There has been one constant at Drogheda United over the last four years, in the form of defender Alan McNally. The centre back joined from UCD and despite ownership changes and managerial changes he has remained part of the claret and blue family and more importantly he forms part of one of the most impressive defences in the league this season.
Speaking after the EA Sports cup final on Saturday, with his winners medal proudly draped around his neck the affable defender was beaming as he said that this was the highlight of his career.
“It has to be the greatest achievement of my career so far. I got to a 2005 final with UCD, but I was injured and Derry beat us anyway , so yes, on a personal level it’s amazing, particularly after losing on Monday in the quarter-finals. To bounce back tonight in Rover’s home ground, it’s a great achievement for the club.”
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs since I signed for the club. It’s my fourth season and if you look at last season, we were struggling. To turn it around as Mick has done it’s some achievement and for the group of lads that are in there, it’s unbelievable, we are all delighted and we are going to enjoy tonight,” he added.
Many felt that giving up the chance of home advantage may have been a mistake, but McNally was taken aback by the support which greeted his team in Tallaght.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of fans that had travelled up tonight, it was amazing and I could barely hear the Rovers support at anytime during the game. For them to out-sing the home support was great, they really were our 12th man tonight.”
A lot was said about the fact that Drogheda had gone toe-to-toe with St Pats for two hours on Monday night and they were visibly out on their feet after the second period of extra time. However, looking at the game against Rovers on Saturday without knowing about Monday night, one would never imagine this was a team that had gone through such exhaustion only five days earlier.
“Everyone knows that we are flying fit, we have had a great fitness and management team who have trained us properly and let us rest also.We only had a light session on Thursday, so we rested up pretty well. It wasn’t a case of fitness or anything like that, it’s been a long time and a long hard season for us and thankfully we’ve come out on the right side of the result tonight.”
So how long more does McNally wish to remain as a Drog? Well, apparently the decision doesn’t rest with him and possibly not even with the club..
“As long as my girlfriend keeps letting me train and make sacrifices then I will want to stay part of this team,” he laughs.
“Seriously though, as much as I could, I thoroughly enjoyed this season so far, and if next season can match it then I will definitely be here.”
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