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WATCH: "It's a special moment" - Ciaran Kilduff exultant after famous Dundalk victory

By now you must have heard that Premier Division champions Dundalk went where no other Irish team...



WATCH: "It's a special...
Soccer

WATCH: "It's a special moment" - Ciaran Kilduff exultant after famous Dundalk victory

By now you must have heard that Premier Division champions Dundalk went where no other Irish team went before, winning a group game in European competition.

They ran out 1-0 winners over Maccabi Tel-Aviv at Tallaght Stadium and will go down in the annals of history as one of the greatest Irish club sides ever.

Ciaran Kilduff, the man who earned them a draw against AZ Alkmaar with a late header, stepped up again last night and his tap-in from six-yards sent the crowd into a state of delirium.

Speaking after the game to eir Sport, the birthday boy deflected some of the attention away from himself. 

"Listen, it's a special moment coming off the bench both games to grab the headlines," he said. "But it's not about me tonight. The lads were incredible the whole night through. 

"I thought Chris Shields and the midfield were amazing all night. We scrapped and had to dig in for the last 15, they have some qualities players. But we got over the line. 

"Daryl [Horgan] delivered again with a great ball for me and I had the easy job of putting it away." 

Kilduff took just eight minutes to get himself on the scoresheet, but could have put the home side ahead with his first kick of the game.

"It was a half chance and it's a nice way to get into the game. You get a bit of a ripple from the crowd and it gets the adrenaline going. We came into the game and said we wanted to win it and I think we got what we deserved tonight. Yeah at times they had a fair percentage of the ball but we dug in when we had to and we know we're capable of scoring against anyone.

"When you have the creative players that we have in the final third, myself and David McMillan have the easiest job putting them away. It was Dave's goals that got us here in the qualifying. 

"I've put them away in the first two games but there's still so much for us to do, it's a joy to play with the rest of the lads."

Manager Stephen Kenny was exultant after the game and during the celebrations, but Kilduff says he was measured in the preparations and revealed what he said to him before the game.

"It was my birthday today so he told me to just go out there and enjoy it. He gave me a bit of instruction before the game, but it was one of those surreal moments for me. It was an easy enough finish for me in the end.

"You get all the plaudits then and you can enjoy the celebration but Stephen had us all ready for this one. He knew that we were capable of going out and making a bit of history. Thankfully we did."

Dundalk sit second in their group on four points, three points clear of their nearest challengers AZ Alkmaar. 

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