League Preview: Shelbourne -v- Drogheda United

• Graham Russell
• Mon, Jun 04 2018




The two form teams of the SSE Airtricity League First Division meet as third-placed Shels host second-placed Drogheda United at Tolka Park on Monday evening (kick-off 5pm).

 

SHELBOURNE

Following on from their 4-1 home win against Wexford on Friday night, Shels come into this Bank Holiday Monday game in buoyant form.

A strike from Shane Farrell, a Derek Prendergast brace and an Owen McCormack own goal meant Shels extended their unbeaten run to seven games in the league, which solidified third place in the process.

Manager Owen Heary was quite happy with the performance against Wexford in his post-match interview and challenged his men to put on a good show against the team directly above them in the league table on Monday.

“It’s a massive game,” said Heary about Monday’s match. “Drogheda got a good win against Cabinteely on Friday and they won down in Galway recently too, so we know they’re a decent team.

“They’ll be coming here full of confidence but if we play like we did on Friday night, hopefully we’ll get the three points”

Heary has no injuries to contend with for his sides eigth home league game of the season.

A win against Drogheda today would leave the Reds only a single point behind their opposition, therefore a win would be of great importance for Shels.

 

DROGHEDA UNITED

Drogs come into this game with top of the table within their sights and off the back off a 2-0 home win against Cabinteely. Chris Lyons and Mark Doyle got a goal in each half, which kept them only two points behind UCD as a result.

The win was their fourth in a row and boss Tim Clancy was pleased with his side’s progression, when speaking to his club’s official website on Sunday. 

“It’s been some response from the boys since the Finn Harps defeat last month,” said Clancy. “Since then we’ve played four, won four and kept a clean sheet in each game.”

33-year-old Clancy knows that their Drumcondra hosts will be a tough challenge and anticipates a hard game for his charges.

“We’re probably the most two in-form teams in the division at the moment. They gave us a really tough game a few weeks back and deserved the point on the evening.

“I think the onus will be on them to bring the game to us so we’ll have to be resilient and play our football when the opportunities arrive”

 

Referee: Derek Tomney.

 

MATCH STATS

The sides have met twice this season, the games taking place within four days of each other. Shels won the first meeting, an EA Sports Cup Second Round clash at Tolka Park, which finished 7-2 to the hosts.

Four days later, the sides played out a 1-1 stalemate at United Park in the league.

David O’Sullivan is Shels’ top scorer in all competitions with 14 goals while Mark Doyle is leading Drogheda’s scoring chart in all competitions with seven goals.

Shelbourne’s last five league games; WWDDD.

Drogheda’s last five league games; WWWWL.

 

BETTING

Shelbourne 6/5; Draw 23/10; Drogheda United 15/8

 

PREDICTION

Shelbourne 2-2 Drogheda United

 

Shelbourne

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: James Brown.

 

Drogheda United

Injured: Stephen Meaney.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

 

Derek Prendergast scored twice on Friday as the Reds swept @WexfordFC aside to move up to third in the table.

We host second-placed @DroghedaUnited tomorrow at 5pm in a six-pointer at the top of the table. How else would you spend your bank holiday? pic.twitter.com/idZFVkU9pT

— Shelbourne FC (@shelsfc) June 3, 2018