Drogheda United survived a late onslaught from UCD to take all three points in an exciting clash at United Park with a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Paul Doolin's men had one or two shaky moments in the opening stages and were almost punished in the 10th minute when Conor Sammon was put clean through on goal, only for Graham Gartland to make a superb last-ditch tackle.
But College, undeterred, struck from the resulting corner kick when Drogheda failed to clear their lines and the ball broke to Derek Doyle who fired low and hard under the body of keeper Dan Connor.
It could have got worse for the home side when Gartland was dispossessed in his own penalty area, but Jason Gavin came to his colleague's rescue, and then Doyle’s dipping 25-yard shot almost caught Connor off his line.
Gradually, Drogheda began to make inroads in the UCD defence and Simon Webb and Stuart Byrne tried their luck from long range.
Crucially, the Boynesiders struck during that period of dominance when Ollie Cahill's cross from the byline was fired goalwards by Paul Keegan and Declan O’Brien deflected the ball past Darren Quigley.
Drogheda picked up their game after that and Stuart Byrne forced a fine save from Quigley, before Shane Robinson almost got a decisive touch to Cahill's teasing cross.
Doolin's men seemed to lose their way after the restart, and the College defence looked comfortable, but just when the home fans were beginning to grow frustrated, the Boynesiders struck a superb second goal.
O'Brien turned defence into attack with a diagonal pass to Glen Fitzpatrick and he broke from the centre circle before sending an exquisite chip over the advancing Quigley.
Drogheda almost conceded a second goal with some poor defending, but seconds later they extended their lead with another fine strike.
Eamon Zayed, who had replaced O'Brien three minutes earlier, exchanged passes with Robinson and showed good body strength before firing past Quigley from a tight angle.
The points looked in the bag at that stage, but UCD rallied and substitute Bogdan Opera pulled one back from close range to set up a grandstand finish.
Keeper Quigley even went up for a late corner, but Drogheda survived to claim three vital points.
