Horgan’s men in good shape ahead of cup showdown
ROBBIE Horgan (pictured right) joked that he mightn’t be the most popular man around the Garden County after his Drogheda Town team confirmed a Wicklow club’s relegation for the second consecutive week.
With their own safety already secured, it was all about keeping the momentum going in Blackstone Motors Marian Park last Friday night, ahead of Town’s Lumny O’Reilly Cup quarter-final at home to Parkvilla tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7.45pm.
And it was a case of ‘mission accomplished’ as Horgan’s side registered their sixth win in 10 games to move to within touching distance of eighth-placed Manortown United, with one match still to play.
Their breakthrough goal arrived mid-way through the first half when Eoghan Breathnach swung in a left-footed corner kick onto the head of Bashmill Nyakambini whose powerful header took a slight deflection on its way to the net.
Enniskerry, looking for the win that would maintain their outside chances of avoiding relegation, levelled on 43 minutes when a long, hopeful ball into the box caused confusion in the home defence, leaving the Wicklow side’s forward with a simple tap-in.
Town felt their keeper Ronan Brown might have been impeded, but in the end it didn’t matter as the hosts restored their lead from a short corner routine in the second half.
Again, Breathnach provided the delivery into the box and this time Dean Smith nodded the ball into the bottom corner of Enniskerry’s net.
Victory was then secured by the home side when Polish player Kryz Witowski was brought down in the box and Neil Donnelly converted the resulting spot kick.
Horgan paid particular trib-tribute to Dean Haggins who,, he said had been virtually an ever-present this seasonn and was ‘exceptional’ onn the night.
DROGHEDA TOWN: Ronan Brown, Kevin Dunne, Dean Haggins, Bashmill Nyakambini, Eoghan Breathnach, Kryz Witowski, Daniel Kerr, Jevgenijs Kacanovs, Kwabana Boateng, Keith Boyle, Dean Smith. Subs: Andy Hickey, Lukasz Kouacuk,, Neil Donnelly, Paul Emmett, Leon Hughes,s, Vinnie O’Hare.