If there were points awarded for effort in this lark, then Drogheda United would be safely mid-table in the championship and, this morning, contemplating a trip to Saint Mel's Park for a second round cup tie at the start of next month.

Unfortunately for Martin Lawlor, while God might like a trier, the National League tends to show them little sympathy.

From the start, though, the visitors made it plain that they would be as good as their manager's word. "We'll take the game to them," said Lawlor the day before the game. Sure enough, from the moment the ball was kicked off they tore into their hosts as if their lives, rather than just their season, depended upon it.

The home side's movement was excellent in those early stages, but anywhere they cared to push the ball a man in maroon and blue would quickly arrive to cut down the options.

Around the area, the visitors were certainly not averse to employing a little muscle to contain their opponents, but elsewhere their workrate and speed on the break was more than enough to keep them on level terms; more than once, it should have earned them the lead.

The best of United's chances fell to Noel Reid just short of the half hour. Joe Gallen and John Reid had linked well to set their team-mate through on Robert Forde, but after the 30-year-old had hit his first attempt straight at the Rovers goalkeeper, he delayed his follow-up long enough to allow Tommy Dunne to scramble back and clear it off the line. Even then Lawlor must have known that the miss would prove costly.

United's robust approach at the back should really have proven expensive before that. As early as the 13th minute it had appeared that the Dubliners deserved a penalty when John Coady wrestled Matt Britton to the ground inside the area. When referee Eddie Barr allowed the interference to go unpunished during Britton's approach it had seemed like good thinking by the man in black, but, seconds later, when the former Dundalk player went down, it occurred to the nearby Rovers crowd in the stand that Barr hadn't been playing advantage at all. They weren't best pleased.

Neither were they too happy with 50 per cent of the strike-force. Paul Stokes, having missed much of the season through injury, looked, at times, as if he wished he were still laid up. It was a pity, for, as Drogheda gradually ran out of steam, he might well have had the opportunity to impress if only he had been sharper.

As it was, the man signed from Cliftonville was replaced by Sean Francis with eight minutes remaining to the third-largest cheer of the night. But the displeasure of the fans and Mick Byrne might have been considerably greater if those around him hadn't done better in the vicinity of the United box.

Tony Cousins, of course, was industry personified, while Britton and Brian Morrisroe on the wings did well. But it was Derek Tracey who ended up laying down the groundwork for the opening goal, even if the ball would never have reached the net but for what looked like another misjudgment by the referee.

Tracey, dropped after Friday's game in United Park, made an immediate impact last night when he was introduced just after the break. Indeed, it took him just nine minutes to make a real mark on the proceedings, skipping through four defenders and clear only to be awarded a free kick back outside the area as he cued up his shot.

Even as his attempt on goal bobbled wide of the right hand post, Barr came in for some hefty abuse. But the Rovers faithful were, perhaps, a little more sympathetic to the official's point of view after Marc Kenny stepped up to curl the free into the top right corner.

Having played from the start as if they were chasing the game, United simply had no higher gear left to shift into, and the gaps at the back became more glaring as they attempted to push forward to salvage something out of another desperate night.

Seven minutes later, though, their hopes were completely killed off when Tracey again cut the ball inside for Morrisroe who unleashed a wonderfully struck drive towards goal from 25 yards.

Even in boxing, that most merciless of sports, it might have amounted to no more than a standing count for the Louthmen, who would have had some hope of hanging on for a split decision.

Unfortunately for them last night, however, it was clearly a knock-out blow.

Shamrock Rovers: Forde; O'Neill, Whelan, Brazil, Dunne; Britton, Kenny, Colwell, Morrisroe; Cousins, Stokes. Subs: Francis for Stokes (82 mins), Tracey for Dunne (47 mins).

Drogheda United: Byrne; Hill, Carroll, Impey, Coady; O'Dowd, De Khors, Beggs, N Reid; J Reid, Gallen. Subs: Harte for J Reid (65 mins), Fox for Beggs (65 mins).

Referee: E Barr (Dublin).