Mahon urges his players to seize moment against UCD

PETE Mahon has called on his players to seize the moment against UCD on Saturday and secure the result required to take Drogheda United into the promotion play-offs.

A draw against the Students in United Park (kick-off 7.45pm) is all the Boynesiders require from their last game of the regular season to keep their push for top-flight football on track.

However, a defeat would leave Drogheda out of the promotion picture unless bottom club Athlone managed to beat Cobh Ramblers and a fourth-place finish would be deeply disappointing given that the Drogs had an 11-point lead over Cobh less than three weeks ago, albeit with a game more played.

Back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, the latest being a 2-1 reverse against Limerick last weekend, has left Drogheda still one shy of the 50 points they require, and Mahon - who has now signed a new two-year contract with the club that takes him past his 71st birthday - is anxious that his players rediscover the form that saw them take 23 points out of 27 before slipping up against lowly Cabinteely.

‘It’s a great team when we win and the players are great, but when the team gets beaten they start looking at the manager,’ said Mahon, speaking on Tuesday morning.

‘We have to perform to the best of our ability and we didn’t do that in the last two weeks, so the players have to look at themselves as well.

‘Every time they pull on that jersey they are representing the people of Drogheda and the supporters like the ones that went down to Limerick again on Saturday. They have a responsibility to them to do the best they can because we are going to depend on the same supporters next year.

‘Let’s at least get into the playoffs, because that was the goal we set ourselves at the start of the season.’

UCD arrive at United Park on the back of a last-gasp 3-2 home win against Shelbourne but showed what they’re capable of in their most recent away trip when putting eight goals past Waterford.

Managed by Drogheda native Collie O’Neill, the Students - who

PW D L F A Pt Limerick FC 27 23 3 1 85 26 72 Drogheda U 27 14 7 6 40 28 49 UCD 27 14 6 7 56 38 48 Cobh Ramb 27 14 5 8 38 33 47 •Key final-day fixtures: Drogheda Utd v UCD, Athlone Town v Cobh Ramblers •Drogheda win: Drogheda qualify for the play-offs, home advantage in 2nd leg. Opponents Cobh unless they fail to beat Athlone, in which case it’s UCD. •Drogheda draw: Drogheda qualify for the play-offs. Opponents Cobh unless they fail to beat Athlone, in which case it’s UCD. Home advantage in 2nd leg unless Cobh beat Athlone by seven goals or more. •Drogheda defeat: Drogheda would finish fourth and miss out on the play-offs unless Cobh failed to defeat Athlone. have yet to be beaten by Drogheda this season - know that a draw probably won’t be enough for them to secure third place and they’ll be coming to United Park in an attacking frame of mind.

For his part, Mahon hopes the opposition’s approach might create gaps that his team can exploit.

‘We should have put it to bed before now and we’re under a bit of pressure, but I’m philosophical that it’s come down to this,’ he insisted. ‘We are at home and we need a point, but we want to win because if we get second place we are at home in the second leg of the play-off, so there’s a lot to play for.

‘We’ve had two bad performances in a row when we’ve started slowly and not been able to pick up the momentum, but our best performances this season have been when we have been on the front foot from the start and that’s what we’ll need on Saturday.

‘I think it will be a very open game and we’re not going to sit back and hope for a draw.

‘If we don’t get a result then we have nobody else to blame but ourselves.’

Of course, Drogheda will be without their captain Sean Brennan after he was sent off in Limerick for a challenge that Mahon described as ‘silly’, and the manager will now look to Sean Thornton, who scored last week, to pull the strings in midfield.

On the plus side, Gareth McCaffrey returns after missing three matches through suspension and Lloyd Buckley is also available after recovering from ankle ligament damage.