Clancy hoping Drogs can survive Cab investigation
DROGHEDA United boss Tim Clancy isn’t getting carried away by his team’s flying start to the season and is sticking by the mantra ‘one game at a time’ going into Friday’s clash with Cabinteely at Stradbrook (7.45pm).
The manager was hoping for a clean bill of health following the game with Finn Harps on Monday night (result not available as we went to press), both in terms of injuries and suspensions.
Going into that game Clancy was still awaiting the result of a scan on Sean Brennan’s knee, while Lee Duffy and Colm Deasy were both missing through suspension after sendings-off in against Wexford and Galway United respectively.
After scoring 14 goals in their opening two games, confidence in the camp was further boosted by the 2-2 draw against Galway on Friday last, especially after fighting back from two goals down and scoring the equaliser when down to 10 men.
However, Stradbrook was an unhappy hunting ground for the Boynesiders during their promotion-winning season two years ago, drawing 0-0 and then suffering a shock 1-0 defeat that almost cost them their place in the play-offs.
Cabinteely have had a poor enough start to their campaign, going down at home to Wexford on the opening night and also tasting defeat against Galway, Cobh Ramblers and then UCD last Friday, picking up their solitary win by a narrow margin in Athlone.
However, they did win away to current Premier high-flyers Waterford in pre-season, while in Stephen McGuinness they have an excellent goalkeeper who is no stranger to Drogheda fans.
Clancy was reluctant to look beyond the Finn Harps game following last Friday’s result against Galway but wasn’t about to start talking up Drogheda’s promotion prospects despite taking seven points from nine at the start of the season.
‘We’re three games in and without the comeback in the second half we could have lost that game,’ he pointed out.
‘So it is game by game. We’ve got a good squad of players, but it is a rebuilding year for us and we’re not setting any targets for ourselves this year and the club certainly aren’t setting any targets for me either.
‘I’m just hoping that we can get more fans through the gate. In regards to the first two games we’ve scored a lot of goals, but tonight the fans - you could hear them at the end - there was a lot of vocal support on the far side of the pitch and I think the neutral would go away happy with regards to that type of game.
‘It was a really good footballing game with a lot of excitement, sendings-off and everything.’
According to the official attendance figure, just 343 people paid in to watch Friday’s match against league leaders Galway and that must be a source of concern within the club.
That aside, Clancy was delighted by how his team responded in the face of adversity against the Tribesmen.
‘The first two games of the season we started the games really, really well, but I thought we never got a good start. We were on the back foot and came in at half-time and made a couple of changes and changed the system as well.
‘They probably sat back a bit - I don’t know - but we started really well in the second half. Chris Lyons nearly got in and scored - a great save by the keeper - and then we got a throw in and their keeper pulled off an unbelievable save low down to his right from Kevin Farragher.
‘I said at half-time, let’s see what the lads are made of. The first two games they were getting a lot of credit and a lot of plaudits - and rightly so because they performed really well in those games.
‘That was a big character test for them in the second half and I thought they were unbelievable and I couldn’t be happier with them.
‘I thought Collie [Deasy] was fantastic when he came on. I haven’t see it back yet, but I don’t think either were even free kicks. He was given two yellow cards for two tackles.
‘One of them was a good show of strength and I think he’s got booked because there’s a wall around the edge of the pitch and the fella’s gone into it. It’s not a free kick and the fourth official indicated that as well.
‘The second one, I’m 60 yards away from it, but as it’s gone back out to him you can see Collie’s got the ball and the ball’s gone into the box.
‘The referee has said he’s made contact with the player, but I don’t think either were free kicks. I don’t know if we can appeal it.
‘Gone down to 10 men was another character test and the way the lads reacted and we got the equaliser was absolutely fantastic.’
Meanwhile, Clancy is likely to turn to a combination of fringe players and Under-19 squad members for the rearranged EA Sports Cup first-round game away to St Mochta’s on Easter Monday (kickoff 5.30pm).
The fixture, originally a home tie for Drogheda, was switched to Porterstown Road because of floodlighting work and then postponed owing to an unplayable pitch.
The second-round draw has already taken place and the winners of next week’s match will be away to either Bray Wanderers or Shelbourne on Monday April 23rd.
Drogheda’s league match away to Shels, postponed from March 2nd, hasn’t been refixed yet.