Kearney hails hero McDaid

The former Derry City man scored two and set up a third as Kearney’s men came out on top in a five goal thriller at Dundalk.

McDaid’s first, a piledriver from 25-yards brought the sides level at the end of the first half and had his boss purring on the sidelines.

“Davy has that in his locker and it’s one of the reasons why we went for him up top tonight,” said Kearney .

“I just thought with his guile and experience he could give us something different.

“We have seen him pull a few spectacular strikes out of the bag this season already.

“It was a great strike and it capped off an all round majestic performance. He was a real thorn in Dundalk’s side and he was rightly named Man of the Match.”

The Bannsiders left the south with a one goal advantage, just as they did last year against Shamrock Rovers. The League of Ireland side turned things around in the second leg at The Showgrounds to win the tie so Kearney is refusing to get carried away with the result at Oriel Park.

“The tie is very much alive and it’s probably no different than the game against Shamrock Rovers last year,” added Kearney.

“There’s a lot of football to play and a long way to go in the tie. They’ll have another two weeks of fitness behind them when they come up to Coleraine, so the game is by no means over.”