Friendly Report: Dundalk 3 - 1 Drogheda United

Two late goals helped Dundalk to victory against local rivals Drogheda at Oriel Park on Saturday evening. A Stephen Folan goal cancelled out a Lee Duffy opener before Micheal Duffy and Dylan Connolly sealed the win for the Lilywhites.

This annual cup rarely has any of the intensity of cups contested for later in the season. Sometimes an element of derby delirium can creep in, but for the most part it’s a tame pre-season fixture. Despite an early Dylan Connolly surge forward, the game had a predictably low tempo until it’s climatic finish which saw two goals in three minutes.

The most noticeable punctuations of a forgettable first-half yielded a goal for either side. Lee Duffy made hard yards running through the middle, before firing what looked like a speculative effort from some way out. The Oriel crowd watched it lob a hapless Sava and drop in with the assistance of the crossbar.

Drogheda’s lead only lasted 13 minutes as Stephen Folan made no mistake from a couple of yards out from Michael Duffy’s free-kick from the right wing.

And then queue Luke Rossiter’s effort on the half hour; he shot from just outside the centre circle and once again Sava was a spectator to the ball overhead. On this occasion the crossbar came to Dundalk’s rescue rather than United’s assistance.

The second half saw both sides introduce a number of subs which had a disjoining influence on the play. Drogheda looked dangerous on the break while Dundalk had the majority of play.

Jack O’Keeffe nearly made an instant impression from the bench with ten minutes to go. He latched onto a Gannon cross inside the six-yard box, but he couldn’t quite get his body round the ball.

O’Keeffe managed to make amends when he raced for a loose ball in the box and was brought down for a penalty with three minutes of normal time remaining. Micheal Duffy made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-1 to the Lilywhites.

Dundalk nabbed a third with seconds remaining when Dylan Connolly breezed past a number of disheartened claret and blue jerseys to fire past Skinner.

DUNDALK FC: Gabriel Sava (Ross Traney 90), Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Stephen Folan, Dean Jarvis (Gavin Smith 83), John Mountney (Michael Duffy 20), Chris Shields (Georgie Poynton 61), Robbie Benson (Jack O’Keeffe 75), Ronan Murray (Adam Finnegan 86), Dylan Connolly, Jeff McGowan (Cian Flynn 87).

Subs Not Used: None

Booked: None.

DROGHEDA UNITED: Paul Skinner, Lee Duffy (Stephen Meaney 61), Colm Deasy, Conor Kane, Kevin Farragher, Sean Brennan, Chris Lyons (Garreth McCaffrey 61), Jake Hyland, Mark Doyle, Ciaran Kelly, Luke Rossiter.

Subs Not Used: Kelan Dillon, Jordan Kelly, James Carroll, Victor Ekanem, Lloyd Buckley, Adam Klmet, Luka Gratzer

Booked: Colm Deasy 52, Garreth McCaffrey 85.

Referee: Ben Connolly

Attendance:  N/A

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Dean Jarvis