League Report: Drogheda United 0 - 2 St Patrick's Athletic
Chris Forrester netted a late penalty as St Patrick's Athletic defeated Drogheda United Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)
A triumphant return to Head in the Game Park for Tim Clancy and his St Patrick’s Athletic side as they beat Drogheda United 2-0 in an eventful encounter.
Following a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Sligo Rovers last weeked, Kevin Doherty made a couple of switches- Darragh Noone and Keith Cowan losing out to Luke Heeney and Darragh Nugent in the starting lineup. The Athletic arrived at the Boynesiders on the back of a 2-1 win over Finn Harps and they too made a pair of changes with Tom Grivosti and Thijs Timmermans replacing Barry Cotter and Jamie Lennon respectively.
The away side had an early chance to take the lead as referee Sean Grant awarded a penalty against Evan Weir for a handball offence. However, Eoin Doyle was unable to capitalise as Colin McCabe continued his recent form between the sticks and denied the former Bolton Wanderers striker from the spot.
The pendulum seemed to have swung in favour of Drogheda United with Anto Breslin’s dismissal for violent conduct in the 23rd minute. The left back seeing a red card after contact with the returning Luke Heeney. The Boynesiders failed to take advantage of the extra man and fell behind in the 70th minute.
Chris Forrester’s deep free kick was nodded across the box by ex Drogheda defender Joe Redmond and headed to the net by Mark Doyle to open the scoring- the former United player scoring against the Claret and Blue for the second game in a row.
Despite having a couple of chances to equalise in the final moments, it was the Inchicore outfit who almost doubled their lead but Colin McCabe made a smart save to deny Chris Forrester from a free kick. However the former Bohs midfielder was not to be denied his goal and when Clancy’s side were awarded their second spot kick of the night in the dying embers of the game he stroked the ball past McCabe to seal victory for his side- their fifth win in a row as they chase a European spot for next season.
Drogheda United:Colin McCabe; Darragh Nugent (Chris Lyons 71), George Poynton (Dane Massey 75), Andrew Quinn, Evan Weir; Gary Deegan (c), Dylan Grimes (Adam Foley 68), Darragh Markey, Dayle Rooney (Ryan Brennan 68); Luke Heeney, Dean Williams.
Subs not used: Fiachra Pagel, Lee Steacy, Emre Topcu, Darragh Noone, Stevan Stanic-Floody.
Booked: Darragh Markey (16).
Sent off: None.
St. Patrick's Athletic:Danny Rogers; Anto Breslin, Harry Brockbank, Sam Curtis (Barry Cotter 46), Tom Grivosti, Joe Redmond; Chris Forrester, Adam O'Reilly, Thijs Timmermans (Mark Doyle 46); Serge Atakayi (Tunde Owolabi 88), Eoin Doyle (Jamie Lennon 75).
Subs not used: David Odumosu, Jason McClelland, Ben McCormack, Billy King, Rónán Coughlan.
Booked: Barry Cotter (90) ,Adam O'Reilly (55) Joe Redmond (35).
Sent off: Anto Breslin (23).
Referee: Sean Grant
