- Adrian Finnin
- Sat, Apr 15 2017
Limerick produced an utterly dominant display at the Markets Field as they defeated Drogheda United 3-0 courtesy of goals from Rodrigo Tosi, Chris Mulhall and Chiedozie Ogbene. The Shannonsiders move up to fourth place as a result.
Limerick began the game at a ferocious pace and took the lead after just five minutes, as Tosi powerfully headed home from a Lee-J Lynch corner.
Drogheda barely had time to recover before they were 2-0 down. Ogbene’s weak shot rebounded off Mulhall and past Stephen McGuinness in the Drogheda goal.
The home side’s early dominance continued as a great overlapping run by right-back Shaun Kelly resulted in a low cross which Tosi failed to convert under pressure.
Limerick were almost gifted a third goal as a mix up between McGuinness and center-back Kevin Farragher allowed Tosi to take possession, however the keeper recovered just in time to deny the Brazilian frontman.
Kelly was a constant threat all evening and his overlapping runs caused the Drogheda defenders all sorts of problems. Ogbene’s neat turn on the edge of the box deceived the Drogheda defence but his shot was blocked on the line by Farragher.
Within ten minutes of the restart, Limerick extended their lead further. A long-angled clearance by Brendan Clarke found Ogbene on the left, whose persistence saw off challenges from Colm Deasy and Luke Gallagher, before scuffing the ball past McGuinness.
On the hour mark, Limerick's player of the month Lynch was denied a spectacular goal as he unleashed a shot from 20 yards that cannoned off the crossbar.
Substitute Dean Clarke should have added a fourth for Limerick as he was played through by Tosi, but his shot was deflected on to the crossbar by McGuinness.
Immediately afterwards, Drogheda’s former Irish international Stephen Elliott placed a shot straight at Clarke in what was the visitors' first clear chance of the game.
With five minutes remaining, former Shamrock Rovers player Clarke curled a shot which was excellently saved by McGuinness.
Willie Boland will be delighted with the performance from Limerick he picked up his second win from his two games in charge.
Limerick: Brendan Clarke, Shaun Kelly, Tony Whitehead, Robbie Williams, Tommy Robson, Paul O'Conor (Bastien Hery 63), Shane Duggan, Lee-J Lynch, Chris Mulhall (Dean Clarke 70), Chiedozie Ogbene, Rodrigo Tosi (John O’Flynn 79).
Subs not used: Freddy Hall (GK), Dave O'Connor, Ian Turner, Stephen Kenny,
Booked: None.
Drogheda United: Stephen McGuinness, Colm Deasy, Kevin Farragher, Luke Gallagher, Stephen Dunne, Sean Thornton, Richie Purdy, Jake Hyland (Ciaran McGuigan 70), Gareth McCaffrey, Mark Doyle (Adam Wixted 63), Ryan McEvoy (Stephen Elliott 64)
Subs not used: Ryan Coulter (GK), Conor Kane, Jamie Hollwood, Shane Elworthy.
Booked: Colm Deasy (40) , Luke Gallagher (63), Sean Thornton (73).
Referee: Graham Kelly
Attendance: 1526
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Chiedozie Ogbene (Limerick).
