Pats plunge Drogheda closer to relegation
ANY lingering hope of Drogheda United pulling off the great escape from relegation surely dissipated deep into stoppage time on Friday with Conor O’Malley’s miraculous save from Adam Wixted.
A draw against St Pat’s would have left the Boynesiders five points from safety with nine games still remaining, but now the gap is eight and it seems that an immediate return to Division 1 is inevitable.
Overall, Drogheda can have no complaints. The table doesn’t lie and the brutal reality is that they have been the worst team in the Premier Division in 2017 - but it wasn’t that way at the beginning of the season.
Pete Mahon had done wonders to put together a good squad on what was probably the lowest budget in the top flight, and there was genuine hope and belief that Drogheda could put up a good fight against relegation - even after it emerged (controversially) that three clubs would go down.
But very quickly that squad began to disintegrate.
Injuries certainly took their toll. Key men like Killian Brennan (broken collarbone), Gavin Brennan (ankle ligaments), Richie Purdy (hamstring) and Stephen Elliott (various knocks) have missed large chunks of the campaign and three of the centre-halves have spent extended spells on the sidelines.
But perhaps even more damaging were the decisions of four players to leave the club of their own accord. While Marc Griffin hardly set the world alight during his time at United Park, the losses of Killian Brennan - shortly after regaining fitness - Sean Thornton and Gareth McCaffrey robbed Drogheda of the quality they so desperately needed.
The fact that Killian lined out against his home-town club on Friday night - and showed he is still a top-class footballer - only served to make his recent departure harder to swallow.
Last week’s signing from St Pat’s, Jack Bayly, made his debut in Drogheda colours, with Wixted dropping to the bench in the only change from the previous week’s defeat in Galway.
In the opening seconds the home side came out all guns blazing as Thomas Byrne launched into a challenge on Michael Barker and the ball ran loose to Sean Russell who fired over the Pats crossbar from 25 yards.
However, very quickly Drogheda’s weaknesses at both ends of the field reared their ugly head. With just three minutes on the clock Killian Brennan lofted a corner kick towards Kurtis Byrne on the edge of the box and he was afforded far too much space as he rapped a shot against the crossbar.
The next two scoring opportunities fell to Drogheda, but Chris Mulhall mis-judged a long-range chip and then Thomas Byrne scuffed a poor effort into the hands of O’Malley after possession was carelessly given away by Lee Desmond.
Pats immediately attacked and the ball was worked along the right flank to Conan Byrne whose cross was turned against the bar by Christy Fagan.
Within seconds the visitors made the breakthrough as Jordi Balk played the ball long to Conan Byrne who got in behind Conor Kane and centred for Fagan to stroke an easy finish past Stephen McGuinness.
Drogheda worked a couple of half-chances in response, but Mulhall sent a mis-hit shot trickling through to O’Malley before failing to control the ball in the box after Byrne had flicked on a Russell free kick.
Another opportunity wasn’t taken when Kane released Bayly who got in behind Desmond and crossed from the byeline, with no takers at the unguarded back post.
By comparison, Pats always looked the more dangerous going forward and another counter-attack instigated by Graham Kelly and Conan Byrne ended with a pinpoint cross that neither Fagan nor Kurtis Byrne attacked in the air - much to Conan’s consternation.
Just before half-time Lloyd Buckley popped up on the goalline to boot away a Conan Byrne header as Pats remained the better side.
However, the longer the game went on the stronger Drogheda grew - seemingly buoyed by their opponents’ failure to kill the game off.
Admittedly, they didn’t work O’Malley enough, and in the early stages of the second half there was a reluctance to commit numbers forward, as evidenced when the lively Bayly probed just outside the box but had only Byrne up in support.
Russell fired over from 25 yards before planting a corner kick to the near post where Byrne mis-judged his attempted glancing header and the ball sailed harmlessly wide.
Kane and Byrne then worked a lovely one-two, but Bayly failed to trap the left-back’s cross and Pats cleared their lines once more.
Coming up to the 70-minute mark the visitors should have put the result beyond doubt as Fagan sent a weak header straight at McGuinness and the keeper then made himself big to deny Conan Byrne who had time to pick his spot.
Jake Hyland’s 71st-minute drive was Drogheda’s first shot of any significance on target, but even it was easily dealt with by O’Malley and Russell then sent a free kick narrowly wide after Killian Brennan had needlessly bundled over his younger brother Sean just outside the box.
For the first time in the game Pats were being pressed back and Luke Gallagher got a near-post flick to a Wixted corner, only to see the ball bounce wide.
On 86 minutes a Thomas Byrne shot ricocheted to Wixted who ballooned his shot over the bar from 15 yards, and it was Wixted - the club’s top scorer this season with three goals - who had the game’s final opportunity in the dying seconds from almost the same spot.
Kane provided the cross from the left and as the ball pingponged around the box Wixted pounced and struck a venomous shot that had goal written all over it, only for O’Malley to produce an unbelievable instinctive save, tipping the ball onto the crossbar.
Drogheda restored some much-needed pride with their performance, but still it wasn’t enough as St Pat’s took a step towards safety and effectively condemned the Boynesiders to the backwaters of Division 1.
The table doesn’t lie and the brutal reality is that they have been the worst team in the Premier Division in 2017 - but it wasn’t that way at the beginning of the season.