- John Manning
- Sat, Sep 10 2016
Drogheda United held on in the face of some late Athlone pressure to collect all three points at Lissywollen. A second half winner from Marc Griffin at the Athlone Town Stadium earned the Boynesiders another SSE Airtiricity League First Division win – their sixth in eight matches.
Drogheda had the majority of possession in the opening half but would have to do better in front of goal if they were to take the opportunity open a five-point gap on third-placed UCD (admittedly with a game more played).
After 56 minutes, Drogheda’s Marc Griffin shot smartly on the turn past Dylan Owens for the opening goal.
Drogheda had their noses in front and continued to look the most likely to score next although Athlone for whom Chris Reid was making his debut, did still pose some threat.
Athlone’s woes were compounded on 79 minutes when Cormac Raftery was sent off on a second yellow for a high and late challenge on Drogs’ skipper Sean Thornton. Raftery’s first booking was just four minutes previously.
Late on, Drogheda were also down to ten men as striker Gareth McCaffrey was sent off in the 87th minute for squaring up to Athlone's David Brookes. Brookes was also shown red but referee Eoghan O’Shea rescinded that after consulting with his officials.
Athlone Town: Dylan Owens; Joseph Moloney, Daniel Molloy, Ian Fletcher (Jack Quinn, 60), David Brookes; Claudio Silva, Chris Reid, Cormac Raftery, Colm Coss (Michael Monaghan, 45); Ryan Gaffey, Aidan Byrne (Jason Lyons 84).
Subs not used: Ioris Oyeniyi, Roy King, Sean McGrane.
Yellow cards: Michael Monaghan (71), Cormac Raftery (75, 79), David Brookes (87)
Red cards: Cormac Raftery (79).
Drogheda United: Stephen McGuinness; Jake Hyland, Kevin Farragher, Stephen Dunne, Lloyd Buckley (Colm Deasy, 44) Luke Gallagher, Richie Purdy, Sean Thornton (John McKeown, 89), Adam Wixted (Derek Doyle, 65); Marc Griffin, Gareth McCaffrey.
Subs not used: Sam O’Connor, Liam Donnelly, Patrick Dunican, Aaron Ashe.
Yellow cards: None.
Red cards: Gareth McCaffrey (87)
Referee: Eoghan O’Shea.
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Marc Griffin (Drogheda United).
