- Gerard Grimes
- Fri, Mar 03 2017
Drogheda United made it two wins from two on their return to the Premier Division thanks to a 2-0 victory over St Patrick's Athletic courtesy of a Jake Hyland goal and a Patrick Cregg own goal.
It was St Pats who had most of the ball in the early stages but they failed to create any chances of note and Drogheda grew into the game, going on to dominate the first half. Their first effort came five minutes in when Stephen Dunne hit the bar with a superb left foot shot after receiving the ball from a short Drogheda corner.
Pats went close to breaking the deadlock on the quarter of an hour mark when Billy Dennehy headed just over the bar from a Graham Kelly free.
Drogheda almost scored what would have been a contender for goal of the season just before the half hour mark. Luke Gallagher clipped the ball to Gavin Brennan on the left who crossed the ball with a first time volley to Elliott who headed just over Barry Murphy's bar.
Pats did go close five minutes before the break as first Fagan saw his effort deflected wide for a corner. Then, from that corner, Sam Verdon somehow had his close range effort blocked and cleared off the line by Gavin Brennan.
Drogheda started the second half the brighter of the two sides as Thomas Byrne played the ball through to Jake Hyland but his ball across the box was cleared by the visitors.
Pats then came back into the game and had Drogheda under pressure for the next 15 minutes. First a there was a scramble in the Drogheda box which the home side somehow managed to clear before Pat Cregg saw his low shot from long range go wide.
Just short of the hour mark the Saints had two great chances to hit the front. First, Alex O'Hanlon crossed to the back post to Billy Dennehy who saw his shot hit off the post. Then, moments later, from an Alex O'Hanlon free, Rory Feely saw his header blocked and cleared by the Drogheda defence.
Pats would be left to rue those missed opportunities when Drogheda hit the front in the 64th minute. Gavin Brennan received the ball on the right and played the ball through the Pats defence, straight into the path of Jake Hyland who slotted the ball into the bottom corner past the helpless Barry Murphy.
Pats continued to press for the remainder of the game but it was Drogheda who went closest next. Three minutes from time Drogheda won the ball back as Gareth McCaffrey and Marc Griffin linked up before switching the play Gavin Brennan. Brennan played the ball across the box but it was just out of the reach of the sliding McCaffrey.
In the first minute of added time Pats’ winger Conan Byrne broke free down the right only to see his shot from the edge of the box palmed away by Stephen McGuinness. Two minutes later, with the last kick of the game, Drogheda broke on the counter with the ball falling to Colm Deasy. The full back's shot hit the chest of Pat Cregg and ended up in the back of his own net.
Next up for Drogheda is a home game against Cork City while St. Patrick's Athletic travel west to take on Sligo Rovers.
Drogheda United: Stephen McGuinness; Colm Deasy, Stephen Dunne, Luke Gallagher, Ciaran McGuigan; Sean Thornton (Ryan McEvoy 78), Thomas Byrne (Gareth McCaffrey 69), Richie Purdy, Jake Hyland, Gavin Brennan; Stephen Elliott (Marc Griffin 78).
Subs Not Used: Dylan Sweeney (gk), Lloyd Buckley, Adam Wixted, Conor Kane.
Booked: T Byrne (42), G Brennan (58).
St. Patrick's Athletic: Barry Murphy; Michael Barker, Ian Bermingham, Rory Feely, Lee Desmond; Sam Verdon (Conan Byrne 68), Patrick Cregg, Graham Kelly, Alex O'Hanlon (Josh O'Hanlon 68), Billy Dennehy (Kurtis Byrne 84); Christy Fagan.
Subs Not Used: Conor O'Malley (GK), Darragh Markey, JJ Lunney, Ciaran Kelly.
Booked: A O'Hanlon (42), Fagan (48).
Referee: Sean Grant
Attendance: 1,200 (estimate)
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Jake Hyland (Drogheda United)
