Drogheda United 0-1 Shamrock Rovers
Brandon Miele kept up his hot scoring streak to settle this hard-fought SSE Airtricity League Premier Division clash at United Park as Shamrock Rovers beat Drogheda 1-0.
A mis-timed header by Luke Byrne and a better one from Gavin Brennan, which flew just wide, reflected an encouraging start by Rovers and they hit the front after 31 minutes when Miele pounced on an error by Mark Hughes and drove at the Drogheda goal, before burying the ball past keeper Micheal Schlingermann.
Drogheda’s best chance of an equaliser came on the hour mark when Michael Daly’s low cross was met by Ger Pender, whose glancing touch was deflected wide by Rovers defender David Webster.
Other than a Ryan Brennan header which was blocked by his brother Sean, Rovers couldn’t fashion another chance and they had to defend for most of the last quarter to keep their lead intact.
It was no surprise to see Rovers come out all guns blazing, looking for an early goal to keep their slender title hopes alive.
They should have got one in the second minute when Gary McCabe planted a free-kick onto the head of left-back Byrne who got his jump all wrong and the ball sailed harmlessly wide.
Rovers then created a similar chance from open play as Simon Madden swung the ball in from the right towards Gavin Brennan whose header flew narrowly wide.
The Hoops’ next chance stemmed from careless play by Drogheda centre-half Robert O’Reilly as he was dispossessed by Danny North. The ball went wide to Gavin Brennan who squared back into the path of North and his shot was blocked by the head of Joe Gorman.
Drogheda responded with a good 10-minute spell during which Tiarnan Mulvenna blazed over the bar and Hughes drove well wide, so it was somewhat against the run of play when Rovers struck the lead just after the half-hour.
They counter-attacked from a Drogheda corner and great pressure from Miele forced Hughes into giving the ball away. Miele burst clear on goal and slotted calmly past keeper Schlingermann to put Rovers ahead.
Two minutes later Drogheda survived muted claims for a penalty kick as Ryan Brennan seemed to be nudged off the ball by Gorman as the Rovers midfielder challenged for a header in the six-yard area.
But the Boynesiders finished the half encouragingly and Sean Thornton had a diving header brilliantly parried by Rovers keeper Craig Hyland – although the effort wouldn’t have counted anyway as the offside flag intervened.
The game swung from end to end on the restart but with no clear-cut chances until the hour mark when Drogheda should have levelled.
Daly’s low centre was met by Ger Pender, making his first start since moving from Cabinteely, and the big number 11 deflected the ball goalwards only for David Webster to get a touch to take it wide.
Alan Byrne headed over the bar from the resulting corner kick as the Boynesiders continued to make life hard for the Tallaght men and as the game ticked into the final 10 minutes Rovers still had that slenderest of leads.
Drogheda found another gear and pressed hard for an equaliser but couldn’t generate a clear-cut chance, the closest to an equaliser coming on 89 minutes when Sean Brennan had a long-range free kick blocked by Rovers’ defensive wall.
DROGHEDA UNITED: Micheal Schlingermann; Michael Daly, Alan Byrne, Robert O’Reilly, Joe Gorman; Lee Duffy, Sean Thornton, Mark Hughes (Stephen Maheer 77), Tiarnan Mulvenna (Bob McKenna 84); Sean Brennan; Ger Pender (Jason Marks 65). Subs not used: Adam Whelan, Lloyd Buckley, Robert Bayly, Evin Farrell.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Craig Hyland; Simon Madden, David Webster, Conor Kenna, Luke Byrne, Gary McCabe, Pat Cregg; Brandon Miele, Ryan Brennan (Cian Kavanagh 86), Gavin Brennan; Danny North (Mickey Drennan 79). Subs not used: Max Blanchard, David O’Connor, Kieran M Waters, Gareth McCaffrey, Barry Murphy.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin (Monaghan).
