Sporting Fingal 1 - 2 Drogheda United

Three red cards, three goals and three points for Drogheda as the Boynesiders came from behind to seal a precious win at Morton Stadium.

A game which started in a dour manner ended in a thrilling fashion as two red cards and a goal for Drogheda in the last ten minutes gave the Boynesiders only their second away win of the season.

The home side opened the scoring after only 14 minutes when Kevin Dawson poked a ball across the face of goal between Eamon Zayed and Eoghan Osborne and it was the Fingal striker who reacted quickest to stab the ball home past the advancing Paul Skinner, however there was more than a hint of offside against the striker.

Drogheda levelled matters with five minutes remaining in the half as John Flood and Peter McMahon hooked up in a delightful passage as Flood’s first touch lead to a turn and the striker passed to McMahon who spun his man and smashed home from close range to score his first goal in the claret and blue.

Captain Alan McNally sealed the win with three minutes remaining as a free whipped in by McMahon was headed on by Mick Daly but Quigley once again spilled the effort only for Alan McNally to Smash the ball home from close range.

Fingal looked comfortable in the first half, but never made their dominance count. Conan Byrne had Eoghan Osborne wrapped up but the Dublin side failed to exploit the left wing advantage. Fingal were reduced to ten men just before the break as Keith Quinn was booked for a second offence, earlier in the half he harshly brought down Darren Meenan before obstructing Alan McNally and being shown the second yellow.

Drogheda’s Eoghan Osborne was dismissed following two yellow cards while sub Damien Brennan was sent from the bench having been shown a straight red for what can only be assumed was an errant comment.

On 65 minutes an Osborne throw in flicked on by Fitzpatrick and a looping header by Flood in front of the goal came off the post much to the surprise of Quigley who almost dropped the ball over his own line.

Five minutes injury time seemed to signal another twist but Fingal with Crowe and Kirby on the pitch failed to make use of the added time as Drogheda held out for the win and close the gap on Galway. Fingal can now look forward to their match against Maritimo on Thursday night in Dalymount.

Drogheda United: Skinner, R Brennan, Treacy, McNally, Osborne, E McGill, Meenan (72 McEnteggart), McMahon, Daly, Flood, Fitzpatrick (70 Duffy)
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Brennan, Ross
Booked: Osborne, Duffy
Sent off: Osborne, D Brennan

Sporting Fingal: Quigley, Browne, Frost, Gannon, James, Byrne (67 Kirby), Cahill (67 Crowe), Dawson, Quinn, Williams (79 O’Brien), Zayed
Subs Not Used: Fitzgerald, Clarke
Booked: Quinn, Frost
Sent off: Quinn

Official Attendance: 640