Drogheda still looking into player’s rape case comment
Drogheda United are continuing to investigate comments made by Luke Rossiter in a social media post about the Paddy Jackson rape trial.
The player issued an unreserved apology on Monday, but the club say they are still looking into the matter and said the player won’t be available for selection until the process is complete.
In a short statement issued alongside Rossiter’s apology, the club stated: ‘While the club acknowledges Luke’s whole-hearted apology, an internal investigation is still ongoing. Drogheda United are also carrying out a review of club policy and plan to educate all players and staff in relation to the impact their opinions and actions can have on others.
‘Luke Rossiter has been informed that he will not be considered for selection until such time that the investigation is completed and reviewed.’
Meanwhile, it was a case of third time unlucky for Drogheda United as their EA Sports Cup tie against St Mochtas was postponed on Monday afternoon following a deluge of rain.
The game, originally rescheduled due to the floodlight issue at the start of the season, was moved to Porterstown Road only to then be postponed due to the snow.
An early morning pitch inspection put paid to any hopes of the game going ahead on Bank Holiday Monday and despite being frustrated, Drogheda manager Tim Clancy was very pragmatic saying, ‘you can’t argue with the weather.’
‘I’m sure they are upset in Mochtas, they want to play it too, so we’ll just have to deal with it. Hopefully we can get it on and get the game played whenever possible but now we just focus all our attention on Friday night and UCD,’ he said.
With the second round game, should Drogheda progress, already scheduled for April 23rd, it will make for a busy three weeks for the club.
‘From the Athlone game onwards there was supposed to be six games in 21 days, but a couple of those games got called off so now it’s more or less just prolonging that period where there’ll still be six games in 21 days,’ he added.
Clancy though isn’t going to dwell on the postponement though with a big league fixture on Friday night as they host league leaders UCD.
‘They are the early pace setters and they have quite a settled team from the last few years. Look we know it’s not going to be an easy game, but it’s a game that we are sure that all the players will be up for and we’ll be looking for a response next week and that’s the best thing about it, is that we have another game so quickly.’
‘It will be a game that will give us an indication as to where we can be at the end of the season and if we can compete with the likes of UCD across the season then we should be there or there abouts.’
Clancy will have no injury worries heading into the game, Chris Lyons was rested on Friday night with a hamstring injury but that has eased and they will monitor him during the week.
The Boynesiders will be without Luke Rossiter while the club continue its disciplinary investigation following an ill-advised tweet he posted regarding the Belfast Rape trial. The club issued a strong and swift statement condemning his actions.
The teenager has since apologised for his tweet in a statement which was posted on the club’s website on Monday. Clancy praised the club’s swift response last week and said the matter will
be dealt with internally.
On Friday, Drogheda lost 3-2 away to Cabinteely, their first defeat of the season and while the manager was disappointed with the result, he took heart that once again despite going behind they kept battling.
‘It was very disappointing last night with the outcome of the game. I thought we didn’t play well at all and it could have been a lot better, I thought a lot of our decision making all night was probably the wrong choice. We passed when we should have shot and shot when we should have passed,’ he began.
‘But I can’t fault the players for their commitment again. We scored two goals again away from home, conceded three sloppy goals and it was really disappointing to come away with a defeat. But we know where we are at and it shows that if you don’t turn up to a game really ready to go at it then you won’t win games. You look at Finn Harps, getting held to a draw against Athlone Town, that was a result nobody saw coming,’ he added.
Conditions at Stradbrook were poor to say the least, but the Drogheda manager said to blame the pitch would be a poor excuse.
‘It’s no excuse to say it was a poor pitch, obviously both teams were playing on the same surface, Cabinteely were able to get three goals and we got