By Logan Marsh

The Douglas United Dragons have toppled Premier League side Innisfail in the first round of the FNQ Cup competition at Endeavour Park on Wednesday night.

Despite dominating for large periods of the match, the Dragons needed extra time to finally overwhelm their more fancied opponents, claiming the win 4-2 after an energy sapping two-hour battle.

The opening exchanges belong to Douglas with the Dragons controlling possession and creating a handful of half chances, the best of which fell to skipper Gavin Jenkin who sliced wide from the edge of the area. 

The Dragons were rewarded for their early dominance when Innisfail were unable to clear from a corner and centre half Liam Gibson was on hand to stroke home the games opening goal. 

Instead of continuing to assert their authority however, the Dragons switched off completely and conceded two goals against the run of play in just three minutes. 

This was a lead that Innisfail held through until half time as Matty Smith missed a penalty with almost the last kick of the first half.

The second half saw the Dragons return to their earlier dominance, controlling possession and continually searching for the equalising goal. When it did arrive it came from a likely source. Sam Neale had been having an excellent game so it was no surprise when he cut in from the left and curled a shot into the top corner to restore parity on the scoreboard. 

From there it was pretty much one-way traffic although, try as they might, the Dragons could not find the winning goal. 

As a result, extra time was needed to decide the outcome.

The Dragons continued their onslaught of the Innisfail goal throughout the extra thirty minutes and were rewarded with a goal in each half of extra time to secure victory in the tie. 

The first was a well worked Douglas move finished off by Tom Seaton while the final nail in the coffin was a thirty yard wonder strike from skipper Jenkin to put the icing on the cake of a very good Dragons performance. The Paddys Bar Man of the Match went to Sam Neale who was outstanding throughout.

The Dragons backed up their excellent cup win with a resounding 11-0 victory over a poor Redlynch side at Cassowary Park on Friday night to make it four wins form four in the league and cement their place at the top of the league. 

Goals were scored by Matty Smith (3), Nathan Sayed (2), Stan Jakovljevic, Max Taylor, Sam Neale, Nick Tither Luke Seaton and Joe Bownes. The Paddys Bar Man of the Match went to Luke Seaton. 

Next up for the Dragons is another home match against JCU on Friday night. 

Get out and support the boys as the look to continue their winning run.