After drawing with St Pat’s Athletic to preserve their lead at the summit of the Premier Division, Drogheda United manager Kevin Doherty felt it was his side’s best performance of the season so far.
It finished scoreless at Sullivan & Lambe Park in a game where the hosts created the better of the goalscoring chances. That was enough for Doherty to heap praise on his players as they continue to defy expectations, this after many pundits predicted Drogs would be otherwise engaged at the other end of the table.
“A lot has been made of our start but I thought today was our best performance of the season,” the coach told RTÉ Sport.
“We drew with the champions Shels on Friday and then drawing with Pat’s, who were favourites for the league at the start of the season.
“Would you be better of losing one and winning one? No. We’ve only lost one game in 11 and that was against Rovers, a game where we missed a penalty in the last minute. I think we’ve been excellent. Today was a really good performance.
“All everybody talks about is our shape, sitting in our block and keeping that shape, but I thought we pressed Pat’s high and played some good football. We looked the more likely to score. I’m not saying Anang (Joseph) was making saves in the top corner the whole time but we got into loads of good positions and maybe one or two decisions could have gone our way. Overall, I think we deserved to win the game.”
Of course the question that Doherty is now being asked is whether his side can continue to be the pacesetters. Time will tell but the Drogs boss is relishing the run the County Louth club have been on since the season began, adding that his squad are giving him everything.
“It’s the best position to be in,” he remarked. “We’ll keep going but it’s a ridiculously competitive league. It’s a mad league at times but it’s a brilliant league.
“We’re loving it, the league is on the up and there is no better place to be. We’re not getting carried away, 11 games gone but we’re happy with how we are competing.
“Players are giving me everything. There were players on that pitch today who were in the First Division last year, bit-part players, who have come here and have put in performances week after week, day after day. The amount of people who have told me ‘you have to freshen it up’ and I know the lads are tired but I knew they’d get through today’s game.”
One of Doherty’s gems is attacker Warren Davis. Prior to the clash with Pat’s, Davis had found the net in four consecutive games. The Tallaght native is clearly enjoying his new role leading the Drogheda line.
“Full-time football and a change of position,” he said were the factors behind his improved scoring return.
“Last year I was playing as a left-winger, played the majority of the first half of the season on the left. I’m playing up top now because of injuries. I’m enjoying it because I’m scoring goals, as any striker should.”
Echoing the comments of his manager, Davis, who has represented Ireland at U-19 level and stated “it would be an absolute pleasure to play for the U-21s” felt the tie with St Pat’s was “definitely the best we’ve played this year”.
And the Tallaght native sees no reason why Drogheda can’t push on.
“We’re going to fight in every game. It’s a competitive league, everybody is beating everybody, but if we play the way we did today I don’t see why not.”
St Pat’s boss Stephen Kenny did not mince his words when saying that his troops did not deserve to get the three points on offer from their trip up the M1, a marked contrast to the performance he witnessed against Shamrock Rovers on Good Friday.
“That Shamrock Rovers 2-2 was a rip-roaring contest, very tactical game, lots of chances and very open football,” he said.
“From our point of view, we were disappointed, we didn’t deserve to win. We found Drogheda a very tough opponent on a tight pitch. They had a gameplan and were very effective. They were hardly any chances in the game but we struggled to find a rhythm in our play from a creative sense.”
Going on to further praise Drogheda’s effort, Kenny added: “They are up there on merit and have a way of playing that is very effective. They have pace up front and every long throw you have to defend because they have serious height in the team. They are difficult to play against and it’s up to us to find a way. Today we didn’t create chances which was in complete contrast to Friday’s game.”
