WITH 11 goals in 13 games and an FAI Cup semi-final tomorrow to look forward to, Douglas James-Taylor has relished his time at Drogheda.
But the on-loan Walsall striker admitted that he was stopped in his tracks when subjected to racist abuse from the crowd against St Pat’s last month.
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Ahead of the last-four clash with First Division Wexford, the Englishman said: “Everyone is friendly and wants to have a conversation, in Drogheda everyone is following the football.
“In the supermarket or even when you walk down the street people are seeing how you are doing.
“It feels like . . . to know that what you are doing means more than just playing football on the pitch.
“The fans too, they are so good, intense, tifos and flares, all the energy you feed off as a player.”
The 22-year-old made the move after speaking to Freddie Draper who had a Drogs stint last year on loan from Lincoln City before moving to Walsall.
But one thing Draper did not have to deal with was being singled out for the colour of his skin, something the Altrincham native did in Richmond Park.
On the in-game incident, he said: “I told the referee what had happened. And he stopped the game. I think a lot of people were caught off guard.
“I did a report but they felt like they couldn’t take it any further.”
He also confirmed he has suffered racist abuse on the streets in Ireland but added: “I don’t think too much about that because I’ve way more positive people around me.
“Having a black mum and black family members, you’re brought up to be a little bit tougher than having to feel bad about yourself when people say bad things to you.
“I’ve had it before but it’s not a common thing. The main thing for me in that game was that it was distracting and I didn’t think it would distract me.
“I was trying to do a job and it was distracting me from the job.
“If it happens outside of football, in life, you just ignore them.”
He did go on to convert a penalty later in that game and will hope to be on the scoresheet again tomorrow in a game Kevin Doherty’s side are overwhelming favourites for.
He confessed he does not know much about their opponents but prefers to figure things out during games rather than swotting up in advance, adding: “I like to focus on myself and if I have to, I can change my game.”
