There was high drama at the very last at Sullivan & Lambe Park as Ed McGinty's penalty save condemned Drogheda United to defeat for the first time this season and ignited Shamrock Rovers' campaign after an uneven start.
Stephen Bradley’s side have now enjoyed back-to-back wins over St Patrick’s Athletic and early pacesetters Drogheda.
After Conor Keeley’s opener, it looked like Drogheda's exceptional start was showing no signs of abating. Their lead didn’t last long though and goals in either half from Aaron Greene and Graham Burke out them in control before McGinty’s crucial late intervention.
Both managers named unchanged teams following their respective 1-0 victories over Shelbourne and St Patrick’s Athletic seven days earlier.
Even the most optimistic Drogheda fans would have struggled to imagine that they would began round six of the Premier Division campaign top of the table, seven points clear of the recent four-in-a-row champions.
Stephen Bradley’s team arrived on the Windmill Road having played a game less of course. Until at least a full round is complete, it remains hard to discern exactly what to make of these early weeks.
Rovers have made something of a habit of slow starts in recent years. Last year, it only just caught them short and they will improve again.
What Drogheda’s dynamic start means in the medium to long term this season is more of an open question. Sustaining this kind of form is a task when the best struggle with, as last season’s title race demonstrated.
As has been the pattern in every Drogheda match this season, they spent huge swathes of the match without the ball.
Keeley became the seventh different scorer of United’s seven league goals this season when he produced a controlled sidefoot finish to beat Ed McGinty low to his right.
Darragh Markey stole the ball from Dylan Watts on the goal line and picked out the centre-back on the edge of the area. His shot matched in accuracy what Markey’s contribution offered in both the industry to win and vision to find his man.
Keeley had scored in Drogheda colours before, but never on home turf. He savoured his moment before retreating to concentrate on preserving his team’s lead.
At this point, a clean sheet became the priority from the hosts. Having kept four in five outings already, that looked a realistic possibility, but Rovers were level eight minutes later.
When Conor Kane failed to deal with a dropping ball, Greene capitalised. He ran at Keeley before rifling a shot beyond Drogheda goalkeeper Luke Dennison. It was the striker’s first league goal since last May.
Burke’s goal came in the 70th minute. Grant posed problems for Kane and slipped the striker in. His shot was well-struck on target – that was enough for a lead.
The hosts came back into it and looked like they would snatch a point deep in injury time when Luke Heeney got to a ball in the box before McGinty and drew a foul from the Rovers goalkeeper.
With regular penalty takers Douglas James-Taylor and Ryan Brennan off the pitch, the responsibility fell on Shane Farrell to take the spot kick.
McGinty was equal to his shot, diving to his right to turn the ball away. The game was won at that point. Having played a game less than most others, Rovers now look poised to make a charge.
Drogheda United: Luke Dennison; Andrew Quinn, Conor Keeley, George Cooper; Owen Lambe (Dare Kareem, 82), Ryan Brennan (Luke Heeney 77), Shane Farrell, Conor Kane (Kieran Cruise, 76; Darragh Markey; Warren Davis, Thomas Oluwa.
Shamrock Rovers: Edward McGinty; Daniel Cleary (Sean Robertson, 83), Roberto Lopes, Joshua Honohan; Danny Grant (Viktor Ozhianvuna, 72), Aaron McEneff (Michael Noonan, 72), Matt Healy, Dylan Watts, Cory O’Sullivan; Aaron Greene (Jack Byrne, 72), Graham Burke (Rory Gaffney, 76).
Referee: David Dunne
