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Drogs retain Setanta Cup after shoot-out drama

Saturday 12th May 2007, 7:51 pm

The Setanta Sports Cup.

Photo by Tom Carey.

Drogheda United have retained the All Ireland Setanta Sports Cup after holding their nerve to beat Linfield 4-3 in the penalty shoot out at Windsor Park, Belfast in today's final. The game had finished 1-1 after ninety and then one hundred and twenty minutes.

Stuart Byrne scored the decisive penalty in the shoot out after goalkeeper Mikko Vilmunen had saved the last two of Linfield's kicks.

The game had followed a similar pattern to Linfield's semi-final win against Cork as they soaked up Drogheda pressure with the League of Ireland side dominating early proceedings.

Linfield keeper Alan Mannus picked up the man of the match award and had to be on top form to keep a rampant Drogheda at bay. The keeper saved well in the early going to deny Shane Robinson after Ollie Cahill's cross had eventually found its way to him.

Had Eamon Zayed been more accurate with his 17th minute shot then maybe things would have been different. Chasing in on Declan O'Brien's magnificent through ball, Zayed curled a shot past Mannus but crashed it against the base of the post. Following in, Robinson fired wide under pressure.

Stuart Byrne had the Drogheda fans celebrating just after the half hour after his driven shot beat Mannus but despite looking in from some angles, the ball flew just wide.

Despite spending almost the entire first half on the back foot, Linfield might have taken the lead but Glenn Ferguson headed just over from a Mark Dickson corner.

It was more of the same after the break as Mannus cut out a dangerous Robinson cross and he saved again as Zayed scuffed his shot after pressurizing the home defence into losing the ball.

The deadlock looked certain to be broken after 56 minutes when Paul McAreavey was beaten by O'Brien's pace but as he attempted to get back, the Linfield man brought down the Drogs skipper.

Up stepped Damien Lynch but Mannus dived to his right and saved Lynch's decently struck spot kick. Mannus saved again after the hour to thwart Byrne's long range shot after O'Brien had forced William Murphy to play a weak ball across pitch. The Drogs skipper was injured in the move though and overall five of the six substitutions were made to replace injured players - Brian Shelley ended up struggling through extra time in visible discomfort.

Having been boosted by the heroics of their keeper, Linfield stunned Drogheda on 67 minutes. Murphy headed a corner kick back across goal and McAreavey out jumped Byrne to head in.

The only unenforced change of the game arrived in the 77th minute as Paul Keegan, surprisingly left out of the Drogheda starting eleven, came on and set up the Drogs equaliser with his first touch. Robinson and Keegan combined to play in Tony Grant with the striker firing a snap-shot past Mannus to make it 1-1.

Graham Gartland was brave in the Drogs box to make a last ditch block against McAreavey and both players were left to feel the effects of the jarring move in the closing ten minutes. Keegan might have won it before the 90th minute but he just couldn't connect with Robinson's dangerous left wing cross.

Extra-time was more about survival than anything else as both sides displayed weary legs. Murphy headed straight at Vilmunen and Linfield had shouts for a penalty when a poor Damien Lynch clearance caused Drogheda problems with the ball eventually striking Stephen Gray on the arm.

Zayed shot straight at Mannus in the second period of extra-time after a good Grant flick while Dickson outpaced Gray before Gray fought back to block.

And so, the shoot out arrived. Vilmunen came close to stopping James Ervin's first kick in the shoot out before Lynch hit a terrible opener for Drogheda with Mannus saving well. After that, Tim Mouncey and Ferguson scored for Linfield while Grant and Stephen Bradley found the net for Drogheda.

Vilmunen then saved well from Dickson as he dived to his right before Robinson coolly slotted home to level the shoot-out and effectively make the last kicks sudden death.

Aidan O'Kane then stepped up with Linfield's fifth kick but Vilmunen pulled off another stunning save, punching away with a strong arm.

Stuart Byrne stepped up with for potentially winning kick and put all thoughts of his semi-final miss out of mind as he slotted home to win the cup.

The win is Drogheda's third cup win in less than three years and Paul Doolin will be hoping to add to that before the year is out. For Linfield, they have again been far and away the strongest Irish League team in the competition and have shown a knack for picking up important results in the All Ireland competition.

Linfield : Mannus, Ervin, Mcshane (McCann 14), Murphy, Bailie, Dickson, Mulgrew (Mouncey 93), McAreavey, O'Kane, Thompson (Gault 54), Ferguson.
unused subs : Shannon, Douglas, Garrett, Stewart.
booked : McAreavey 73.

Drogheda United : Vilmunen, Lynch, Webb (Gray 57), Gartland, Shelley, S Byrne, Robinson, Cahill (Keegan 77), Bradley, Zayed, O'Brien (Grant 64).
unused subs : C Byrne, Whelan, Fitzpatrick, Ristila.
booked : Lynch 5.

Referee : Adrian McCourt (Bangor).