League of Ireland Premier Division/ Bray Wanderers 1 Drogheda United 2: There are a few things teams take as a suggestion that fate is already in the process of carving their name on a league trophy and, fractionally above winning a game thanks to a late goal on the list, is winning a game thanks to a controversial late goal.
Drogheda have started to make a habit of the former, bagging four extra points in the early part of last month thanks to goals scored in the 87th and 93rd minutes but yesterday they pulled off the latter, leaving the Bray Wanderers management team to seethe over a crucial Shane Robinson strike in the first minute of added time.
Robinson pounced to turn home a loose ball after Steve Williams had blocked Gavin Whelan's shot but Bray manager Eddie Gormley insisted Eamon Zayed had obstructed the goalkeeper's view of the initial strike while in an offside position.
The contention was that with a clear line of vision a clean save would have been possible and Bray Wanderers would have had a point from a game they had led at half-time.
"It was as clear as day," said Gormley of an incident he said he had watched several replays of. "You can take it once or twice but those sorts of decisions are going against us on a consistent basis."
Drogheda manager Paul Doolin was as magnanimous as could have been expected, observing a share of the points would indeed have been a fairer outcome. "But it's still a great win for us," he beamed.
"We were a bit sluggish after Thursday night, particularly in the first half, but we stuck at it and I don't think you could say we're lucky because it's our third win like that this season."
Throw in Zayed's especially late winner in Galway in March and it's actually four.
Sure enough, Drogheda deserve credit for grinding out the victory on a day when they were a little out of sorts but they were still a little fortunate to have conceded just the one goal over the duration of the contest.
The one Bray did score came shortly before half-time after good work by James O'Shea, Pat Kavanagh and Stephen Fox, all of which led up to a clinical enough finish by Mark Duggan. None of the United back four, though, had a particularly good afternoon and had Duggan been as precise with an earlier header or O'Shea a little more fortunate with a long-range effort that rebounded off the inside of the upright then the visiting team's second-half fight-back would have been a somewhat taller order.
As it was, Richie Baker pulled his side level after 63 minutes with his first goal of an injury-ravaged first season at the club. It was a fine strike hit on the volley after James Keddy had picked him out well from the left with a cross to just beyond the far post.
With Stuart Byrne having limped out of the game on the half hour, Robinson was by then playing in central midfield and Gavin Whelan's arrival marked a slight shift in tactics as Drogheda, now dominant, increasingly pressed for a second goal through the middle.
Wanderers survived a couple of scrapes along the way but Williams did well and it seemed increasingly likely they would hang on. Even after conceding, however, they had a late chance to snatch back the point.
John Tambouras was badly caught out by O'Shea who first took possession and then rounded the Australian centre half before setting up Emeka Omwubiko for a close-range shot. The young striker might have done better but panicked a little and hit a weak shot almost straight at goalkeeper Dan Connor.
Moments later the final whistle went and Doolin was on to discuss the incident with his defender. He was asked afterwards if he had let the player have it. "Nah," he grinned, "I just wanted to chat about what a nice country Australia is."
BRAY WANDERERS: Williams; Kenny, Delaney, Deans, Cronin; Kavanagh, Cawley, Duggan, McCabe; O'Shea, Fox (Omwubiko, 77 mins).
DROGHEDA UNITED: Connor, Shelley, Tambouras, Gray, Webb; Robinson, Keegan, Byrne (Baker, 30 mins), Keddy (Whelan, 80 mins); Zayed, Ristila (O'Keeffe, 70 mins).
Referee: A Buttimer(Cork).
