Luke Turner's late goal broke the deadlock as St Patrick’s Athletic saw off Drogheda United deep into injury time at Sullivan and Lambe Park.
Goals don’t tend to flow when these teams meet and that was the case as ever on Friday night. And as the clock ticked into the 94th minute, it looked like the teams would play out an extraordinary fourth successive scoreless encounter.
Were it not for Turner’s late intervention, it would have been six nil-nil draws in eight matches between the sides.
It was Turner's first league goal of the season and the nature looked to be particularly satisfying for Stephen Kenny and his backroom team on the sideline. Last-minute winners always hit harder and this was no different.
For Drogheda, a point against St Patrick’s Athletic would not that long ago have been considered a very satisfactory result but United are setting their sights higher these days. They remain ahead of Saints in the table but only be a solitary point. They both have European aspirations and Kevin Doherty’s team have to bounce back now.
The Saints had posed more of a threat throughout the encounter, although Drogheda had their moments, especially in the second half when either side could have credibly snatched the lead before injury time arrived.
This was far from a dour scoreless stalemate and the scoreline at least reflects that in some way.
Luke Dennison was the busier goalkeeper in the first half, saving from Mason Melia, Brandon Kavanagh and Barry Baggley but only the latter of those really posed a genuine problem for Drogheda’s Californian stopper.
St Pat’s possessed ample threat and the duel between Melia and Conor Keeley was one to watch throughout. Kian Leavy in particular was outstanding and United defenders found it tough to take the ball off his toes at times.
The game came to life after the interval. A defence splitting Chris Forrester pass found Melia but, pushed wide of the post, he toe-poked wide from a difficult angle. That was before Leavy’s weaving run ended with his square ball put behind by Keeley.
Joe Redmond, a former Drog himself, had St Pat’s clearest opportunity when he dragged a shot wide when well-placed after Drogheda had not cleared Kavanagh’s deep set-piece. But United had chances too with Warren Davis hitting the bar from the edge of the area.
In the fourth minute of five added on, Leavy’s corner flicked up off Melia and fell into Turner’s path. He had the simple task of diverting the ball beyond Dennison and into the net.
A goal at last – cue delirious scenes in the away end.
Drogheda United: Luke Dennison; James Bolger, Conor Keeley, Andrew Quinn; Owen Lambe, Shane Farrell (Luke Heeney, 61), Ryan Brennan, Conor Kane; Darragh Markey; Josh Thomas (Thoms Oluwa 79), Warren Davis (Dare Kareem, 87)
St Patrick’s Athletic: Joseph Anang; Ryan McLaughlin, Joe Remond, Luke Turner, Jason McClelland; Barry Baggley (Darren Robinson, 85), Chris Forrester, Brandon Kavanagh (Conor Carty, 81); Simon Power (Jake Mulraney, 72), Mason Melia, Kian Leavy
Referee: Neil Doyle
