Drogheda begin FAI Cup defence in style despite heroics from Crumlin 'keeper Morgan Daly

18-07-2025

Two-hundred-and-fifty days after their unforgettable triumph at Lansdowne Road, Drogheda's 2025 FAI Cup defence kicked off with a comfortable victory over non-league Crumlin United. In just the second of the two games the Louth club have in their unusual July schedule, goals from Conor Keeley, Thomas Oluwa, Josh Thomas, Darragh Markey and John O'Sullivan saw the cup holders prevail with their biggest FAI Cup win since last year's 9-0 third-round victory over Wilton United. Rather than kicking off their Conference League campaign next week, having been sensationally kicked out of the competition by Uefa last month due to multi-club ownership rules, Kevin Doherty's men will now fly out to Spain next week for a mid-season training camp with their name safely in the hat for the third-round draw, with the club not in action next until a league trip to Bohemians on August 1. The scoreline would have been greater had it not been for Crumlin 'keeper Morgan Daly, who pulled off a string of excellent saves, but for the Leinster Senior League side, playing their first competitive match ahead of their season, a giant-killing act wasn't to be here. It was the visitors who created the first chance of the tie, as Calum Bridgeman tested Luke Dennison, and for most of the opening half the Boynesiders found themselves frustrated by the men from Dublin 12. There was more frustration for the hosts when Conor Keeley saw his volley denied by a top-drawer save by Daly before the break, but from the resulting corner, came the breakthrough. Owen Lambe's corner found the head of Keeley, who cleverly got away from his marker and found the top corner. After the restart it took Drogheda just three minutes to double their lead. The visitors coughed up possession too easily as Luke Heeney slotted Oluwa through. The striker was given far too much space to roam around the edge of the box, before unleashing a rocket into the roof of the net. Moments later, Daly pulled off a quite incredible point-blank save from a Fuhad Kareem header that 99 times out of 100, the 19-year-old striker would score, but any hopes of a potential Crumlin comeback were extinguished with 20 minutes left on the clock by substitute Thomas. The Swansea loanee marked his first appearance since February 21 by winning and burying a penalty to put the tie to bed, having recently returned from a quad injury. Markey added the fourth six minutes later before O'Sullivan, who signed on loan from Shamrock Rovers earlier this week, hit the fifth on 85 minutes with his first FAI Cup goal on his Drogs debut, as the cup champions began their defence on the right note. Drogheda United: Dennison; Quinn, Keeley (Harper-Bailey 76), Bolger; Lambe, Brennan (Farrell 58), Heeney (O'Sullivan 58), Kane (Cruise 70); Markey; Oluwa, Kareem (Thomas 58). Crumlin United: Daly (Donnelly 83); McNeill, MacGabhann, Friel (Murphy 63), Funge; Whelan, Bridgeman (Byrne 83), Coughlan (O'Mara 63), McKay (Lawlor Brennan 75); Kavanagh, O'Donohoe. Referee: O Moran

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Joey O'Brien's ‘no regrets' warning to his Shelbourne players ahead of €3.8m tie

Irish Daily Mirror

6 minutes ago

Irish Daily Mirror

Joey O'Brien's ‘no regrets' warning to his Shelbourne players ahead of €3.8m tie

Joey O'Brien has urged his Shelbourne players to ensure tonight that there are 'no regrets' when they walk off the Tolka Park pitch. The League of Ireland champions are 90 minutes away from securing European league phase football, and they lead Croatian giants HNK Rijeka 2-1 from last week's away leg. A successful defence of that lead and they are into the Europa League play-offs, with the guarantee of a Conference League proper spot if they lose out in that. Lose and they are still in with a chance of Conference League football, with a play-off tie against Linfield or Vikingur to come. According to Reds boss O'Brien: 'I've said it to the lads, you've to realise these opportunities don't come around too often. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . 'So, from a players point of view and us as a staff, just make sure you put your best foot forward and make sure you have no regrets.' Progress to the league phase would earn Shels a minimum of €3.8million in UEFA prize money, but that's not the priority for O'Brien and his players. 'It's not really, I suppose, thinking about what's at stake and what I can do for the club money-wise, financial-wise,' he said. 'If you start thinking like that, you start gripping the bat too tight. 'I don't think you can play football like that. I didn't play that way as a player so I wouldn't like my team doing that. 'It's about going out making sure the lads put their best foot forward and have no regrets.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .

‘Sporting merit rendered meaningless' – Crystal Palace hit out at Europa League demotion

Irish Independent

5 hours ago

Irish Independent

‘Sporting merit rendered meaningless' – Crystal Palace hit out at Europa League demotion

The FA Cup winners were demoted to the Conference League by European football's governing body UEFA on July 11 after it determined that, as of March 1, American businessman John Textor had control or influence at both Palace and French club Lyon. Palace appealed, but on Monday the CAS announced the London club had lost their appeal, with Nottingham Forest expected to take the place in UEFA's second-tier competition. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content A statement from the Eagles read: 'At a time when we should be celebrating our victory in the Community Shield at Wembley, the decision by UEFA and followed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport shows that sporting merit is rendered meaningless. 'When we won the FA Cup against Manchester City on that momentous day in May, our manager and players earned the right to play Europa League football. 'We have been denied that opportunity. 'It appears that certain clubs, organisations and individuals have a unique privilege and power. 'This growing and unhealthy influence has shattered the hopes and dreams of Crystal Palace supporters, and does not bode well for aspirational teams all over Europe competing to progress when rules and sanctions are unevenly applied in the most flagrant way.'

‘Certain clubs have unique privilege' – Crystal Palace release furious statement after Conference League demotion

The Irish Sun

6 hours ago

The Irish Sun

‘Certain clubs have unique privilege' – Crystal Palace release furious statement after Conference League demotion

'SHOULD BE A TURNING POINT' 'Certain clubs have unique privilege' – Crystal Palace release furious statement after Conference League demotion CRYSTAL PALACE have released a furious statement in the wake of their Europa League demotion. The statement read: "At a time when we should be celebrating our victory in the Community Shield at Wembley, the decision by UEFA and followed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport shows that sporting merit is rendered meaningless. 1 Crystal Palace have released a statement following their Europa League demotion Credit: Getty "When we won the FA Cup against Manchester City on that momentous day in May, our manager and players earned the right to play Europa League football. "We have been denied that opportunity. "It appears that certain clubs, organisations and individuals have a unique privilege and power. "This growing and unhealthy influence has shattered the hopes and dreams of Crystal Palace supporters, and does not bode well for aspirational teams all over Europe competing to progress when rules and sanctions are unevenly applied in the most flagrant way. "Multi-club structures hide behind the charade of a 'blind trust' while clubs such as ours, who have no connection to another club whatsoever, are prevented from playing in the same competition. "To compound the injustice, clubs that appear to have huge informal arrangements with each other are also allowed to participate and even possibly play against each other. "While we respect the CAS tribunal members, the process is designed to severely restrict and, in our case, make it almost impossible to receive a fair hearing. "The denial of all disclosure requests to obtain correspondence between the relevant parties, the refusal to allow witness testimony from those involved, and the general lack of formality and respect for law mean decisions cannot be properly challenged, leading to pre-determined outcomes. "UEFA's decision has wider implications for the governance of the sport. A combination of poorly conceived regulations and their unequal application means our brilliant fans will be deprived of the chance to watch this team compete in the Europa League for the first time in our history. "This should be a turning point for football. "UEFA must fulfil its mandate to pass coherent rules which are properly communicated and applied, with reasonable cure periods to resolve uncertainty and consistent sanctions, treating all clubs equally with a proper appeal process. "The European Court of Justice has made it clear that rulings similar to this will be under greater scrutiny from national courts in future. Only then will fairness and due process be granted to every team. "Although we continue to take legal advice on the next steps, we will compete in the Conference League with the same determination and will to win that characterises this incredible club."