose primary aim this year will be to avoid any sort of scrap at the foot of the table.
“We’ve a lot of good players,” says Heary, who arrives after long spells at just two other clubs, Bohemians and Huddersfield Town, “but we’re a very new team with lads having come in from all over and a lot of clubs that come up struggle to adapt early on which leaves them in trouble as the season wears on. We’ve got to avoid that. What we’re looking to do is consolidate; if we can do that then we can look to push on to the next level.”
Heary enjoyed his time at Bohemians and, though his career there was punctuated by a couple of difficult periods with injury, he played an important part in last season’s success. On the day after the FAI Cup final, however, he found himself out of contract and was pleased when his former boss came calling.
“There was talk at different times that maybe I might get kept on but to be honest it didn’t bother me that much,” he says. “I understood that things were tough and what I wanted to do was play football. In the end I talked to a few clubs but Seán was putting together something very new up here and it sounded exciting.
“The town is football mad and they’ve missed being in the Premier Division, you can sense that around the place. The crowd were terrific last week when we played Celtic and there’s the makings of a good team here so I’m really pleased to be a part of it all.”
The extent of the connection between the two teams gives tonight’s televised game (RTÉ Two, kick-off 7.45pm) an additional edge but Heary insists nobody on his side will be looking to make any particular point.
“I don’t think any of our lads have anything to prove to anybody else, maybe to themselves, that’s what football’s about but I really don’t think that anyone here reckons they have to go out and show anyone at Bohemians what they can do.”
That said, he admits, it should be a special occasion. “Yeah, sure, it’s the first Premier Division game here for a long time and we’re playing against the champions; it’ll be great but it’s the start of a long season not the end and we’re a new team, hopefully we can hit the ground running and get some points on the board but at the end of the day the Bohs game is just one game, our season doesn’t depend on it.”
Another former Bohemians man, Darren Mansaram, has a groin strain and Dwight Barnett is awaiting a work permit.
Fenlon has problems himself with left backs Conor Powell and Seán Byrne both laid up. Jason Byrne has a back problem, Ken Oman misses out with a groin strain and Mark Rossiter’s hamstring makes him a doubt.
