Drogheda United 0-3 Longford Town
A goal in each half from Gary Shaw helped secured Longford to a 3-0 win at United Park that secured their Premier Division status and leaves Drogheda sweating on the possibility of relegation going into the final week of the season.
Mark Kinsella’s side paid the price for a disastrous start as they conceded after only three minutes when Shaw headed home his first goal since March.
Five minutes later, they had an even bigger mountain to climb when Joe Gorman picked up his second booking in quick succession to get his marching orders from referee Padraigh Sutton.
The Drogs had claims for a penalty waved away when Tiarnan Mulvenna went down in the box, but for the most part their goal led a charmed life as Longford hit the woodwork twice before Stephen Rice added a third goal right on 90 minutes.
Drogheda coughed up an early goal in their previous home fixture against Longford on their way to a 3-0 defeat and they made an equally nightmarish start here.
The tale of woe began in the third minute when a miscued defensive clearance from Joe Gorman narrowly cleared his own crossbar, and from the resulting corner-kick Longford hit the front in controversial fashion.
Pat Sullivan’s deep kick was met by a looping header from Shaw which the assistant referee ruled had crossed the line despite Keith Treacy’s attempts to keep it out.
Moments later Gorman went into the book for a late tackle on David O’Sullivan and incredibly the young Drogheda centre-half then earned a second yellow in the eighth minute for barging over Ayman Ben Mohamed.
A shell-shocked home side gradually worked their way into the game and they thought a penalty should have been theirs in the 19th minute.
Mulvenna got in behind the Longford defence to latch onto a great through-ball from Treacy and toe-poked over the advancing keeper Paul Skinner before going down in the box as he tried to continue his run.
Referee Padraigh Sutton was some way behind the play and ignored Drogheda’s vociferous claims for a spot-kick.
For the remainder of the first half it was a tale of the home side pushing hard to make up for their numerical disadvantage, with Longford happy to attack on the break.
Drogheda never really tested Paul Skinner in the visitors’ goal, while Longford could easily have added to their tally.
Shaw fired into the side netting after escaping his marker at the back post, and just before half-time O’Sullivan’s poor touch in the six-yard area denied him a near-certain goal as Treacy popped up in his own penalty area to make a timely clearance.
Three minutes into the second half, Longford almost had another when Ben Mohamed’s swerving 25-yard effort crashed off the bar, with Drogheda keeper Micheal Schlingermann beaten.
But the Boynesiders could have levelled a minute later when Jason Marks’ pass was brilliantly flicked on by Mulvenna into the path of Treacy whose out-stretched leg steered the ball narrowly over the bar.
Wayward long-range efforts from Sean Brennan and Mark Hughes followed as Drogheda tried to keep the momentum high, and the need to push for an equaliser became more urgent as news filtered through of a lead goal for Sligo against St Pat’s.
But they had two more big let-offs in quick succession as the game ticked into the final quarter. First, O’Sullivan dragged his shot wide from six yards under no real pressure, and then Kevin O’Connor broke clear, only to fire against the outside of the post.
But the inevitable second goal arrived in the 77th minute as Shaw advanced before drilling a powerful low shot past Schlingermann, and Rice fired home from close range in the last minute of normal time to leave Drogheda needing a result in Tallaght next Friday.
DROGHEDA UNITED: MichealSchlingermann; Michael Daly, Alan Byrne, Joe Gorman, Jason Marks; Sean Brennan, Robert Bayly (Bob McKenna 75), Sean Thornton, Mark Hughes, Keith Treacy (Adam Whelan 79); TiarnanMulvenna (Liam Donnelly 86). Subs not used: GerPender, Mark O’Brien, Sam McGowan, James Daly.
LONGFORD TOWN: Paul Skinner; Pat Sullivan, Philip Gannon, Mark Rossiter (Jamie Mulhall 30), Conor Powell; Gary Shaw, Kevin O’Connor, Stephen Rice, Rhys Gorman, Ayman Ben Mohamed; David O’Sullivan (Dean Kelly 76). Subs not used: Martin Deady,Lorcan Shannon, Mark Salmon, Kaleem Simon, Paul Hunt.
Referee: Padraigh Sutton (Clare)
