Shamrock Rovers 1 Drogheda United 2
Drogheda United proved Shamrock Rovers’ bogey side yet again as the champions were knocked off the top of the table in this classic smash-and-grab raid at Tallaght Stadium.
Rovers have now failed to beat Drogheda in their last five league meetings as a first win in eight games for Kevin Doherty’s side ruined Stephen Bradley’s 300th game in charge of the Hoops.
While ending Rovers’ 13-match unbeaten run, the win keeps Drogheda five points above Cork City in the relegation playoff spot.
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As expected, Rovers dominated the ball but were frustrated by Drogheda’s tenacious work in trying to contain them.
That was epitomised as early as 13 minutes when Richie Towell treaded Neil Farrugia through with Colin McCabe depriving the winger a 24th birthday goal with a parry save.
Rory Gaffney pounced on the loose ball only to see his effort cleared off the line by Aaron McNally.
Further diligent defending thwarted Rovers as efforts from Graham Burke, Trevor Clarke and Jack Byrne were resolutely rebuffed.
Rovers were then stunned to find themselves behind from a counterattack on 44 minutes.
Striker Freddie Draper raced on to Conor Keeley’s long clearance to outfox Seán Hoare before curling a low left-foot shot into the far corner of the net for the 18-year-old Lincoln City loanee’s fourth goal of the season.
Rovers huffed and puffed on the resumption before falling two goals behind on 57 minutes.
And what a fine team goal it was as Drogheda played it out from the back with six passes before skipper Gary Deegan sent Luke Heeney away on the right.
The cross was sublime as it arced into Dayle Rooney, who held off Farrugia to shoot home.
Rovers resumed their dominance of the ball as they chased the game.
Towell scooped over the top before McCabe produced terrific saves from Burke and Gaffney.
Hope arrived on 79 minutes when Gaffney scooped home the rebound from Towell’s shot.
As they did throughout the 90 minutes, Drogheda dug deep to hold on.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Pohls; Hoare (Kenny, 56), Lopes, Grace; Farrugia, O’Neill, Towell, Clarke (Kavanagh, 82); Byrne; Burke, Gaffney.
DROGHEDA UNITED: McCabe; Heeney, Adegboyega, Keeley, McNally; Grimes (Feely, 76), Deegan, Brennan, Rooney; Markey; Draper.
Referee: Rob Harvey (Dublin).
Attendance: 5,157
Derry City 4 UCD 1
Derry City took advantage of Shamrock Rovers’ surprise defeat by Drogheda when returning to the summit of the Premier Division following this demolition of basement side UCD at a packed Brandywell Stadium.
It was a dominant display by Ruaidhri Higgins’s side, College struggling throughout the first half and failing to make any impression on the Derry goal.
UCD goalkeeper Kian Moore certainly played his part in keeping the scoreline close, having made a series of top-drawer saves to keep the Students in the game.
Supported by another capacity attendance, Derry deservedly moved into the driving seat after 12 minutes.
A slick move on the left saw Will Patching set Michael Duffy on his way and his delivery to the back post fell perfectly for the well-placed Jordan McEneff, who headed home from close range, the sixth strike of the season for Derry’s leading marksman.
Moore did well to parry a curling short from Patching in the 22nd minute before diving low to turn another shot from Duffy around his post as the home side continued to press.
And McEneff went close to doubling the home side’s lead minutes from half-time but having cut in from the right, he flashed his shot across the face of goal and wide.
During injury-time at the end of the first half Duffy was unfortunate when his blistering shot cannoned off the back of a defender, the ball diverted over the crossbar at the expense of a corner.
And UCD were not helped by the loss of Jesse Dempsey and Samuel Clarke due to injuries during the opening period.
Five minutes after the break College were in trouble when Derry doubled their lead when Duffy took full advantage of a skilful back flick from Patching, the winger lashing the ball high into the UCD net with an angled drive.
And Derry then put the game to bed in the 65th minute when Duffy netted another superb goal.
Brandon Kavanagh launched a high ball up the left wing and Duffy’s electrifying pace saw him scamper clear to simply lob the ball over the head of Moore giving the goalkeeper no chance.
UCD’s Adam Wells netted a consolation strike in the 76th minute, the defender turning the ball home from close range as the Derry defence failed to clear their lines in a crowded penalty area.
Derry substitute Mattie Ward made it 4-1 when he latched on to Ryan Graydon’s cross, sliding the ball home at the back post.
DERRY CITY: Maher; Boyce, Coll, McJannet, Doherty (McEleney, h-t); Dummigan (Graydon, 66), McEneff; Kavanagh (Diallo, 67) Patching (O’Reilly, 80), Duffy (Ward, 74); McGonigle (Patton, 74).
UCD: Moore; Gallagher (Gallagher, 77), Keaney, Wells, Dempsey (Higgins, 27); Norris, Clarke (Bolton, 35), O’Regan (O’Brien, 66), Nolan (Alonge, 77), Behan; Doyle.
Referee: Eoghan O’Shea.
Dundalk 2 Bohemians 2
Second-half goals from Declan McDaid and Ali Coote saw Bohemians fight back from two goals down to avoid a third straight defeat against Dundalk at Oriel Park.
A third-minute opener from Patrick Hoban and an own goal from James Talbot looked set to inflict another defeat on Declan Devine’s side but they rallied well to claim a well deserved point in the end.
The home side got off to a dream start when they hit the front after just 170 seconds. Robbie McCourt’s corner caught Talbot in no man’s land with Hoban punishing the error by heading in his 16th career goal against Bohs.
Dundalk then doubled their lead on the half-hour mark with Connor Malley’s thunderbolt crashing off the bar before coming off the back of the helpless Talbot for an unfortunate own goal by the goalkeeper.
The visitors upped the ante in the second half and having tested Nathan Shepperd moments earlier, substitute Declan McDaid pulled one back for Bohs on 77 minutes when he beat the Welsh goalkeeper to Jordan Flores’s corner to make it 2-1.
Then came the equaliser three minutes from time with Coote’s free wide on the left finding its way through a crowded penalty area into the bottom corner.
DUNDALK: Shepperd; Davies, Muller, Williams (Elliott, 91), McCourt; Malley, Lewis (Doyle, 73); Martin (Ward, 73), Yli-Kokko (Kelly, 60), O’Kane; Hoban.
BOHEMIANS: Talbot; Buckley, Nowak, Radkowski, Flores; McDonnell (Kirk, 91), McManus (McDaid, h-t); Twardek, Clarke (Benn, h-t), Coote; Williams (Afolabi, 76).
Referee: Neil Doyle (Dublin).
Cork City 1 Sligo Rovers 0
Cork City got back to winning ways with a goal from Ruairí Keating helping them beat Sligo Rovers 1-0 at Turner’s Cross on Friday night.
It was their first victory since Easter Monday and they had to go it the hard way against a Bit O’Red side looking for their second win in May.
The Rebel Army were conservative with how they set up as they took a no-risks approach to the game. This paid off after just 15 minutes as Joe O’Brien Whitmarsh played Keating through and he finished neatly at the St Anne’s End.
Sligo’s responses was a free-kick that went out for a corner at the back post, and nothing came of the resulting set piece.
The Bit O’Red did get the ball to Frank Liivak on a number of occasions, and City closed down every time he tried to take a shot inside the penalty area.
Sligo had a better start to the second half as they won a free-kick on the left-hand side. Despite a good ball in by Fabrice Hartmann this came to nothing as Keating cleared this for his side. Their other attempts during this spell were easily caught by goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran.
CORK CITY: J Corcoran; G Walker (D Krezic, 80), M Healy, T Owolabi, A Bolger, R Keating, D Crowley, J O’Donovan, K Custovic, J Hakkinen, J O’Brien Whitmarsh (B Coffey, 76).
SLIGO ROVERS: L McNicholas; J Brannefalk (L Browning-Lagerfeldt, 81), R Hutchinson G Bolger, W Fitzgerald, N Morahan, F Liivak (D Lafferty, 76), S Radosavljevic (D Cawley, 45), J Mahon, N Pijnaker, K Barlow (F Hartmann, 45).
Referee: David Dunne
