Deasy hoping to go all the way in marathon series
COLM Deasy’s one of the many survivors of Drogheda United’s play-off triumph from two years ago and he’s hoping that winning in St Colman’s Park again will prove to be a good omen for the class of 2018.
But the right-back admitted that there was still a long road ahead for the Boynesiders in terms of securing promotion as they prepare to face Shelbourne in the first of what will be three two-leg ties if they go all the way.
With the first leg at United Park not taking place until Friday week, Deasy isn’t looking too far ahead and in the immediate aftermath of last Saturday’s victory he was still reflecting on the achievement of finishing fourth in what has been a hard-fought league campaign.
‘Thank God we’re in the play-offs,’ he began.
‘Going into the game it was important to get the win, we were raring to go and we got a good start. We couldn’t have asked for more than getting a penalty in the first five minutes - delighted with that.
‘Doyler [Mark Doyle, who won the penalty] had a fantastic game, so fair play to him, and the rest of the lads had a great game and it was a good result in the end.
‘We weren’t worried about Longford. We just went out to win the game and it didn’t matter about their result. Had we lost today it would have been a lot to take in, but thankfully we didn’t.’
In the end Longford didn’t get the win they needed in any case, and so Drogheda would have been in the play-offs even if they had lost, but it would have been the longest of winter breaks had the Boynesiders’ season ended in the third week of September.
‘When we got up we got a bit of food and I was saying to the lads, compared to other seasons, it doesn’t feel like the end at all.
‘Hopefully now we get the six games and get up, and that’s what we’re aiming for. We’ll look at Shels next week and see how we can get the better of them.’
The impact of losing manager Tim Clancy and director of football Dave Robertson - both banned for four matches - has turned out to be minimal as Kevin Doherty has led the team to successive victories.
‘It’s good for Kevin. He’s been a rock this season, he keeps Tim settled and keeps us settled and had a very good record, and he’s getting the best out of us. We’re more organised than ever, so hopefully we can keep it going,’ Deasy reflected.
And as he prepared to depart St Colman’s Park - hopefully not to return next year! - Deasy recalled a great night at the same venue back in 2016 when the Drogs beat Cobh 2-0 at the start of what proved to be a triumphant play-off series.
‘Two years ago we were here and Gareth McCaffrey scored a fantastic goal - a free kick, I remember.
‘We were laughing on the way up here. We stopped in the same hotel as we did the last time. We had the same meeting and the whole lot and it was good that we went out and got nearly the same result.
‘We like travelling down here - we got a good win here earlier in the season - and they’re not an easy team to play by any means.
‘We’re looking forward to the play-offs now and hopefully we’ll get a good run in them this time.’