Drogheda Water Polo’s final league game of the season ended in a heartbreaking single goal defeat at the hands of defending champions St Vincents in a hard fought match in the NAC on Sunday.
In what was a classic encounter between two very evenly matched teams, the first quarter set the tone for what turned out to be an intriguing clash.
Stout defence was the order of the day in the opening exchanges and Drogheda’s robust approach drew the ire of the referees with Alex Crosbie and David Murnaghan both spending some time in the sin bin, but St Vincents’ efforts were thwarted on both occasions by some excellent defending and goal keeping.
However, the Dubliners did break the deadlock when Matthew Hynes drew first blood. Moments later Conor Johnston was binned for Vincents and teenage sensation Alex Tapu drew Drogheda level. A lot was at stake for St Vincents in this match as dropped points of any description would have handed the title to North Dublin.
As a result the tension seemed to get to the normally laconic Vincents Head Coach Fernando Perte who saw yellow following an exchange with the ref. Not to be outdone Drogheda’s James Healy quickly followed into the book as he showed his displeasure with what he would term ‘wayward’ decisions.
The rest of the quarter was once again dominated by excellent defence on both sides as neither could manage to get their noses in front.
The second quarter saw Vincents ramp up a gear a bit more than Drogheda and the balance of decisions against the Boynesiders seemed to stack up as they were forced once again to defend two more extra man plays following the exclusions of Teige Kelly and Simon Heffernan, but their defence held out both times. However it was finally breached when Matthew Hynes made no mistake from the penalty spot and Tiernan Colvin finished off an extra man play to stretch the Vincents half time lead to 3 -1.
Critical moments followed early in the third quarter as Drogheda pressed to get back in the game. Firstly Shane O’Brine in the Vincents goal saved a penalty and with the following play Drogheda did find the net only for the goal to be controversially chalked off as the shot clock was adjudged to have gone off before the ball left Aidan Mullaney’s hand.
Drogheda’s woes were further increased as Cillian Colvin stretched the lead to three after Luka Olitskii was shown a straight red for an above the water strike, before Drogheda clawed one back through Hudson Grieve following a well-executed extra man play.
Vincents’ two goal cushion was trimmed to the minimum with the first attack of the final quarter when James Winters made no mistake. Game on.
Hynes’ second of the match once again brought the advantage to two before a Teige Kelly effort beat O’Brien to drag Drogheda right back into the contest. Danger man Hynes once again found the way past Adam Child with three minutes left on the clock before Grieve’s second of the afternoon set up a grand stand finish.
With Drogheda pushing really hard to draw level, coach Healy called a time out with 41 seconds on the clock, trying the unusual tactic of playing the keeper in attack to form a 7 on 6 opportunity. This almost had the desired effect as firstly a Conor Johnston exclusion quickly followed by a penalty on the same player handed Drogheda a gilt edged chance to draw the match only for O’Brien to agonisingly save Aidan Mullaney’s effort to ensure the win for the Dubliners and keep their title hopes alive.
All in all a positive display from Drogheda as they prepare to face the same opposition in the Irish Senior Cup in Bangor next month. Meanwhile Drogheda could still have a say in where this year’s league title goes as they face off next Sunday against North Dublin who have a 3 point cushion over St Vincents as both teams play their last matches of the campaign.
Drogheda: Adam Child, Alex Crosbie, David Murnaghan, Aidn Mullaney, Teige Kelly, Andrew Healy, Luka Olitskii, Simon Heffernan, Finn Hanley, Alex Tapu, Pearse Branigan, James Winters, Hudson Grieve.
