04th June 2010

Drogheda United v UCD

Match Report

FAI Ford Cup
Drogs 1 UCD 2

The Drogs bowed out of the FAI Cup at Hunky Park tonight, losing to the visiting UCD side by the slenderest of margins. A Cup defeat can be disappointing, but, based on our display of tonight, there are plenty of positives to take from the game despite the loss. Having had precious little time to prepare the team to play in a different manner, temporary manager Darius has almost immediately reshaped the style of play and eliminated the calamitous defending and lack of penetration in midfield.

With Paul Crowley reaching four yellows, he was suspended for this one and was replaced in the middle by Mick Daly, and away we went and the most noticeable thing about it was that we were competing right from the start, and if ever there was a player who epitomised the new era it was Ryan Brennan, who is rapidly becoming one of our most important players. He harrassed the UCD left full back and left midfielder for every second he was on the pitch. A short second behind him was Eric McGill, whose effort and commitment for the last few games have been second to none. John Flood continued up front with Garreth O'Connor and Mick Daly just behind him.

The visitors were denied the space to create openings and after surviving a scare on 9 minutes when the ball rolled along the goal line following a wicked deflection we had a good chance on ten minutes when Flood headed just wide from a Kendick corner - a great chance missed. On 21 Flood had another good chance blocked out and at the same time we were tackling and tracking back very well and our hard work paid off when in the 34th minute, Mick Daly rose majestically to head into the net for the lead goal.

But we only held the lead for 5 minutes and UCD broke strongly on the left and poor defending let them in for a soft equaliser. But we got our heads back up quickly and got back into the game. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Ryan Brennan, who had given his all in the hot conditions, felt unwell and was replaced by Jamie Duffy. It was a very even match at this stage and we were trying to keep it tight and track back, but on 75 UCD swooped down the left and poor defending again allowed them to score from an acute angle, and we were left with a difficult task against a very resilient side.

Two minutes later a good Flood shot was blocked out and five minutes from time Jamie Duffy's shot was tipped over brillantly by the keeper. This was the best we could do, but on another night it would have been enough, but tonight was not our night and we can console ourselves, not on Dundalk's result, but on the fact that we have a team which is trying hard and playing with purpose.

Team: Skinner, Treacy, Osbourne, Kendrick, McNally, B & E McGill, O'Connor (Fitzpatrick 84), Flood, Brennan (Duffy 60), Daly.
Subs not used: Murphy (P), Kerr, Kierans, Murphy (S), Smyth.