Dean Williams on the double as Drogheda trounce Athlone

Drogheda United booked their place in the second round of the FAI Cup as First Division basement boys Athlone Town fell victim to a rout

Fri, 29 Jul, 2022 - 21:50

Barry Landy

Drogheda United 5 Athlone Town 1

Drogheda United booked their place in the second round of the FAI Cup as First Division basement boys Athlone Town fell victim to a rout at Head In The Game Park.

The gulf in class was evident from kick-off as both sides competed under a sprinkling of rain at the Windmill Road venue. First half strikes from Adam Foley, Dean Williams and Darragh Markey all but ended the game as a contest. Williams netted again and Ryan Brennan completed the scoring for the home team.

United have only managed to reach the quarter finals of the cup once in the last eight seasons so a run to the latter stages will surely be high on the list of Kevin Doherty's priorities, especially with their league position a relatively comfortable one at present.

Foley netted a first career FAI Cup goal inside four minutes. Gary Deegan produced a deft dink onto the head of the striker, who made a diagonal run across goal. He beat his marker and goalkeeper Vladislav Velikin to plant a header into the net.

United were dominant throughout the first half but their second goal arrived in farcical circumstances, from the visitor's point of view at least. Velikin claimed a low cross and dropped the ball with a view to kicking out. However, he didn't spot the lurking Dean Williams who stole the ball and rolled it into an unguarded net.

Markey fired in from the edge of the area in first half injury time and he created Williams' second after the break, forcing a save from the goalkeeper and then squaring to the striker for a simple finish.

Ryan Brennan's header completed the scoring on an evening that is as comfortable as Drogheda will have it all season.

However, Athlone did muster a response before the end. The lively Matty McCarrick took his consolation goal extremely well.

DROGHEDA UNITED: McCabe; Poynton (Noone, 62), Quinn, Cowan (Massey, 46), Weir; Deegan (Brennan, 46), Nugent; Foley (Grimes, 57), Markey, Rooney; Williams (Lyons, 57).

ATHLONE TOWN: Velikin; Duffy, McBride (Spain, 89), Van Geenen, Kelly; Lennon (McCarrick, 66), Connolly (Jones, 46), Hickey, Oluwa (Dolia, 80); Armstrong; Barnes (Omochere, 89).

Referee: Adriano Reale