Drogheda United manager Tim Clancy believes his side has everything to play for in next week's second leg after they drew 1-1 with Finn Harps at United Park. The Drogs, who advanced to the next round of the play-offs by beating Shelbourne on pen
Drogheda United manager Tim Clancy believes his side has everything to play for in next week's second leg after they drew 1-1 with Finn Harps at United Park.
The Drogs, who advanced to the next round of the play-offs by beating Shelbourne on penalties on Monday night, took the lead through Ciaran Kelly only to be pegged back by Nathan Boyle's second-half strike with Clancy proud of his side's performance.
"I thought we were much improved," the Trim native explained post-match. "We played a lot more football this evening against a really good side, they finished only three points off the top and have beaten us twice this year.
"It was a tight game but I felt we had the better of it and it was frustrating to give the goal away. To have delivered that performance having played 120-minutes on Monday, I can only be proud of the lads."
Harps, who had a three week break going into the game, were caught cold by Drogheda as Kelly capitalised on a loose ball in the penalty area to fire home his sixth of the season with Clancy delighted with his progress.
"Ciaran is a massive player for us, he's a monster in both boxes but he probably doesn't get the credit he deserves for how good he is with the ball at his feet.
"Our team is very young. We had the likes of Ciaran, Conor Kane, William Hondermarck and Mark Doyle all out there on the pitch holding their own against seasoned pros."
Drogheda overcame a first leg home defeat last week to knockout Shels and the Drogheda boss is adamant that his players will show no fear at Ballybofey next week.
"The first thing I said to the players was that we're in a better position now than we were last Friday. I think we've built up some good momentum with our results in recent weeks and we looked more confident on the ball tonight.
"We're looking forward to the second leg. It's a big challenge but games like these are why we're all involved in football."
