HATS OFF ON A DEISE-NT PERFORMANCE AT THE RSC

 

When the final whistle blew 7 days ago, I was amongst the chorus of very anxious boos as Drogheda somehow managed to snatch all 3 points in Dalyer (PSG fans know our pain)
We had almost 3 times more  passes than the opposition, but we were like a dog chasing it’s tail, while a cat with a limp leg, just stood there staring at us.
The fact that our only proper chance on goal in the first half, came via a  deflected head of a Drogheda player, forcing a great save from Luke Dennison – truly summed up just how awful a night it was.
For their goal. Our defenders were renacting scenes from The National Wax Museum, by the looks of things.
(The Referee being a 12th man for Drogheda, giving them countless number of Free Kicks for no apparent reason, did not help our cause either)

Given the quality we have in our squad, we rightly expected a lot more;
But last Monday night was akin to being seated in a Michelin Star Restaurant and being served badly burnt toast.
So as I prepared to exit the home of Irish Football, others shared my fears our star studded squad would be baaaing like the proverbial lamb to the slaughter down in Waterford.

But thankfully, how wrong I and so many others were!
I could not make it down to the match, but from what I saw it certainly encouraged me somewhat,
We bossed the game in large parts and set a beautiful tone early on courtesy of a “worldy” from the hat-trick hero Colm Whelan, who rifled the back of the net from some way out.

A scary thought in the round:
The two penalties were 100% warranted and we deserved to get them;
However had such incidents occurred at home v Drogheda, I genuinely fear the Referee would have waved them away.
Serious question:  Who is supposed to referee our referees and why do they not seem to be raising the flag when the stary offside?

If you had told anyone last November that 5 games into the 2026 season, Drogheda United would be top, Waterford 2^nd and Derry City bottom – They’d have urged you to demand a refund from the Fortune Teller.
This has made things very exciting for the neutrals and has seen higher attendances across the board which is great.

Next week we are back by the Camac, as we play many pundits tip for the title Saint Patrick’s Athletic.
I have a funny memory of the time we once beat them 1-0 in Inchicore in a top of the table clash.
When we scored every Bohs fan – bar one -  was wildly celebrating.
The exception was our beloved Barry, whose newly bought chips and coffee were knocked to the ground in the celebratory melee.
As everyone else chanted the goalscorers name, Barry with hands outstretched in despair was oblivious to it all as he repeated “7 feckin euro, that cost me… 7 feckin euro”
 Both sides are brimming with talent, but underperforming overall thus far, with both lying in mod table.
How both sides would dearly love to get Another 3 points on the board, to put their title bids properly back on track.

With  - on paper at least -  top notch strikers and swashbuckling midfielders on both sides, we could be treated to a goal fest on Friday night.
However given the topsy turvy displays from both sides in their last 5 outings, we could be watching 11 men behaving as if they were in a giant bath, sinking down a swirling plug hole.

So us Bohs fans will get another signpost to indicate as to whether another little shop of horrors awaits this season; or that the team has finally blossomed as we sprout into genuine title challengers.
Thank you Colm Whelan for restoring some faith, and making us Bohs cautiously daring to believe that we might finally have turned the corner,