19.45 22 Apr 2016 -
Referee:
League Preview: Waterford United -v- Drogheda United
- Dave Donnelly
- Fri, Apr 22 2016
WATERFORD UNITED
Waterford United aim to bounce back from a humiliating 7-0 defeat to Munster rivals Cork City in the EA Sports Cup when they welcome Drogheda United to the RSC on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).
Having stabilised somewhat after a nightmare opening to the season, with three straight wins over UCD, Cabinteely and Rockmount, the Blues are winless in four and have slumped back to sixth place, two points behind their visitors.
Manager Roddy Collins will be without midfielder Eoin Rhodes again as he completes a three-game suspension, but will have fit-again striker Philly Gorman back in contention.
"We'll have Philly Gorman back which is a massive plus,” Collins told the club's website.
“We know what to expect from Drogheda because we matched them in the second half on the opening fixture of the season and should have got a point.
"We are naive at the back and we got a set back when Willo McDonagh got injured in a car crash before we signed him.
With the budget we have we never got the opportunity to sign someone like him and that's shown by the amount of goals that we've conceded. We score goals but we will have to tighten up at the back. ”
The game will mark an emotional farewell for long-time club chairman John O'Sullivan, who is to step down following the game.
Collins added: "We want to win the game for John 'Sullivan because he is the best chairman I have ever worked for here in Ireland and England and Malta. We owe him big time and the player's who line out on Friday know that also."
DROGHEDA UNITED
Drogheda United have struggled for consistency so far this season, suffering heavy 3-0 defeats to both Limerick and Shelbourne, but they hit better form with a battling 2-2 draw at UCD last week.
Away from home for the second successive week, Pete Mahon's side know a win could lift them as high as second should other results go their way, and they'll take confidence from their 2-1 victory in the corresponding fixture on the opening day.
“We conceded two sloppy goals and it would’ve been very easy to have lost the game but the players never gave up despite the adversity,” Mahon told's the club's website.
“We went there with the intention of getting the three points but I think a draw was a fair result. UCD are a really good team and hopefully it’ll prove to be a valuable point.”
Mahon has a full squad to choose from as captain Sean Thornton returns after a five-week absence with an ankle injury, and the Dubliner has targetted bettering their nine-point return in the second series of games.
“We will be looking to greatly improve our points tally over the course of this set of fixtures. We should have more points on the table given the quality of some of our performances and nine points is a poor return in truth.
“The players know each other better now so that will obviously help. We will need to pick up results over the next few weeks as we don’t want the likes of Shelbourne and UCD getting ahead of us in the play-off spots.”
“There’s been some turmoil around [Waterford United] this week but that’s when a side can be at its most dangerous. You would expect a reaction from them considering their results this past week and we need to be wary of this.
“It was a tight game when we met on the opening night and it’s never an easy trip given the distance but Waterford can overtake us with a win so there’s plenty of incentive to get a result.”
Referee: Simon Rogers.
MATCH STATS
2016 marks the first time in ten seasons that Waterford United and Drogheda United have operated in the same division.
Drogheda won the first meeting between the sides back at First Division level as first-half goals from Sam O'Connor and Eoin Kirwan were enough to carry the day despite Eoin Rhodes pulling one back after the break.
BETTING
Waterford United 9/5; Draw 9/4; Drogheda United 13/10.
PREDICTION
Waterford United 2 – 3 Drogheda United
Waterford United
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: Eoin Rhodes.
Drogheda United
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.