New faces feature in friendly
Last year’s First Division champs win with own goal
DROGHEDA UNITED 1
WEXFORD FC 0
A GUTSY Wexford FC made a wasteful Drogheda United, last year’s First Division champions, work hard to eke out the narrowest of victories in their first pre-season encounter in United Park on Sunday.
Several new faces were on board, including a further two acquisitions during the week in the form of goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran and defender Daniel Dobbin, who had the misfortune to concede the game’s decisive own goal.
Corcoran – who manned the posts in the second-half – has represented Ireland at under-age level and had a stint as Dundalk’s reserve ’keeper last year following a period cross-channel with Preston North End.
Meanwhile, defender Dobbin arrives from St. Patrick’s Athletic, having captained the Dubliners to the national Under-19 league title last season.
Charlie Smith, who re-signed during the week, also featured on Sunday, while supporters will be looking forward to seeing how winger Paul Fox fares in future games after he joined the club following five years with Cabinteely.
Fox was among those unavailable for Sunday’s encounter, along with Dan Tobin, Karl Fitzsimons, Paul Cleary, Kieran Murphy and Jack Doherty.
As well as Corcoran and Dobbin, new arrivals Cameron Power, Jack Connolly, Success Edogun and Ayman Yousif all featured in the action, along with three trialists.
One of the most pleasing aspects was the involvement of Evan Farrell from Piercestown, making his first team debut after progressing up through the ranks from Under-11 with the club. He is still eligible for two more campaigns with the Under-19 squad.
In their first game since being crowned First Division champions last October, there were understandable signs of rustiness from Tim Clancy’s Drogheda United, but they still have more than three weeks to sharpen up before hosting Waterford in their league opener.
The same applies to Wexford ahead of their opener at home to Cabinteely in Ferrycarrig Park on March 26. And they also learned during the week that their first away tie, one week later, will be in Limerick after Treaty United were granted a licence and now become the tenth team in the First Division.
A clean sheet will be regarded as a positive for the Drogs after they lost all six of their pre-season games last year, although victory was only secured late in the game thanks to a bizarre own goal scored by the unfortunate Daniel Dobbin.
With their most experienced signings Gary Deegan and Dane Massey both left out as a precaution owing to slight injuries, Drogheda’s starting XI had a familiar look, with ’keeper Colin McCabe the only newcomer as eight of last year’s regulars lined out along with Under-19s Killian Phillips and Mohammad Boudiaf.
Wexford also had a fair sprinkling of their 2020 squad on show, and it was Karl Manahan who was first to threaten with a sixth-minute shot that was blocked by a Drogheda defender.
That half-chance apart, it was the home side who looked the more dangerous for most of the first period, and Chris Lyons, Jake Hyland and Brandon Bermingham all narrowly missed the target with 18-yard efforts around the 20-minute mark.
Then Conor Kane lent support to the attack, controlled a long ball from the back and cut inside before forcing a save from Wexford ’keeper Tom Murphy low to his right.
Moments later Murphy batted away a powerful Mark Doyle effort and the rebound fell to Luke Heeney who blazed over the bar.
This was Drogheda’s best spell of the game and a dangerous counter-attack was snuffed out when Murphy showed brilliant awareness to advance outside his area and intercept Bermingham’s pass to Doyle with a well-timed headed clearance.
Either side of that incident, Wexford twice survived decent shouts for a penalty kick as Drogheda’s impressive young right-back Boudiaf seemed to be upended by Cameron Power before being pushed over by Charlie Smith in almost exactly the same spot close to the byline.
Yet Wexford almost snatched what would have been a shock lead on 41 minutes as their big centre-forward Success Edogun - a former under-age international in sevens rugby - saw his powerful angled drive superbly parried by Drogs ’keeper Colin McCabe, diving low to his right.
Drogheda made seven changes at the break, to Wexford’s two, and yet it was the visitors who struggled to adapt in the early stages of the second-half.
Jordan Adeyemo side-footed narrowly wide from a Ryan O’Shea cross seconds after their introduction and another of the substitutes, Dinny Corcoran, completely miskicked in front of goal as he tried to take advantage of hesitation in the Wexford defence.
Corcoran, making his first Drogheda appearance in a decade after signing from Bohemians, seized on another mistake and rounded his namesake in the Wexford goal, Jimmy Corcoran, who had come on for Murphy.
However, the ball rolled over the endline just as the striker hooked it across for Darragh Markey to tap into an empty net and Wexford were awarded a goal kick.
Bermingham and Corcoran both tested the visitors’ ’keeper from distance, and in between Adeyemo made a brilliant individual run into the box, only to lose his balance and blaze high over the bar.
Two of Drogheda’s new signings combined for their next chance as Markey’s corner was met by the head of Daniel O’Reilly whose effort grazed the post.
Then Markey rolled a quick free-kick to James Brown and the right-back, wearing the captain’s armband for the second-half, cut in from the flank and flashed a shot off the upright.
Wexford’s only shot of the entire second period came in the 73rd minute, but it nearly produced a goal as Daniel Dobbin’s powerful effort towards the top corner of the net was spectacularly palmed around the post by Drogheda’s second-half ’keeper David Odumosu.
The longer the game went on the more likely a 0-0 stalemate looked, but disaster struck for Wexford on 82 minutes when newcomers Dobbin and Corcoran got their wires crossed and the defender’s attempted back-pass rolled past the stranded ’keeper and into the empty net for an own goal.
Ironically, Drogheda had just been reduced to ten men, with Bermingham going off with a quad complaint after all their substitutes had been used.
It was desperately hard luck on Wexford, who played tidy football throughout and clearly wanted to begin their season with a big scalp, but if they can produce performances like that in the league then they should prove far more competitive in the First Division this season.
In skipper Conor Crowley they had one of the better players on the park. Drogheda native James Carroll anchored their defence well, and Murphy was unflappable between the sticks.
Edogun is something of a raw talent in the role of centre-forward, but his physicality alone should give opposition teams a few headaches when the First Division season kicks off in four weeks’ time.
As for Drogheda, they’ll be happy that Wexford gave them such a competitive fixture and it should stand to them as they prepare for this week’s second friendly against one of the First Division title favourites, Shelbourne.
Wexford will be back in action this Friday with another tough test against Premier outfit St. Patrick’s Athletic in Dublin at 7.45 p.m. They will also travel to the RSC to take on Waterford at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 13.
Wexford FC: Tom Murphy; Trialist 1, James Carroll, Kevin McEvoy, Cameron Power; Conor Crowley, Karl Manahan, Jack Connolly, Charlie Smith; Success Edogun, Jack Larkin. Subs. - Jimmy Corcoran for Murphy (46), Daniel Dobbin for Trialist 1 (46), Evan Farrell for Manahan (61), Ayman Yousif for Smith (61), Trialist 2 for Larkin (61), Trialist 3 for Edogun (61).
Drogheda United: Colin McCabe; Mohammad Boudiaf, Hugh Douglas, Jack Tuite, Conor Kane; Killian Phillips, Jake Hyland, James Clarke; Brandon Bermingham, Chris Lyons, Mark Doyle. Subs. - Luke Heeney for Clarke (19), David Odumosu for McCabe (46), James Brown for Boudiaf (46), Sam O’Brien for Douglas (46), Daniel O’Reilly for Tuite (46), Ryan O’Shea for Kane (46), Darragh Markey for Hyland (46), Dinny Corcoran for Lyons (46), Jordan Adeyemo for Doyle (46).