American trialists offered Drogs deals
DROGHEDA United have offered contracts to American trialists Joe Efford and Ryan Masch but might only be able to sign one of them to remain within budget.
Both players have impressed in friendlies over the past seven days, with Joe Efford scoring twice in the home game against Cabinteely on Wednesday - 24 hours after Masch did likewise against Irish Premiership club Ballinamallard United.
The Drogs have won all four of their pre-season games to date, scoring 14 goals and conceding three - most recently defeating Wexford Youths 2-1 at Carlow IT on Friday night.
But they will likely face their toughest test to date when they host fellow Premier club Limerick this Wednesday (kick-off 7.45pm). Admission will be €5, with only the Windmill Road end of the ground open.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, assistant manager John Gill said he was delighted with the way pre-season has panned out so far, and how the two Americans have made an impact.
‘They are two lovely guys who want to do well, they have adapted very quickly to our game and they have both been offered contracts,’ he began.
‘We would be fairly confident of getting one of them over the line, but I don’t know if it’s feasible to sign both because of budgetary constraints. Pete [Mahon] won’t put the club in jeopardy for the sake of personal gain.
‘It’s been a good week for us. We got a lot of game time into everyone - at least 90 minutes for every player - and we won a few games which helps confidence even though it’s pre-season.
‘The players have all come back in great condition and worked really hard, and we’ve had no injuries so far which is a miracle and a credit to our new physio David Cooke.’
With four friendlies completed and only the Limerick game and the following week’s Leinster Senior Cup tie at UCD to come before the league opener, Gill agreed that the management team are beginning to get a clear picture of how they might line out against Galway United on February 24th.
‘I would say Pete has a 75% idea, but a number of positions are still up in the air, so the Limerick and UCD games are going to be very important in terms of guys putting up their hand and forcing their way into the team.’ Efforts are still being made to secure one more friendly, possibly this coming weekend.
Meanwhile, the management team will be anxiously awaiting news of Richie Purdy and Colm Deasy, both of whom are in the Under-21 home-based squad for a training game against the Ireland amateur international team at the AUL Complex this Saturday.
In addition, recent signing Conor Kane was due to travel out to La Manga in Spain on Tuesday with the Under-19 Republic of Ireland squad for a week-long invitational tournament which sees the Irish take on Norway, Portugal and Slovakia.