Students to pose stiff test in Drogs’ first assignment
DROGHEDA United make their 2017 competitive bow away to UCD this Friday (7.45pm) in the Leinster Senior Cup and manager Pete Mahon says he will be treating the competition ‘with the respect it deserves’.
With their SSE Airtricity League Premier Division campaign starting in Galway seven days later, this is Mahon’s last chance to assess his squad in a match situation and he will field a strong starting XI in a bid to overcome his former club and join the likes of Dundalk in the quarter-finals.
The Drogs have never won the provincial tournament - they were beaten by Bohemians in their only appearance in the decider in 1986 - and remarkably they haven’t even come through the opening round since 2010, losing at the first stage to Bohemians, Longford Town, Shamrock Rovers, Wayside Celtic, Firhouse Clover and Wexford Youths in successive seasons since then.
That’s just one incentive for Mahon to record a victory over the Students, who just missed out on the Division 1 promotion play-off last October when Drogheda beat them on the final night of the regular season. Another is to complete pre-season unbeaten, with last week’s 1-1 friendly draw against Limerick following on from four successive victories.
‘The Leinster Senior Cup is not everyone’s cup of tea, but we want to stay in it and we will treat it seriously because you don’t know what’s down the road in terms of other cup competitions,’ Mahon pointed out, speaking on Tuesday morning.
‘We have enough of a squad that can cope with plenty of games and it would be a confidence boost as well [to win]. There’s a good buzz in training at the moment and good competition, and there’s plenty of fellas getting narky and that’s the way I want it.
‘That’s probably down to the amount of training they are doing and they’re looking over their shoulder at lads who can play in their position. I won’t say they were in a comfort zone [last season], but they won’t be in any comfort zone this year because there are options all over the place.’
Mahon was satisfied with most aspects of last week’s game against Limerick, apart from Drogheda’s inability to take advantage of a handful of good chances to score in the first half.
‘That would be an understatement,’ he replied when asked if finishing was something the squad had to work on in the build-up to the League opener.
‘We have been doing that as a matter of course, but we have to get it right between now and kick-off time [in the league].
‘In a game situation some players freeze or take the wrong options and that’s the human side of the game. We can’t do much more work on it.
‘We should have killed Limerick off, but the game was a huge benefit to us and a great runout against Premier Division opposition.’
Sean Brennan is currently away on honeymoon and Colm Deasy (quad muscle) is a doubt for the UCD game, but it’s hoped Killian Brennan, who limped off in last week’s match, will be fit for selection.
Trialist Ryan Masch has joined a Swedish club, while fellow American Joe Efford is returning to the States while Drogheda try to secure a permit and obtain clearance from the FAI for him to play, a process that could take six weeks.
Drogheda United’s Conor Kane was part of the Republic of Ireland side who impressively defeated Portugal 1-0 in Sunday’s international match at La Manga in Spain, while Kane’s clubmate Richie Purdy was in the starting line-up for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 home-based squad in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with the amateur international team at the AUL Complex. That match also featured Laytown native Georgie Poynton (now of Bohemians) and former Newfoundwell player Stephen Keeley.
Another Drogheda United player, James Carroll, has been named in the Irish Schools squad for their Centenary Shield campaign and fellow Drogs underage player Karl Fitzsimon is in the home-based Irish Under-18 panel for their upcoming double-header against Wales.
Mahon said the number of international call-ups proved that Drogheda United was ‘the place to be’ for ambitious young soccer players.