Fair play to Drogheda

[inchicore_saint]

They done Irish football proud tonight and should have won.

[Con-Con]

Ya well done Drogheda:)

[topia]

well done drogheda, great effort, i hate this feeling though where you know it was within grasp and it just doesnt happen...

on another note am i losing the plot or is there really no mention of the result on the rte site (sports section? not that it would suprise any of us:rolleyes:

[topia]

its ok the report is there now! took their time though!

[Torn-Ado]

Anyone got the highlights?

I bailed out after Kiev's second and missed the drama.

[amjl]

Fair play to them is right. I don't think too many people would've giving them any chance at all to go over there & score 2. Pity about that late equaliser in the home.

[MariborKev]

Highlights?

Rico interrupting another ramble by Roddy about how the facts would show Kiev should have gone through.

"Facts tell you the results, they don't tell you the story"

Had he finished the sentence with "Roderick my dear boy" and produced a pipe I would have not been surprised.

[oldyouth]

Well done Drogheda. Congrats to all involved

[stojkovic]

Well done Drogs. So near yet...

[BohDiddley]

Well done Drogs. So close...

[Paddyfield]

Fine result Drogs.

I wonder if Doolin got a text message from Roddy after the game?

[skitz3]

I don't want to sound like Roddy here but fair play for what? They lost.

Moral victories don't get you jack sh*t and if we're willing to except them, then we'll never progress.

[Réiteoir]

BBC Radio Five here in the UK is featuring the game in every single one of their half hourly sports news roundups tonight.

And they've actually got the pronunciation of Drogheda correct as well

wp BBC - leading the way where the domestic press fear to go...

[old git]

I don't want to sound like Roddy here but fair play for what? They lost.

Moral victories don't get you jack sh*t and if we're willing to except them, then we'll never progress.

technically they drew but lost out on away goal .. but give them credit were credit is due it was a great performance and they were unlucky not to win it in the end... extremly hard to progress when you are coming up against teams with millions of euros to spend and have already spent ..... with drogheda resources they did the league of ireland proud tonight :ball:

[Nipper]

technically they drew but lost out on away goal

They lost 4-3 on aggregate.

Fair play to them though, they were definitely a credit to the league.

[A face]

Anyone got the highlights?

I bailed out after Kiev's second and missed the drama.

I missed the whole thing, the non believer that i am heard it was one nil and i thought that was that. Fair play to Drogs, looks like they could have snatched it as well.

But i have to agree with the above, the only thing good about it is the points we get from it. It is another stick the bar stooler will beat us with. The average barstooler doesn't care if it was a 'so close yet ..." .... truth be told they would knock us if Drogs did get through.

Is it getting closer though? Is this the real reason why LOI teams should never bow their heads when their backs are up against it at this stage of the competition? There is alot to be said for belief to be honest (dont mention Citys Euro run, i'm trying to suppress it from my memory still)

[Boh_So_Good]

Anyone who says the LOI is not up to Euro standard really is a total fecking moron. Well done Drogs.

Summer soccer works, the league of Ireland is rockin. We are within touching distance of the group stages now.

Screw the begrugers.

[dfx-]

Fair play to them for meriting a result on the same pitch as regular CL qualifiers but how many close unlucky misses can the likes of Drogheda afford? [/can of worms]

[amaccann]

So close and yet so far - one lucky deflection and it could be a very different morning we woke up to. I hope at the very least the media take their fingers out of their posteriors and recognise what Drogheda achieved. Fair play to them!

[A face]

So close and yet so far - one lucky deflection and it could be a very different morning we woke up to. I hope at the very least the media take their fingers out of their posteriors and recognise what Drogheda achieved. Fair play to them!

If it says it on the news feed then they will, if not then they will be oblivious to it. Lots will not even know the game was on.

[Saint_Charlie]

If it says it on the news feed then they will, if not then they will be oblivious to it. Lots will not even know the game was on.


They showed highlights on the 6.01 news. I'd imagine that has pretty high viewership. It'll be the big story on the back page of the free papers in the morning too i'll bet.

[mypost]

Rico interrupting another ramble by Roddy about how the facts would show Kiev should have gone through.

"Facts tell you the results, they don't tell you the story"

The facts are that Drogheda are out, but certainly put on a good show, and should have won it at the end. Roddy's claim to fame is Kaiserslautern's loss in Europe 10 years ago. Kaiserslautern qualified for the next round, but he must have overlooked those facts, as he hasn't shut up about them since. :rolleyes:

[gufcfan]

Anyone wanting to see goals can here

Click (http://www.rte.ie/live/?news)

It's the whole news so, it will vary how long you will have to wait to see the scores because it a stream on a loop.

I had problems getting the Windows Media Player version to work, but maybe it was just me. Click the Real Player link instead if so.

[sligoman]

Anyone wanting to see goals can here

Click (http://www.rte.ie/live/?news)

It's the whole news so, it will vary how long you will have to wait to see the scores because it a stream on a loop.

I had problems getting the Windows Media Player version to work, but maybe it was just me. Click the Real Player link instead if so.Or just click here (http://www.rte.ie/news/9news/) and scroll down to Drogheda draw in Kiev.

[Claret Murph]

OHHHHHH so close at the end , as a famous saying goes " if only " but they did really well . But one final thing as I do tip my hat to the lads who travelled out to Keiv I am sure you had a good time .

[Kingdom]

I thought it was funny that Roderick took under a minute to refer to the time he was in Europe with Bohs. :)

While there was a slight difference in techincal ability between the two teams, if Drogheda had of won yesterday it would have been merited. They battled well and were very dangerous down the flanks.
I thought Keegan played poorly for Drogheda.

Would it be fair to say that Drogheda aren't the best team in the League at the moment ? I'd have Bohs and Cork as better outfits, possibly Pats too, so by that reasoning its an even better performance.

There should still be optimism in the league here. It is good to see players like Joe Hendrick and Brian Shelley playing for our top teams at home. I would have known these guys from underage Ireland teams, and that should be the way to go, the underage players should be looking at the LoI as a viable career, rather than plumbing it at Aldershot or the like in the conference or CCL2.

[Duggie]

I was off yesterday so i watched the game thankfully. the drogs were brilliant. there fitness was unbelievable, chased all game but were still going like trains at the end. for all the chances kiev had over the two games drogs should have won it at the death. how hughes missed that chance is beyond me, i was livid !! they need a striker though, zayed isnt good enough IMO. they need a quigley or a mooney at that club. fair play also to doolin for sticking to his game plan and almost see it come off. great day for us EL fans.

[amaccann]

If it says it on the news feed then they will, if not then they will be oblivious to it. Lots will not even know the game was on.
Well it's on the front(!) of the back pages in the free daily newspapers so at the very least people will have known it took place & how well the Drogs played. I don't read any of them so can't comment how much / little praise they lavished

[bennocelt]

Drogheda did the league proud, abd were so unlucky
Come on, how may people on here gave them a chance at all?

If an Irish team can get to this stage every year then surely it it only a matter of time.

the draw hasnt been kind as of yet, and looking at some of the other teams that were out there (Brann, etc) im sure an LOi team will get to a CL place within the next 5 years, fingers crossed anyway

[amaccann]

In many ways it must feel that little bit more sickening; that rather than a "moral victory", you can look at that late goal conceded in Dublin and think "Oh god, it really DID cost us in the end".

[Duggie]

In many ways it must feel that little bit more sickening; that rather than a "moral victory", you can look at that late goal conceded in Dublin and think "Oh god, it really DID cost us in the end".

i dont look at it like that, like in fairness kiev had numerous chances over the two games. they would look at it as they should have won easily before the end of last nights game. drogs stuck in there and somehow could have snatched it. were getting there teams just need to believe in themselves. i still think an EL team are quite a bit off the group stages yet though. dont like saying it but to get past the 3rd qualifer will be a huge task.

[paul_oshea]

In fairness to drogheda it was a great battling performance with no little skill, watched it over here in an irish bar, and even the locals were getting into it in the last 10 minutes. In the back of my mind though, i remember drogheda had a great chance down the left when it was 1 - 1(i think it was still 1 - 1 anyhow), i think it was cahill down the left but not sure, there were 2-3 drogheda lads in the box, ALL he needed to do was lift the ball and he hit it low and straight into the defender, had he hit it a foot higher there were 2 lads free in the box. Thats the kind of stuff that they have to be getting right in these games, but yet they still didn't, the little simple things that make a huge difference. Also that miss by hughes at the end, sorry lads but there is no excuse he should have come over the ball rather than under and trying to place it, again unfortunately the cynic in me says thats the lack of experience these guys have/ability not to finish 1/1 chance instead of 1/4 chances....

Anyone fair play to them and the fans that travelled, never gave up, great to see that from an Irish team.

[Duggie]

In fairness to drogheda it was a great battling performance with no little skill, watched it over here in an irish bar, and even the locals were getting into it in the last 10 minutes. In the back of my mind though, i remember drogheda had a great chance down the left when it was 1 - 1(i think it was still 1 - 1 anyhow), i think it was cahill down the left but not sure, there were 2-3 drogheda lads in the box, ALL he needed to do was lift the ball and he hit it low and straight into the defender, had he hit it a foot higher there were 2 lads free in the box. Thats the kind of stuff that they have to be getting right in these games, but yet they still didn't, the little simple things that make a huge difference. Also that miss by hughes at the end, sorry lads but there is no excuse he should have come over the ball rather than under and trying to place it, again unfortunately the cynic in me says thats the lack of experience these guys have/ability not to finish 1/1 chance instead of 1/4 chances....

Anyone fair play to them and the fans that travelled, never gave up, great to see that from an Irish team.

id say drogs ratio was pretty good considering the had a limited amount of chances. 3 goals overall, not bad. how many chances did kiev miss....

[pineapple stu]

We are within touching distance of the group stages now.
I assume you're taking the mickey? Even if they'd beaten Kiev (who, let's face it, were hilariously bad), they'd still have had to beat Spartak Moscow, another team no stranger to the CL group stages. Hardly touching distance.

But even with the last gasp misses, it's a great result for Drogheda, dfx-'s comments aside...

[Magicme]

Wow what a nerve wracking game. Myself and my eldest were shaking with nerves for the last 5 mins. God help the Drogs fans!

I rang my brother who lives near Drogheda after the game and he hadnt even known it was on.

I think that it was a very important "result" for Irish football. People all over Europe will check the results on their aertel/sky sports news/newspapers and see 4-3 to some team from Ireland they possibly will never have heard of before and think that Irish football must be getting good if they can almost turn over a team who have a great history.

Proud day and was so gutted. Well done Drogs.

A drog mate of mine on holidays text me last night saying it was so hot where he was that he was sweating like a Kiev manager! :D

[GuisaSaigon]

Well done Drogs, unlucky.

[inchicore_saint]

It was great to see an Irish team play so well away from home against top opposition.Drogheda looked fit weren't afraid of Kiev and really wanted to win, we will beat them on Sunday though.

[diamond]

you are one bitter b stu......cant even give credit when due to drogheda.......kiev that bad huh??? :rolleyes:and you watch ucd :eek:

btw you are some shower of bitches on here..constantly moaning about the media, rte, crying about games not being on the tele, no one giving us a chance

and then most of you say you didnt watch it.........or worse turned it off after kiev scored:confused

i never come on here to criticise people but i have had enough of your bitching. am starting to believe that you only support an EL team as an excuse to give out.....when we make real progress you'll probably go support your local curdling team and then moan that they are not on the back pages.

BTW- Drogs were fantastic over the two legs against a team of real pedigree. we should have won last night and i find it hard to believe that i left two games against kiev gutted that we didnt win.
drogs fans in kiev were brilliant all 150 of us.......we often get criticised for attendances but the drogs fans are all hardcore....better than a few fickle ones and then 20 at away euro matches

[jebus]

Anyone who says the LOI is not up to Euro standard really is a total fecking moron.

How do you reckon? Can you point out the Irish club that will be in this years Champions League or Uefa Cup proper to prove that Irish clubs are up to the standard?

How does one positive outing from Drogheda (well done by the way) mean more than one negative outing from Cork (:D by the way) when taking stock of the LoI in Europe in 2008?

[Duggie]

i heard doolin say something that brought it home the other day.
drogheda are full time 3 years, and were competing with clubs like kiev etc......massive clubs with huge pedigree and money/resources. we need to get real, were light years behind but were going in the right direction. lets not run before we can walk. real EL supporters know the score.

[CuanaD]

i hate this feeling though where you know it was within grasp and it just doesnt happen...

me too
I screamed me heart out at the TV yesterday when we (thats the League 'We') had those 2 great chances at the end to dump out Kiev, but this morning I wake up with an empty feeling - we missed a great chance to get closer to the group stages again & I worry how long we will have to wait till the next chance is taken

- - hopefully that'll be Pats v Elfsborg this month tho :D :ball: - eternally optimistic me.



listened to Stuart Byrne on 106 after the game - he made a lot of sense - berated people (Roddy) who still say the league hasn't improved - said that it had improved a lot in the past 5 years

[all drogged up]

couldn't agree more with Diamond. You lot always have something to bitch about.

here are some facts
Drogs are out of champs league
Drogs played 4 great games but could have done better (I was at 3/4 of those btw)
Kiev are regulars in Champs league group stages and indeed it was evident that they were technically and physically a better side but at the end of the day this is soccer and heart matters in soccer
some reports claim this could have been the biggest result in irish soccer history - wrong! Shels made it a stage further before and were even in with a chance against a La Liga side with only 30mins to go - we need high standards to aim for
ELoI is not the best league in the world and we are still a mile off group stages but progressing closer to it
When we do manage a group stage position we'll likely get hockeyed every game the first time around
Roddy Collins is a jerk of the highest order but is great for TV
All Drogheda supporters are extremely proud of the team
I think it's also fair to say that everyone associated with the club had realistic expectations of last night but none of them had given up the tie at any stage until the final whistle yesterday
Drogheda need a goal-getting striker
Coverage of the league could be better granted but two live games of champs league qualifiers when we were still a full round away from qualifying isn't bad.
irish Times on a saturday have detailled reports on all games - remember folks combine ELoI weekend attendances wouldn't match a decent inter-county GAA game (it's not nice but it's true)

less of the facts
Drogs were amazing and yeah a defeat is a defeat but Dynamo Kiev are european legends; 2 cup winners cups, 10/11 of the last seasons in group stages
4-3 is a fcukn super result. Neither Cork nor Craptown would have managed that :)
next year (UEFA cup reallistically) we'll (Drogs - not speaking for the league) make a third round

[the ox]

Rather predictably by noon the next day, it's tucked away on the RTE website, there are six soccer stories above it. Now if Liverpool had played Kyiv in a qualifier...

[back of the net]

Anyone who says the LOI is not up to Euro standard really is a total fecking moron. Well done Drogs.

Summer soccer works, the league of Ireland is rockin. We are within touching distance of the group stages now.

Screw the begrugers.

fantastic result for the drogs - congrats to the club and their fans - they have done irish soccer proud and hopefully the LOI can build on this.

over the last few years imo LOI has not been up to the euro standard , but like i said hopefully last nite's fantastic result can pave the way for the LOI to get to that standard

congrats again drogs

[pineapple stu]

some reports claim this could have been the biggest result in irish soccer history - wrong! Shels made it a stage further before and were even in with a chance against a La Liga side with only 30mins to go - we need high standards to aim for
In fairness, the game against Depor wasn't really a "result" per se, and I'd have a win against Kiev much higher than a win against Hajduk Split.

[stann]

Just want to add my congrats to Drogs for a superb performance.

Not going to get into what this means or doesn't mean, just that on the night they were brilliant. Never gave up, and should have won by two. Christ, Hughes should spend the rest of his life trying to kick himself in the hole (and missing). :D
Must be particularly galling for Drogs fans as it wasn't a case of what might have been, but a case of what absolutely nailed-on no question should have been.
Fair play though, a credit to the league.

[TheBoss]

It was a great game and result for Drogheda. To draw 2-2 at Kiev is a unbelievable result even if Kiev in control, they still had to finish off Drogheda, which they did not do, showed a lack of respect in that sense, allowed Drogheda to back into the game twice and almost paid for it.

To analyse the game, first half, Kiev had a lot of the ball, they only had 3 good chances in that half, Kravets placing the ball wide from about 5-8 yards, and Aliev's 2 shots(Goal and Post). Second half, Kiev's best chances were 2 free kicks and a penalty, they could not break Drogheda down in open play.

[TheBoss]

Just found this picture:
http://www.fcdynamo.kiev.ua/imgzoom.php?filename=/download/gallery/cnt/70/503/10808.jpg

[gspain]

Yet another great performance from Drogheda in Europe. Yet another heartbreaking defeat. I thought losing to Start on penalties was tough but ......

Well done.

[Blue Man]

Missed the game as im in the States, but seen the highlights on the web. How unlucky can you get?? From reading the posts on Hughes' miss I thought he was a few inches out with the ball at his feet, but those ones can be tricky first time. I think he seen the headlines and snatched at it. A bad miss, but we've all seen them.

And as for the other chance that trickled over the post?? Heartbreaking. But all in all, a superb performance and they really done the league proud and had they gone through, I honestly think they would have had a fair pop at Spartak. Kiev in fairness looked shaky (I saw the 1st leg) but you cant argue with their pedigree.