Shelbourne 1 Bohemians 1
Jonathan Afolabi came to the rescue for Bohemians at Tolka Park on Friday night as his 80th minute goal earned Declan Devine’s men a share of the spoils with Dublin rivals Shelbourne at the end of a tension-filled Premier Division clash.
The Gypsies were staring down the barrel of an eighth league defeat for 2023 when one of their former players, Jack Moylan, found the net early in the second half. Yet Afolabi was on hand to conjure an equaliser for the visitors, which saw them leapfrogging Dundalk into fourth spot in the top-flight table on score difference.
Despite coming under initial pressure from their neighbours, Damien Duff’s hosts were perilously close to opening the scoring in the 12th minute of the action. In a similar vein to Moylan, Shels skipper Luke Byrne kick-started his League of Ireland career with Bohs back in 2012 and he headed narrowly off-target from an Evan Caffrey corner on the left-wing.
On a day when all of the sides above them were left idle due to their involvement in European competitions earlier in the week, the Gypsies struggled to create clear-cut opportunities for much of the first half. However, there was always a chance that they could produce a big moment to help ignite their challenge and Jordan Flores’ free-kick from an awkward angle on 34 minutes only marginally cleared the Shels crossbar.
The Wigan man subsequently unleashed a piledriver that floated agonisingly past the left-hand post, but although there was plenty of bite to the game, both teams remained scoreless at the interval.
It did start to open up after the resumption with Boyd and Evan Caffrey both going close either side of Conor Kearns turning behind another set-piece strike by Flores. In the end, though, it was Shels who ultimately broke the deadlock in the 56th minute.
While Bohs netminder James Talbot was equal to a curling shot from wing back Jad Hakiki, he could do little to prevent Moylan from sweeping home the resulting rebound at a right-hand angle.
Devine looked towards his bench for his inspiration in the wake of this setback, only for a starting player to ultimately deliver the goods for the Phibsborough outfit. After centre-half Krystian Nowak had a glancing header saved off a Flores corner, Afolabi lashed the ball beyond the reach of Kearns from close-range to secure Bohs a hard-earned draw.
SHELBOURNE: Kearns; Barrett, Byrne, Molloy; JR Wilson, Coyle, Lunney, Hakiki (Wood, 70 mins); Caffrey, (Farrell, 88 mins), Moylan (Ledwidge, 75 mins); Boyd.
BOHEMIANS: Talbot; Buckley, Nowak, Radkowski, Kirk (Kukulowicz, 75 mins); McManus, Flores; Connolly, McDonnell (Clarke, 63 mins), McDaid (Coote, 63 mins); Afolabi.
Referee: N Doyle (Dublin).
UCD 1 Drogheda United 3
An audacious opening goal from Ryan Brennan was the highlight as Drogheda United cruised to victory at the UCD Bowl.
Conor Keeley and Adam Foley added further strikes to give the visitors a comfortable first win in four games.
The victory moves Kevin Doherty’s side above Sligo Rovers to seventh place, and five points clear of Cork City in the relegation play-off place ahead of their trip to Sligo on Saturday night. Barring a miracle, UCD looked doomed as Andy Myler’s side remain 14 points adrift at the bottom.
After a sluggish start, Drogheda took control and were ahead on 19 minutes. Right-back Luke Heeney’s ball down the right found Adam Foley in acres of space.
The cross was arrowed in low to the near post where Brennan, playing centre-forward since Freddie Draper’s departure, scored with a delightful reverse flick with his right foot for his third goal of the season.
Drogheda doubled their lead from their third corner of the game seven minutes later. Brennan did well to head the initial delivery back out to Dayle Rooney.
The ball was recycled back into the area where Keeley scored with a crisp half volley for a fine first goal of the season for the big centre back.
In a slow burner of a second half it was the 72nd minute before Drogheda put the game to bed. Darragh Markey’s floated free kick was nodded back across goal by Manny Adegboyega for Foley to score with a stooping header for his fourth goal in five games.
Mikey Raggett and Sean Brennan combined to set up substitute Danu Kinsella-Bishop for UCD’s 83rd minute consolation.
UCD: Moore; Clancy (Bowden, 30), Keaney, Gallagher (Barr, 63); Verdon, Wells; Babb (Behan, 56), Brennan, Dempsey; Raggett, Doyle (Kinsella-Bishop, h-t).
DROGHEDA UNITED: Wogan; Heeney, Keeley, Adegboyega, Weir; Noone, Deegan; Foley (Leddy, 74), Markey (McNally, 62), Rooney (Davies, 77); Brennan (Robinson, 62).
Referee: Gavin Colfer (Dublin).
