Mahon hopes Sligo point is a line in the sand for Drogs

SWEDISH rock band Europe’s monster 1986 hit blared from Sligo Rovers’ Tannoy system after the weekend draw with Drogheda United - and this Friday does indeed mark ‘The Final Countdown’ as the last series of Premier Division games begins at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway (7.45pm).

The Drogs find themselves still bottom of the table, but at least they ended a run of four straight defeats at The Showgrounds and Pete Mahon hopes the result marks a turning point in every sense of the word.

It emerged in the aftermath of Saturday’s game that midfield star Sean Thornton had left the club during the week, having previously indicated that he would stay until the end of the season before taking up a coaching position with Rathmullen Celtic in the North East League.

Following on from the previous departures of Killian Brennan, Gareth McCaffrey and Marc Griffin, this was another high-profile exit that Mahon could have done without, and a fifth straight loss would surely have put the manager’s own future firmly in the spotlight.

As it happened, the Boynesiders collected a rare point on their travels and now there’s a more optimistic atmosphere as they go in search of a repeat of their opening-day win away to Galway United.

‘Maybe, going into the last round of games, it’s a line in the sand,’ Mahon commented on Sunday afternoon.

‘I’m hoping that was the first step towards getting back to where we want to be. There’s been a lot of disruption basically, and it’s best left unsaid. The players are gone and we are going in a different direction to try to rescue what appeared to be a lost cause until last night.

‘We can’t work much harder, but now we feel we’re getting more cooperation and we’re going to give it a right good go.

‘We are capable of winning three or four of our home games and if we can get one or two away that would give us a great chance of staying up.’

Galway will have been inactive, competitively at least, for two full weeks by the time they face Drogheda, having beaten Limerick 3-1 in their last outing, and having previously accounted for Dundalk on their own patch they will prove to be hard to beat.

A win for Drogheda would lift them above the Tribesmen, while a defeat could see them cast well adrift if St Pat’s pick up a result in their game against Bray Wanderers.

Having not won in 12 attempts, the time is surely now if the Boynesiders are to give themselves a realistic hope of staying up.

‘It will be a hard ask going up there,’ Mahon commented.

‘They are much the same as Sligo, a full-time team who for one reason or another find themselves fighting for survival, so if we can get a positive result it would be good for us and set things up nicely for the Pats match.

‘I identified six matches ago how I thought there were games coming up that we could win, but now that’s down to two and we have to start trying to win games.

‘I think the draw in Sligo was a fair result. They put us under a lot of pressure and had a lot of corner kicks and free kicks, and we had to defend really well. We had a golden opportunity right at the death, but it would have been harsh on Sligo if that had gone in.

‘The performance was up, but it had been poor and there had to be some kind of an improvement. I was glad for the players because it has not been easy, the last couple of weeks, and I don’t think it’s been easy for the supporters either.’

Gavin Brennan, Ciaran McGuigan and Kevin Farragher will remain sidelined through injury this week, but there are hopes that Richie Purdy and Ryan Masterson might be available.

The news on Sean Brennan, who hobbled out of Saturday’s game, is better as his injured ankle is not broken, and he will be assessed at training during the week.

At times like these, it would surely be useful to have Sean Thornton to call upon, but Mahon wasn’t about to criticise the former Sunderland star.

‘Sean gave it all he could when he was there, but he struggled a bit in the last couple of weeks.

‘He was not getting as much game time as he wanted and he told me last week it might be better if he brought it forward [retirement], but I wish him well.’

•Champions League football of sorts returned to United Park last Thursday morning as Drogheda United, in association with the d Hotel and the Hops Bar, welcomed Rosenborg for a light training session, following the Norwegian giants’ 1-1 draw against Dundalk in Oriel Park the night before.

I’m hoping that was the first step towards getting back to where we want to be. There’s been a lot of disruption basically, and it’s best left unsaid. The players are gone and we are going in a different direction to try to rescue what appeared to be a lost cause until last night