Horgan joy at Drogs dream result

Drogheda United provided the biggest upset on the opening night of the SSE Airtricity league season as they defeated Louth rivals Dundalk 4-1 at United Park.

 

It was the perfect start for new manager Robbie Horgan, who was promoted from assistant manager at the end of last season following the departure of Mick Cooke.

 

“I couldn’t even have dreamed of that result,” said Horgan in the aftermath of the game.

 

“All the credit must go to the players though; I thought they were magnificent particularly in the second half. Dundalk started the brighter, missed numerous chances and it was important that we hung on. Once we got the goal, we began to control the game.”

 

The Boynesiders took the lead against the run of play on 38 minutes through an expertly taken free-kick from Eric Foley (watch it below). The Donabate-born midfielder was re-signed by Horgan in the off-season despite limited appearances last year.

 



“Eric has outstanding ability and it’s not the first time that he has produced a finish of that quality. He was probably just warming up with a couple of similar efforts he had just before then. No keeper would have saved that free-kick tonight.”

 

An incident in the tunnel between the sides at half-time resulted in referee Derek Tomney producing red cards for substitutes Philly Hughes and Simon Kelly. However, the Drogheda manager believes that this event may have had a bigger impact on Dundalk than his own team.

 

“It seemed to have affected Dundalk more than it affected us. I didn’t have the greatest view of what happened. There was some shouting and pushing and it seemed to drag on for a couple of minutes and then the referee produced a couple of yellow and red cards. I’ve never seen anything like it as there were about 40 people involved and it was probably for the best that it happened behind close doors.”

 



A second half double for Declan O’Brien brought the veteran’s career goal tally in the league for Drogheda to 99 but Horgan is still expecting more to come from the 34 year-old.

 

“I would like to see ‘Fabio’ hold the ball up a bit better and bring players into the game but it is very difficult to criticize a player who has scored twice. If he keeps doing that every week, I will be happy. He’s renowned for his goals and that’s the reason why he’s in the team.”

 

The only blemish on the night’s performance for Drogheda was the injury to Micheal Schlingermann, the goalkeeper suffering a pulled quad muscle, and the dismissal of Gavin Brennan five minutes from time for a late tackle on Stephen O’Donnell.

 

“I thought the red card for Gavin was harsh. I think he was trying to take one for the team by stopping a threatening Dundalk attack. There was certainly no intent or dangerous play involved. We will have a look at it again before deciding whether to appeal it.”

 

With his side top of the table following the first night of the league campaign, is the former Drogheda and Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper getting carried away with what his side could achieve this year?

 

“It’s a great start but that’s all it is. Our expectations for the season haven’t changed. We have a difficult game coming up against Crumlin on Monday in the EA Sports Cup and we need to show them the same respect we showed Dundalk tonight before Bohemians away on Friday.“

 

Eric Foley's goal from a free-kick

 

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