- Conor Cantwell
- Fri, Apr 28 2023
Conor Cantwell reports from Oriel Park
Dundalk halted a six-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory thanks to a stoppage-time winner from John Martin against Drogheda United in the Louth derby at Oriel Park.
The Lilywhites took a commanding lead into halftime after goals from Ryan O’Kane and Patrick Hoban came minutes apart halfway through the first half.
Drogheda compounded their first-half issues early in the second half when Gary Deegan received a second yellow card for a late tackle. But the Drogs were revitalised after the sending-off with goals from Dayle Rooney and Freddie Draper drawing the away side level.
However, late in the game substitute John Martin came in and made the difference, slotting the ball past Colin McCabe and drawing wild celebrations from the home faithful.
The game started frantically with neither team able to grab control of the game. Early free kicks and corners from Dayle Rooney were dealt with by Nathan Sheppard in the Dundalk goal but caused panic among the Dundalk defence.
Around the 20-minute mark, the home team began to make their presence felt with a high strike from Rayhaan Tulloch but were yet to test McCabe in the Drogheda goal.
On 23 minutes the deadlock was broken with a defence-splitting pass from Hoban finding the onrushing O’Kane who delicately finished past the Drogheda keeper.
Hoban got his name on the scoresheet six minutes later, as a ball into the box was deflected towards McCabe, who got it as far as Dundalk’s number nine. The veteran striker made no mistake putting the ball past two Drogheda defenders.
The ball kept finding its way to a white jersey as Dundalk dominated the remainder of the first half and looked completely in control of proceedings.
In second half gave the travelling fans more to worry about when Gary Deegan, who had been booked in the first half, caught Johannes Yil-Kokko late and was shown a second yellow and was sent off by referee Neil Doyle.
The game looked dead and buried after 54 minutes until Rooney muscled his way into the box and scored past Shepperd. Home fans wanted a foul but there was nothing given.
The crowd was getting anxious even at 2-1 and this became more evident after Fredrick Draper calmly finished past the Dundalk keeper after capitalising on a loose ball to equalize.
Meanwhile the away side was content to sit back and see the clock run out, but in stoppage time, substitute Martin found himself in the opposing box and slotted the ball past a despairing McCabe.
There was a flurry of diagonal free kicks and long balls into the box from the Boynesiders, but their attempts were in vain as the full-time whistle went.
The win sees the end of Dundalk’s horrible run of form which they suffered from since the reverse fixture in Weaver Park.
For Drogheda United, it’s another good performance with little to show for it. This is the first time the team has scored multiple goals in a game this season and there were several solid performances across the board. Kevin Doherty will hope to display some of those positives against Shelbourne at home this Monday.
For Stephen O’Donnell and Dundalk, this is exactly what was needed after a torrid run of form. The Lilywhites will face UCD away in their next game on Monday
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Archie Davies, Darragh Leahy, Hayden Muller; Robbie Benson, Connor Malley, Ryan O'Kane (Alfie Lewis 68), Keith Ward (Paul Doyle 90), Johannes Yli-Kokko (John Martin 74); Patrick Hoban, Rayhaan Tulloch.
Subs not used: Peter Cherrie, Mark Byrne, Sean Bannon, Robbie McCourt, Craig Moore, Eoin Kenny.
Booked: Robbie Benson (82).
Drogheda United: Colin McCabe; Emmanuel Adegboyega, Elicha Ahiu (Michael Leddy 90), Conor Keeley, Evan Weir (Luke Heeney 23); Ryan Brennan, Gary Deegan, Dylan Grimes, Darragh Markey, Dayle Rooney; Freddie Draper.
Subs not used: Fiachra Pagel, Andrew Wogan, Aaron McNally, Warren Davis, Emre Topcu, Adam Foley.
Booked: Gary Deegan (33 and 50), Darragh Markey (84), Darragh Markey (84).
Sent off: Gary Deegan (50).
Referee: Neil Doyle
Attendance: 2,825
extratime.com Player of the Match: Patrick Hoban (Dundalk)
