Bohemians 0 - 3 Drogheda United

Drogheda United dispatched of Bohemians with ruthless efficiency at Dalymount Park on Friday evening. The Louth side progress to the third round of the FAI Cup thanks to goals from Stephen Quigley, Declan O’Brien and Philip Hand.

The home side had the first chance of the game, Dwayne Wilson playing in Keith Buckley, his curling shot looked like it may beat Gabriel Sava, but the Drogheda goalkeeper was aware to the danger and gathered.

Mick Cooke’s side broke the deadlock two minutes later after a well worked move resulted in Quigley finding the back of the net. The move stemmed from the left wing, where Jason Marks made ground before crossing into a congested penalty box, the ball was knocked down well by Peter Hynes and waiting was Quigley whose 12 yard effort was too powerful for Dean Delany to keep out.

The goal spurred Bohs on and they could have been level on 17 minutes when a Ryan McEvoy cross was misjudged by Sava before, luckily for the Italian the ball rebounded back of the post before it was cleared to safety.

Buckley and Lyons had looked dangerous during the opening exchanges and they again combined on 23 minutes, the latter beating two men on the left before squaring to Buckley who saw his low shot cleared off the line by the well placed Paul O’Conor.

The game plateaued for a period until Drogheda took a 2-0 lead on 37 minutes. The source of the move was again the left wing, Marks driving at the Bohs defence before ghosting past Michael Barker, his cross was pinpoint and a man of O’Brien’s reputation in the air did not need to be asked twice from 6 yards.

The home side began the second half on lively fashion and could have been back in the contest a minute in when Buckley’s free kick curled just wide of Sava’s right hand post.

Drogheda had a chance of their own on 50 minutes, Hynes dispossessed Buckley in midfield, he fed O’Brien whose audacious attempt of a chip was just over Delany’s crossbar. So close that some of the Drogheda support thought that it had gone in and began to celebrate.

The game was opening up and Bohs again tried to seize the initiative four minutes later, a long ball wasn’t dealt with by Alan Byrne in the Drogs defence and the loose ball was picked up by substitute Kevin O’Leary who raced clear only to see his shot well saved by Sava.

But failing to convert their chances was to prove crucial for Bohs. On 67 minutes good interlinking between Cathal Brady, Hynes and substitute Hand gave the latter an opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box, the angle was tight but somehow his effort managed to beat Delany before coming off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

With both teams emptying their benches and any intensity disappeared, the final quarter of the game passed without incident, a Barker shot failed to trouble the Drogheda goal and substitute Karl Moore shot straight at Sava after a long mazy run. Referee Neil Doyle’s whistle ensured Drogheda progress into the next round of the draw, for Bohs there will be no FAI Cup in 2013.

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Dave Mulcahy, Luke Byrne; Andy Mulligan, Keith Buckley, Ryan McEvoy, Michael Barker; Chris Lyons, Dwayne Wilson (Kevin O’Leary ’45).

Subs not used: Darragh Reynor, Karl Moore, Stephen Traynor, Adam Kelly, Michael Scott, Greg Murray.

Booked: None.

Drogheda United: Gabriel Sava, Stephen Quigley, Alan McNally, Alan Byrne, Shane Grimes; Cathal Brady, Ryan Brennan (Michael Daly ’86), Paul O’Conor, Jason Marks (Philip Hand ’58); Declan O’Brien (David Cassidy ’64), Peter Hynes.

Subs not used: Gary O’Neil, Michael Schlingermann, Brian Gannon, Dean Gaynor.

Booked: McNally (’19), Marks (’57), Hynes (’57)

Referee: Neil Doyle

Attendance: 925

Extratime Man of the Match: Jason Marks