Boys match-winner has plenty of fans
VERONA DROGHEDA BOYS 2 3
DARREN Fanning struck a late winner as Drogheda Boys Under-16s picked up all three points from their DDSL Major Division clash in Blanchardstown on Sunday.
After leaving the Boyneside in overcast conditions, the Boys kicked off in sunshine but playing into a strong wind, and from the off they were playing it on the ground to the front three of Cian King, Fanning and Terrence Tientcheu.
However, within six minutes the visitors fell behind when the Verona centre-forward intercepted a pass from the back and fired off a shot which hit the apex of post and bar and bounced in over the line.
There was no sense of panic, though, and even though Drogheda were playing into a stiff breeze they were playing most of the football, with Josef Bergin taking the ball into space and forcing the Verona midfield back.
The midfield trio of Chris Darga, Adam Courtney and Eseosa Omoregbe were first to the ball and were always keen to move it forward, while Fanning was a thorn in the side of the Verona defence, not letting the centre halves settle and providing space for Courtney and Omoregbe to move into.
Somehow the Boynesiders went into the interval still trailing by that single goal, but a change in the match ball at half-time seemed to have a positive impact and soon after the restart the scores were level once more.
Drogheda won a corner on 52 minutes which Josef Bergin whipped over and it was met by the head of Fanning on the back post - 1-1.
Seven minutes after that King took the ball inside and with a moment of magic from just outside the penalty sent a looping shot over the Verona keeper to give Drogheda the lead.
The away side looked to be well in control at that stage and with the wind now in their favour they continued to put Verona defence under pressure.
However, on 63 minutes Verona, on one of their rare forays up front, got into the Drogheda penalty area where their forward was awarded a penalty. The Verona player calmly put it out of the reach of the Drogheda keeper to make it 2-2.
Again, Drogheda didn’t let their heads drop and after a penetrating pass from the back Fanning ran forward into space, shrugged off attempted tackles and fired a shot low into the far corner for the winner.
DROGHEDA BOYS: Jamie Casserly, Sean Collier, Shane Campbell, Chris Darga, Darren Fanning, Terrence Tientcheu, Eseosa Omoregbe, Josef Bergin, Sean Tighe, Adam Courtney, Cian King.