WIN KEEPS DROGHEDA UNITED U20S ON COURSE TO REACH ELITE PHASE

DROGHEDA UNITED 3

BRAY WANDERERS 0

DROGHEDA United picked up another valuable three points against Bray Wanderers at DIFE last Saturday to boost their challenge for a top-three finish in the EA Sports Men’s U20 League of Ireland Group A.

The result puts the Boynesiders in second place in Group A and on course to finish in the top three and therefore qualify for the Elite phase of the U20s League.

After beating St Patrick’s Athletic the previous week the challenge was to repeat that achievement, and with three teams tied in third place – St Pat’s, Derry and Finn Harps – the competition for those top three places is very tight and every point will count when it comes to the end of this phase.

Bray had the better of the first 10 minutes as the home side started a bit passively and weren’t playing with their usual intensity.

As a result they weren’t winning the battle or the individual duels, but Emre Topcu helped turn the game. He covered a lot of ground, won numerous second balls and got his team going in the first half and then started creating chances for the front three.

That helped the midfield take control of the game. Callum Warren and James Byrne looked very comfortable in that vital sector, both with and without the ball, winning tackles, covering a lot of ground and making some important interceptions.

It helps that the midfield trio have developed a good understanding with each other. They can all play in any of the three positions in the middle and interchange well without losing any balance.

However, it was Killian Cailloce who opened the scoring after 28 minutes with a stunning strike from outside the box after an excellent interception from Warren found him in space and with time to shoot.

Eighteen-year-old striker Cailloce has made an impact for Kevin Doherty’s side when coming off the bench and now has two goals in two games for the U20s.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given that he’s involved with the first-team squad, Cailloce was withdrawn after 61 minutes, but his replacement Bridel Bosakani made an impact straightaway.

He pressed Bray’s defenders every time they were on the ball, which they struggled to deal with, and then finished off an excellent move team move to extend Drogheda’s lead.

The move started from a throw-in from Ethan Maher and Byrne and Warren exchanged passes before releasing captain Osaze Irhue who switched the play with a sweeping pass to Ultan McLaughlin.

The left-back’s brilliant first-time pass released Conall Cronin down the left and his pinpoint cross found Bosakani who applied the finishing touch.

The icing on the cake arrived in the 82nd minute when Warren scored directly from a corner after the movements of the Drogheda players confused their Bray counterparts, allowing the ball to arrow straight into the net.

Drogheda: Finn Moore, Ultan McLaughlin, Osaze Irhue, James Byrne, Conall Cronin, Callum Warren, Harry O’Connor, Ethan Maher, Evan Haddock, Emre Topcu, Killian Cailloce. Subs: Ryan Maher, Dylan Murphy, Tadhg Dunne, Cameron Feehan, Oluwafayosayemi Nel Adeogun, Bridel Bosakani, Altay Guneyer.

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2024-04-15T09:10:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd