06 August 2010

St. Patricks Athletic v Drogheda United

Match Report

Airticity League of Ireland
Pats 2 Drogs 0

This one wasn't going to be easy. With our lenghty injury and suspension list, it was down to the bare bones for Brian and Darius as they prepared to meet the a high-flying St. Pats team at Inchicore.

The Drogs starting eleven featured seven players who have come through our youth system. Ciaran Hoey and Stephen Murphy joined Mick Daly and Eoghan Osbourne at the back and we fielded a youthful midfield of Kevin Ross and Ryan Brennan in the middle and Pete McMahon and Ronan McEnteggart on the flanks with Flood and Fitzy up front.

The steep learning curve our young players are on was evident right from the start with Pats pressing and our players trying to make their mark on the game. The signing of Robert Duggan has certainly given us a solidity at the back that we were lacking earlier in the season. After Pats initial pressure we seemen to be finding our feet when after 21 minutes a bit of slackness on the left allowed Pats to score. They added a second after 29 when the linesman seemed to be flagging for offside. So, two down after 29 minutes, we had an impossible task in front of us.

However apart from the goals we did an admirable job in containment and every member of the eleven showed up well. The nearest we came to scoring in the first half was when Damien Lynch's deflection was wide of the post.

In the second half te youthful Drogs side again applied themselves well, lacking nothing in effort and passing the ball well. We came close to scoring when a great first-time ball across the box from Pete McMahon was met by an in-rushing Kevin Ross who saw his shot go narrowly wide. Substitute William Woods, returning from a long injury lay-off, also forced Gary Rogers into a fine save.

This match was a taste of things to come for Drogs fans and with the right blend of youth and experience the only way is up for us.

Team: Duggan, Hoey, Murphy, Daly, Osbourne (Kierans 72) Ross, McEnteggart, Brennan, McMahon (Meenan 75), Fitzpatrick (Woods 73), Flood.