One could say that Dundalk's quest for their fourth consecutive title ended very early in the season, as the Lilywhites started their campaign reasonably well, but were simply no match for Cork, who blew them out of the water with their historic start.
Stephen Kenny's men had a reasonably good season despite not winning the title, as they won the League Cup, could also win the FAI Cup, as they will be in the final, and had a decent European adventure which was ended by Rosenborg, who needed extra-time to overcome them.
The new vice-champions actually good better with time and were actually clearly the best side in the league in the second half of the season - they dropped points in only four of their fifteen games and had a spell during which they seemed back to their best, as they kept the ball on the ground and were scoring for fun. Their arguably best spell of the season was in August, when they won all five competitive games they have played and recorded a goal-difference of 21:0 in the process.
They even had Cork fearing for the title at one point, but the 23-point lead that their rivals had at one point eventually proved too large to overcome. However, Dundalk definitely ended the season with far more momentum and will be optimistic regarding their chances of winning back the title next time around.
