The Dubliner held talks with former boss Roddy Collins, now in charge of the Eircom League side, and is expected to put pen to paper and end his three-year association with United. He was with Bohemians as a youngster when Collins took them to the Irish league and cup double. A few months later Collins made the 18-year-old utility player one of his first signings for United. McDonagh was sent off on his full debut at Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup and he suffered a similar fate in his last appearance for United - which came against Grimsby in the LDV Vans Trophy back in September. With the signing of Chris Lumsdon in the summer, McDonagh has struggled to make any impression in the first team and he no longer appears to feature in manager Paul Simpson's plans. A possible move for Sheffield Wednesday's Craig Armstrong fell through when the 29-year-old midfield man opted to join League One club Bradford City. Trust and Story stall over shares deal Members of the United Trust board met United owner Fred Story in a Penrith hotel this week, but they have still not fully resolved their differences over the Trust's bid to buy a 40% shareholding in the club's holding company. A donation of £600,000 by businessman Brooks Mileson earlier this month allowed the Trust to gain sufficient funds to purchase the first two share options in their 2003 agreement that was made with former United supremo John Courtenay. Story questioned the validity of this deal at the end of last year but sounded relatively upbeat after the talks ended on Tuesday. For the Trust, chairwoman Kate Rowley said: "The meeting went well - progress was made - and we are hoping to meet again in the very near future." United struggle to sell allocation for Leigh game United had not sold all 900 tickets available to the public last night for tomorrow's Conference clash with Leigh RMI at Gretna's Raydale Park. The match was moved from flood-hit Brunton Park but United officials warned that it will be a one-off as the Gretna stadium does not meet the Conference's minimum standard of a 4,000 capacity. The Cumbrians hope to stage their next home game on February 5 with Barnet in the Fourth Round of the FA Trophy at Brunton Park, but a lot of safety work and work on the pitch needs to be completed before that can happen. Tickets for the Leigh match were being sold from the Cumbrian Newspapers office in Bank Street this week as all outlets at Brunton Park are unavailable following the devastating floods, which dumped millions of gallons of water on the pitch and destroyed ground-floor offices. Season ticket holders need to present voucher E at the gate for tomorrow's game to gain admission. Picture from News & Star |
