Drogheda make no mistake

SETANTA CUP Cliftonville 0 Drogheda Utd 2GOALS either side of half-time from Eamon Zayed and Adam Hughes sealed a home draw for holders Drogheda in the Setanta Cup semi-finals at a freezing Celtic Park in Belfast last night.

Drogheda boss Paul Doolin, mindful of the fact that Cork City could still steal top spot in Group A, fielded a strong side against the Irish League side, who found themselves on the back foot almost from the first whistle.

The Boynesiders won no fewer than five corner kicks inside the first nine minutes, but failed to seriously test the Cliftonville defence at that stage.

Opportunities began to flow from the 17th minute when Zayed released Shane Robinson who shot across the face of goal.

Then Brian Shelley and Zayed combined to pick out Ollie Cahill and his measured shot from 18 yards drifted narrowly wide.

Zayed just failed to get on the end of a clever Adam Hughes chip, but on the half-hour Drogheda's leading scorer did get on the scoresheet, flashing a half-volley to the roof of the net from 15 yards after Shane Barrett's cross had been partially cleared.

On 54 minutes, Drogheda doubled their lead when Zayed released Cahill on the left flank and the veteran's centre was tapped in by Hughes.

CLIFTONVILLE:Connolly, R Scannell, O'Hara, M Holland, Hamill, C Scannell, Donaghy, B Holland, O'Neill, O'Connor, Patterson. Subs: Sweeney for M Holland (62min), Alexander for Hamill (67min), Pearse for Donaghy (69min).

DROGHEDA UTD:Ewings, Shelley, Tambouras, Gartland, Kendrick, Barrett, Robinson, Hughes, Cahill, Ristila, Zayed. Subs: Kuduzovic for Zayed (66min), Baker for Cahill (69min).

Referee:T Moutry (Belfast).