Drogs ⚽ Sligo ⚽ Just About

Anthony McIntyre ⚽The game against Sligo was looking promising for the Drogs.

The visitors circling the drain at the bottom of the table, grateful for the bottleneck provided by Cork blocking their descent, would remember their 7-0 thrashing when they visited last August to a home side that was itself then desperately trying to avoid the drop. In their last three visits Sligo had conceded twelve goals to Drogheda's one. On paper, low hanging fruit, there for the taking. Just that grass is not paper.

Once through the turnstiles - they let me into the ground even though I had forgotten my season ticket: familiarity does not always breed contempt! The badge strewn beanie helps as well - Tony, the ever present steward, asked how the young fella who makes the predictions saw this one going. Jay felt Drogheda would emerge comfortable winners, predicting a 2-0 outcome. I wasn't so sure, sensing that a draw was the most likely result. There have been so many of them that wags quip 'Drawada'.

In the end the Drogs won 1-0 but it was far from comfortable. They held on tenuously to the same low branches they thought they could just pick the fruit from. Sligo will have made the lengthy return journey to their Connacht base camp feeling that they should have taken all three points in a match where they left empty handed.

It was a win Drogheda both needed and appreciated. Too many draws to be effective title chasers, it cements their position in the upper reaches of the league table, some distance off the relegation zone. Vastly different from last year where at one point it looked certain that the drop was precariously opening its jaws to devour Drogheda United and fertilise the lower league with what remained. Kevin Doherty has turned that around and now has the credentials of a serious manager. So, when Drogs fans see a space open up elsewhere as in Shelbourne due to the surprise departure of Damien Duff, there is a touch of trepidation that Doherty might be tempted to throw his hat into the ring. The chance to manage one of the big Dublin teams has a certain allure to it. Against that, there is a sense that Drogheda rather than Shels are on the up, and that hopefully the grass in Tolka Park doesn't look greener than what is sprouting at Sullivan And Lambe.

Settling into our seats, we absorbed the evening sun, appreciating the difference that it made from the previous week when two days played host to a wash out. Drogheda reputedly the least rain troubled spot in Ireland found itself on the end of a status yellow rain warning. None of that mattered on Friday evening.

The distance from Sligo militates against a large away crowd travelling into Leinster for the games. The Garda Public Order Unit doesn't even turn up as they do when the Dublin teams are visiting.

I now watch Sligo turn out with a heavy heart due to the passing of my closest of friends, Alfie Gallagher, with whom I would attend matches in the Showgrounds. Together, we would make a day and a night of it. The irreplaceable Alfie left a vacuum that simply cannot be filled.

The game had barely got off when the Drogs took a lead as early as the third minute courtesy of a rare league goal from Douglas James Taylor. Jad Hakiki dwindled on the ball longer than was prudent, allowing the industrious Warren Davis to steal it from his toe and advance before delivering the sweetest of passes to DJT. After that their touch deserted them. Opportunities in front of goal were squandered when it seemed easier to find the net.

Luke Dennison didn't get man of the match but he should have. A string of fine saves is what clinched it for Drogheda. But when a goalkeeper is man of the match, or is a serious contender, it says a lot about the type of pressure his side is under. The outfield players while appreciating such a display will at the same time be left uncomfortable by it. The question poses itself as to how the opposition managed to reach the last man standing so frequently.

We left the ground relieved but feeling a bit like bandits, claiming all the booty from an ill gotten gain. The Drogs allowed Sligo too much possession. Huge chunks of the game is played in the Drogheda half. Not dominating the ball, while sitting back trying to absorb the pressure that allows those with the ball to exert, has become a trait that needs only one chink exposed. Then, all too easily, three points can become one, or even less.

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