Currie boosts attacking options

The Ports moved quickly to secure the signing of former Drogheda striker Abu Obhakhan after he impressed Niall Currie in pre-season trials.

The 26 year-old from Drogheda played for Shelbourne at underage level before going to college in the US in 2015 and attending Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.

Obhakhan was named in the NEC All-Conference First Team in 2017 and became the first player in the University’s history to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, he was also named the NEC Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year two years in a row.

In 2019 Ahu signed a professional contract to play with Unión Deportive Ciudad de Torredonjimeno, known as UDC Torredonjimeno, in the Jaén province of Spain but returned home in early 2020 to join Institute on a deal until the end of the 2019/20 season however, the season was cut short due to the Covid pandemic.

The 6ft 1in striker was set to continue with Institute for the 2020/21 season and featured in a number of pre-season friendlies for the club before the Championship season was declared void due to the ongoing pandemic.

Obhakhan departed 'Stute to sign for Drogheda in September 2021 before moving on to Glebe North a year later, where he picked up an FAI Intermediate Cup winners medal in April this year.

On adding the Drogheda man to his squad, Ports manager Niall Currie explained why he wanted him on board in his squad immediately.

"We had quite a few attacking players missing for the H&W Welders game so when Shane (Dolan) said he could get us a look at Ahu for future reference we said ok, having watched him all staff are agreed that this lad can have a great impact right now.

"He has great presence, pace and will bring us something to mix with our other forwards, we’re delighted he sees our pathway and look forward to seeing him many times in our red shirt."