Drogs’ day as Cobh cup run ends
DROGHEDA UNITED……………………5
COBH WANDERERS……………………1
Daire Walsh
THEY gave a good account of themselves at United Park, but Cobh Wanderers were ultimately defeated by Drogheda United in the second round of the FAI Cup last night.
A brace of first-half goals from Shane Elworthy placed Drogs in the driving seat, and even though Cobh’s David Stack cancelled out a Chris Mulhall strike in the second period, a late flourish ensured that the Louth men advanced to the next stage.
In an effort to stifle the Drogheda attack, the Wanderers midfielder sat deep early on, but they suffered a set-back when winger Martin Deady was forced off through injury in the 11th-minute to be replaced by Stack, and Wanderers breathed a sigh of relief moments later, as Kyle Downing headed a Conor Kane cross against his own post.
Mulhall and lively full-back Kane had opportunities for Drogheda in the 17th and 23rd minutes, but goalkeeper Michael Devine (an FAI Cup winner with Cork City in 2007) was on hand to turn both attempts away from the target.
The hosts continued to offer the greater threat, though, and they opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark. A corner from the right was lofted towards the far post, where defender Elworthy headed beyond Devine.
This was a confidence boost for the Premier Division outfit, and after Devine parried a Jack Bayly drive on 44 minutes, Elworthy doubled his tally with a smooth finish from the resulting rebound.
As a result, Cobh were staring into a two-goal deficit when the play resumed. Devine came to their rescue with an outstanding point-blank save from Stephen Dunne after the restart, before Mulhall increased Drogheda’s lead with a deft flick from an enticing Elworthy delivery after 54 minutes.
This looked set to place the outcome beyond any doubt, but straight from the kick-off, Wanderers gave themselves a fighting chance. A precise pass by midfielder Michael O’Shea put Stack through on goal, and he shot superbly to the bottom right-hand corner of the Drogs goal.
A Drogheda triumph still looked like the most likely outcome heading into the closing-quarter, but following a dangerous cross by fellow substitute Alan O’Flynn, the increasingly-prominent Stack was narrowly wide of the mark in the 69th-minute.
However, this was as close as Cobh came to reducing their deficit to a minimum, and late goals by Mulhall and replacement Thomas Byrne helped Drogheda to add some gloss onto the final scoreline.
DROGHEDA UNITED: Stephen McGuinness; Shane Elworthy (Lloyd Buckley 89), Stephen Dunne, David Mulcahy, Conor Kane; Richie Purdy, Jake Hyland; Adam Wixted (Ryan McEvoy 82), Jack Bayly, Sean Russell (Thomas Byrne 71); Chris Mulhall.
COBH WANDERERS: Michael Devine; George Keating, John Meade, Brendan Frahill, Kyle Downing; Stephen Griffin (Alan O’Flynn 64), Dave Curran, Michael O’Shea, Martin Deady (David Stack 11); Ian Stapleton; Conor Meade (Jason Abbott 77).
Referee: Robert Harvey (Dublin).