Dundalk 3
Drogheda United 2
Niall Newberry reports from Oriel Park
JOHN MARTIN WAS the hero for Dundalk FC, as it was his stoppage-time winner that secured a 3-2 win over Drogheda United to end their winless SSE Airtricity League run.
The Lilywhites, whose last win had come against their Louth neighbours on 16 March, were 2-0 ahead at the interval, thanks to goals from Ryan O’Kane and Patrick Hoban.
However, ten-man Drogheda fought back in the second half, and found themselves level when Freddie Draper added to Dayle Rooney’s earlier strike, but John Martin was the hero of the hour, as his stoppage-time goal secured the three points for Dundalk.
Drogheda looked the brighter throughout what was an uneventful opening 15 minutes.
And it was indeed the visitors who created the first real chance, with Draper’s pass allowing Darragh Markey to get in ahead of a static Dundalk backline before he forced Nathan Shepperd, who was understandably furious afterwards, into a good save.
It took 21 minutes for Dundalk’s first attempt to arrive, when an Archie Davies cross was headed back by Hoban before Rayhaan Tulloch curled off target from outside the area.
With the game now opened up, The Lilywhites took the lead just two minutes later through O’Kane, who was slipped in by Hoban before getting in ahead of both Conor Keeley and Evan Weir to race through and slot beyond the advancing Colin McCabe.
Stephen O’Donnell’s side doubled their advantage on 28 minutes, when Keith Ward pinged a ball into Johannes Yli-Kokko, whose close-range effort was kept out by McCabe, but only as far as Dundalk skipper Hoban, who then volleyed home to make it 2-0.
As if the scoreline wasn’t enough of a challenge for Drogheda, they would have to play the majority of the second half with just 10 players, after captain Gary Deegan was shown a second yellow card by referee Neil Doyle for what was a late foul on Yli-Kokko.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Kevin Doherty’s troops got themselves back into the game on 54 minutes, when a Ryan Brennan header found its way to Rooney, who got the beating of the fallen Yli-Kokko before finishing past Shepperd to halve the deficit.
Incredibly, the visitors made it 2-2 on 72 minutes, when Hayden Muller was dispossessed by Draper, who couldn’t believe his luck as he raced through on goal before finishing underneath the despairing Shepperd, as the Drogheda support celebrated.
The drama wasn’t over just yet however, as Dundalk won it in stoppage-time, with substitute Martin finishing after Ward’s initial pass into the box wasn’t dealt with.
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Archie Davies, Hayden Muller, Darragh Leahy, Robbie Benson; Johannes Yli-Kokko (John Martin 76), Connor Malley; Ryan O’Kane (Alfie Lewis 70), Keith Ward (Paul Doyle 90+3), Rayhaan Tulloch; Patrick Hoban.
Drogheda United: Colin McCabe; Elicha Ahui (Michael Leddy 90+2), Emmanuel Adegboyega, Conor Keeley, Evan Weir (Luke Heeney 25); Gary Deegan, Ryan Brennan; Dylan Grimes, Darragh Markey, Dayle Rooney; Freddie Draper (Adam Foley 89).
Referee: Neil Doyle