MARCUS CAVAROLI Dramatic late winner spares Doyle blushes
SEAN Brennan’s stunning goal against Shelbourne took him level with Mark Doyle at the top of Drogheda’s scoring charts and no one was more relieved with that late winner than Doyle himself.
Moments earlier Doyle skied a routine chance high over the crossbar as he continued his own recent drought which now extends to six matches, with just one goal scored in his last 12 appearances.
‘He got me out of jail big time, so I owe him that one,’ he smiled shortly after the final whistle on Friday night.
‘Jake Hyland was doing it all night, winning frees - he’s clever that way - and Seanie is the only man you want over that after what he’s done this season. It was an unbelievable free kick.
‘I think we played well on the night, were the better team and deserved to win, so it’s a great result and I’m glad to get the win.
‘We know we have quality and even though we haven’t been scoring as much as we have been, it would have been a sting in the tail not to go and get the win.
‘To be fair to us, last week we played well and today again, and even in Longford we were unlucky and they were two games I don’t think we should have lost.
‘We’re not scoring as frequently as we were, but we’re still doing the right things, getting into the right positions, and we’re back to winning ways tonight.
Next on the rapidly dwindling list of remaining fixtures is what should be a home banker against rock-bottom Athlone Town, but Doyle cautioned against any complacency creeping in.
‘We’re not looking too far ahead,’ he insisted. ‘We’ve Athlone this week, so hopefully that’s another three points and then we’ll see from there.
‘But anyone in the league is potentially a banana skin. It’s never easy, but if we go about out business properly and do what we’re capable of, we should win.’
The clubs’ previous meeting at United Park would tend to back up that latter theory as the Boynesiders won 6-0 on that occasion - the opening game of the season - although the Athlone squad has changed considerably since then and only two starters from the game in Drogheda featured in their 3-1 defeat by Cabinteely last Friday.
Doyle himself scored twice in that opening-day win - he and Brennan both now have eight goals for the season - and might have completed a hat-trick that day had he not been substituted with more than 20 minutes remaining.
Clearly, Doyle would love to put an end to his recent barren spell, although it’s not for the want of trying and against Finn Harps last Friday week he himself had six goal attempts.
Indeed, there are other players in the same boat also as Chris Lyons (six games without a goal), Gareth McCaffrey (11) and Lee Duffy (11) are all looking to get back among the scorers.
‘I’ve hit a bit of a dry spell at the moment,’ Doyle agreed.
‘I don’t know what’s going on. At the start of the season I was scoring a lot, but I just have to keep working and trying to get into positions to score. It’s one of those things.
‘We’re wasting chances, me especially, but I think we’ll be alright if we keep going. Hopefully this will drive us on and get us into the play-offs, but we’re just taking it game by game.’