Dundalk will this morning put a final batch of 750 tickets on sale to home supporters for Friday night's league title decider at Oriel Park where Stephen Kenny's side must win if they are to leapfrog Cork City at the top of the table.

The financial stakes are high for both clubs with the difference between first and second place amounting to €310,000 in FAI and Uefa prize money before the potential to greatly enhance the European earnings by progressing a round or two is taken into account but Kenny, whose side have led the league for most the campaign insists that that will not be the primary motivation when his players take to the pitch in front of what will be the club’s biggest home crowd in many years.

Glory

“There is all of that,” he says of the potential windfall, “and these things do have an impact but this isn’t really about money, it’s about glory, it’s about the opportunity to have an unbelievably special night here, winning the league title here and lifting the whole community, the whole town as they would never have felt it was possible two years ago. To have everyone experience that and the effect it can have on people, just to be part of that, would be unbelievably special and that’s what we want.”

Dundalk have won both of the previous league meetings between the clubs this season but both managers are quick to play the significance of that down. “Every game is completely different,” says Kenny. “We don’t assume anything just because we’ve won twice either (but) we believe in ourselves and what we are doing.”

John Caulfield, meanwhile, points out that his players have already had to make breakthroughs against other clubs over the past few weeks in order to get to this point and the City boss doesn't sound daunted by the prospect of going to Oriel now. "We've won six in a row since and turned things about by seven points in the last few weeks," he says. "We hadn't beaten St Patrick's until a few weeks ago but we changed that and up until Friday night we hadn't beaten Bohemians this season either but we beat them. Now, people are saying we haven't beaten Dundalk this season and of course they're right but we'll see on Friday night."

City only need to draw but Caulfield prefers to concentrate on his team plays: “I think we’re capable of going up there and turning in a top performance; my hunch is that if we do that we’ll win the league.”

Both clubs are, predictably enough, well represented in the PFAI’s Team of the Year while they take three of the four nominations between then for the Player of the Year award.

The other player to make the list is St Patrick's Athletic striker Christy Fagan who is one goal away from becoming the club's first player for almost 60 years to get 20 league goals in one season.

Objection

Sallynoggin schoolboy club St Joseph’s Boys, meanwhile, have confirmed that they have contacted the FAI with a view to objecting to Bray Wanderers’ license to play in the premier division next season because of monies they say they are owed by the county Wicklow club.

Wanderers, who only secured their top flight status for next season last Friday when they drew against Dundalk, are said to owe €41,000 between Uefa solidarity payments and the proceeds of a friendly game against a Manchester United XI which, St Joseph’s insist, are due to them. The FAI are said to have been involved in attempting to resolve the situation. Bray officials could not be contacted for a comment last night.