Anthony McIntyre ⚽For this one, Paddy and Jay didn't make it.
While we were braving the chill of Drogheda they were sunning it up in Spain. I travelled with Ronan in our neighbour's car. He generously offers to take us there and back on those very rare occasions when Paddy is not available. His young son, who seems much more knowledgeable about soccer than the rest of us, made up the quartet and regaled us with an amazing amount of detail about the sport.
We split company at the stadium as our season tickets are for the Windmill Road side of the ground. The search procedure as we approached the turnstile was thorough. Normally for people my age it is a light pat down, even a pass. This reminded me of the rigorous daily British Army or RUC searches I had undergone on hundreds of occasions on the streets of Belfast. An Garda along with ground security seemed determined to get a grip on the flares that have all too frequently made their way onto the terraces and from there occasionally to the pitch.
This made big headlines for the sport, and adverse ones for Drogheda United, some of whose fans at a previous fixture at Oriel Park damaged Dundalk's newly laid artificial pitch through lobbing incendiaries onto the surface. The hope has to be that the descent of common sense and a concern for others, rather than the strict search procedure was what led to a flare-free game against Shelbourne. Well, at least from the Drogs fans. While I didn't see it or get a whiff of the fumes they emit, there were reports that a hand-held flare was ignited amongst the visiting supporters but was either extinguished or had burnt itself out before the kickoff.
At least for the match at Sullivan and Lambe we were allowed in. The four match ban arising from the Oriel Park flare-up applies to away games only. The club has had a hefty fine imposed on it, to boot.
Flares are not toys. They cause damage and injury as was so sadly evident from a twelve year old boy sustaining facial burn injuries at Oriel. They need to be cut out from fan culture altogether. Officials from the club, if they have not already done so, should engage in talks with the Ultras, whose primary purpose is to raucously support their team, not cause injury to supporters.
The game against Shels proved a lost cause for the Drogs. They scored too early, sat on the lead and ultimately lost it due to two second half strikes from the visitors. The Drogs, with two wins already under their belt for the season fell to a team who had not chalked up a victory until their visit to Louth.
When Brandon Kavanagh struck five minutes in, first there was trepidation, then confirmation that the Drogs would sit back. At one point I noticed six men across the back, leaving four to take part in a counter attack. No sign of urgency to provide much needed back-up.
There was not much in the way of attacking flair from the visitors in the first half, and when the whistle blew to end the first 45, there was relief that the home side had not conceded in the dying minutes of the first period when concentration can decline as the break approaches. That relief did not last long into the restart. Ninety seconds was all it took for the Shels to penetrate the Drogs last line of defence. At that point, the feeling began to settle on me that this would be three points lost.
The Drogs having played five, have taken seven points and dropped eight. Not quite the stuff of relegations rooters - they sit fifth in the table - but not a great start to the season.
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