Drogs ⚽ Waterford ⚽ Points Shared

Anthony McIntyre ⚽ While a typical Drogs result, the game was a great one to watch. A roller coaster that started with a down and ended with one - but in between, worth every cent.

In the car on our way to the ground we went through the usual pre-match routine with Jay making his prediction. 2-0 to the home side was how he saw it unfolding. I wasn't so sure. On paper, home advantage against the side at the bottom of the table pointed to only one outcome - three points to Drogheda. But there remained that chivvying thought: two weeks earlier Waterford recorded their first win of the season when they put the Drogs to the sword on their own turf. I went for the draw.

We arrived early, too early in fact so we took our seats higher up the stand so that we could hide better from the sun which as the day extends assails us for longer. It still caught us. That is the one disadvantage of switching to the Windmill Road side of the ground. But Irish weather is of the type where there is no point in complaining because it will change in fifteen minutes anyway. To boot, given the lack of sun shine to bathe these shores, it is not as if it will play havoc with our vision for all the home games. I guess it will be something of a rarity unless there is a god and he is the type the hate theologians worship, one as hateful as themselves, and then he will torment us with heaven fire from the sun for having the temerity not to believe in him or delude ourselves that such a fiend is capable of love.

If the sun had been doing its job properly it would have spared us the sight of a goal just fifteen seconds into the game which left us stunned. A team conceding barely seconds after the kickoff, is not exactly a confidence building measure. The air went out of the Drogheda support base in one single sight of disbelief. In my sixty plus years of attending soccer matches, Tommy Lonergan’s strike is the quickest goal I recall witnessing

Things got worse when the visitors took a 2-0 lead. A poorly defended corner kick easily converted by Kevin Long put Waterford in a commanding position, the absence of Conor Keeley sorely felt. Kevin Doherty, in his technical areas, must be receiving oxygen, I felt, apoplectic with rage he must have been. He later commented that “I don’t remember us being 1-0 down after 15 seconds before.' The fans are hoping it is the one and only time they too will have a memory of it.

Yet, while there is a dearth of quality in this Drogheda side the same cannot be said for its character. The team soon rallied and stabilised. A Mark Doyle header before the break followed by a Shane Farrell drive after it saw the home side pull level. And when the captain stooped to head home a well placed cross it looked as if the home side was truly home and dry. It wasn't to be but the goal that ended up denying Drogheda all three points four minutes before the end of normal time from the cultured boot of Benny Couto, was of such quality that it was well worth the watching, A twenty yard dipping ball that could perhaps have been better defended but lost none of its beauty because of that.

Drogheda were fortunate that Bohemians did them a favour at Sligo. Had the Bit of Red produced the form that saw them win at Tallaght the Claret and Blue would be second from bottom right now. The Drogs are now in eighth place when a victory would have shuffled them up to sixth. Still, a valuable point gained even if it is the only point Drogheda have taken from the Blues in the past two outings, with the latter notching up four.

Coach, Kevin Doherty expressed relief after the game that the brief summer sojourn is kicking in, allowing his injury hit side some respite. In recent games the coach has been considerably short of a full deck so has been forced to take to the field with a weak hand and it has shown in some underwhelming performances.

Time now to play a few aces.

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