Football: Lilywhite Kav aims to clean up in Varteks.Byline: MICHAEL SCULLY DUNDALK skipper Ciaran Kavanagh is hoping his second foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my Europe is as memorable as his first. Kavanagh is one of the few Lilywhites to have tasted European competition before - and the fear remains that such lack of experience could tell against FC Varteks in the first leg of the UEFA UEFA Union of European Football Associations UEFA n abbr (= Union of European Football Associations) → U.E.F.A. Cup tomorrow evening. The industrious midfielder and the rest of Martin Murray's squad jetted into Croatia early this morning and Newry born Kavanagh is optimistic that the outsiders will enjoy the experience - as he did when he played with UCD UCD University College Dublin UCD User-Centered Design UCD University of California at Davis UCD University of Colorado at Denver (Denver, CO) UCD University of Colorado at Denver UCD Unicode Character Database last year. The Students were in action in the Intertoto Cup that summer and emerged with their reputations intact, going out on the away goal rule in the first round to FC Velbazhd without losing a game. "We drew 3-3 in Belfield and 0-0 away, so we went out on away goals," recalled Kavanagh. "But it was a super experience and I hope Dundalk do as well this time." The 30-year-old will experience First Division football this season following the club's relegation last season and he admitted that a swift return to the top flight is top of the players' agenda. "Our main concern is getting back to the Premier Division," he stressed. Kavanagh knows, however, that Dundalk will have to give everything if they are to keep this first qualifying round UEFA Cup tie alive. "It's going to be tough," he conceded. "Realistically, our aim is to do well against Varteks and put in a good performance. "If we do reasonably well, we should get a good crowd at Tolka Park Tolka Park (Irish: Páirc Tolca for the second leg and that would help the club financially. "If we defend to the best of our ability we will do alright". Dundalk left Oriel Park In February 2005 Dundalk F.C. announced a major programme for a complete revamp of Oriel Park. The pitch was converted to an all-weather surface (the first Irish club to do so) costing 1.5 million euro. at 6pm yesterday evening to embark on the three-hour flight to Zagreb, before arriving in the town of Varazdin at 2.30am. They travelled in the knowledge that of the two eircom League clubs in the UEFA Cup, they are least likely to progress in the competition. Manager Martin Murray will set his stall out with a 4-5-1 formation and will depend on John White and Brian McCrystal in defence in the absence of suspended Donal Broughan. Kavanagh will be one of five midfielders whose aim is to keep things tight. CAPTION(S): EUROPEAN BID: Dundalk manager Martin Murray |
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