Cockhill look forward to Drogheda clash
Ulster Senior League champions Cockhill Celtic will head to County Louth tomorrow, Friday, to take part in their first ever FAI Cup game against Drogheda Utd at Hunky Dory Park.
Donal O’Brien’s men will be without striker and leading scorer Garbhan Friel (holidays) and centre half Oisin McColgan (injured), while regular left back Peter Doherty is currently sitting his Leaving Cert and may well be unavailable for the game.
However, O’Brien has managed to secure the services of both Brendan McLaughlin (Culdaff) and Matthew Henry (Finn Harps) and both players will go straight into the squad for Friday nights game against a struggling home side who have shipped 19 goals in their last four games, winning just one of their last nine games and losing eight.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent this week, Cockhill’s Gerry Gill believes the quality is in the squad to get a positive result. “Look anything is possible in football and I firmly believe that we have it in us to get a positive result,” said Gill.
When asked about how his side will approach the game on Friday night, Gill gave a very sensible reply. “We will treat Drogheda with the respect they deserve as they are a League of Ireland side but at the same time we will hold no fear going down there. “We will do our best to keep things tight in the opening twenty minutes and if we are in the game with twenty minutes to go then we will be quite happy as all the pressure will be on the Senior club,” said the former Finn Harps player.
Gill believes that Friday nights game is yet another opportunity for the players to show everyone what Cockhill is about. “It’s massive for us to be honest, we have played teams like Galway, Sligo, Mervue and Finn Harps in recent times and held our own and Friday will be a major opportunity for us to put the club on the map,” he said.
