| Drogheda inflict further misery on Rovers |
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| Wednesday, 30 May 2007 | |
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Two Drogheda United goals were enough to consign Sligo Rovers to their third consecutive defeat tonight in the Showgrounds. Although that scoreline may have seemed fair at the end of the first forty-five, Rovers dominated proceedings in the second and more than deserved something against the title challengers.
eircom League Premier Division Sligo Rovers 0 - 2 Drogheda United The Showgrounds, Tues 29 May 2007 Atten: 900 (est) Match Sponsor: Marc MacSharry Properties Drogheda created a raft of first half efforts that they failed to convert whilst the second forty-five was dominated by a resurgent Rovers performance, a harsh penalty and some brilliant goalkeeping from the Louth team’s net-minder. Rovers had two changes for tonight’s game with Seamus Coleman coming in for Zoltan Vasas and Stephen Manson replacing Chris Turner who is away on international duty with Northern Ireland. The first half opened brightest for Drogheda and as early as the third minute, playing into the town end, they went ahead. The damage was done when a Paul Keegan cross from a short corner on the far side found the head of Brian Shelly who directed the ball in off the far post and into the net. Four minutes later, Rovers should have had an equaliser when Kudozovic controlled a through ball from Judge and after some trickery squared into the path of Hughes, but there was noone there to get on the end of his low ball across the six yard box. As the game approached ten minutes, The Bit O’Red failed to clear their lines and it fell to Zayed who laid it up for Keegan to strike low into the arms of Arcaba. After the somewhat hectic start to the game, things inevitably settled down, Rovers relying on long balls which were surprisingly effective given the difference in stature between the home team’s strikers and the visitors defence. Drogheda were quick on the break and had a couple of half chances from Grant and notably Zayed who headed narrowly over from a corner midway through the half. The visitors were in the ascendancy, using both flanks to great effect, and it wasn’t long before Zayed created space in the box but his effort curled wide of the post. Grant had a great chance to put his side two up when he went clear on the right after some swift midfield work, but his lobbed effort failed to hit the target on the half hour. It wasn’t all one way traffic and Rovers direct approach looked like it could reap an equaliser, the most likely being from Kudozovic who had a couple of chances from set pieces on the edge of the box, neither of which really troubled Vilmunen’s goal. The first shot in anger of the second half fell to Gary Curran, who latched onto a long Arcaba goal kick but his effort from inside the box, skewed well wide Shortly after the restart, Brian Cash made a very welcome return following a serious knee injury, and made an immediate impact as Rovers made inroads down the right hand side. Nineteen minutes into the half, another substitution saw a firm Rovers favourite, Sean Flannery, back into the fray and the Drumcliffe man was typically involved straight away when he took advantage of a lapse of concentration at the Drogheda back but was unable to steer his effort on target. With Rovers raising their game, the visitors almost scored against the run of play when Stuart Byrne found space in the box, but meeting a Keegan cross, he headed wide. At the other end, Flannery came close on seventy minutes when his header, from a Kelly cross went agonisingly wide of the post. Six minutes later, it was substitute Keith Foy at the back post who had the opportunity to get the equaliser, but his shot was blocked out. Foy was in the thick of things again on eighty minutes when his free kick from thirty yards forced a good save from Vilnumen, but Rovers failed to convert the rebound. Three minutes later however, Drogheda sealed it with a Shane Robinson penalty. Tomislav Arcaba was somewhat harshly adjudged to have taken down Robinson when attempting to clear a long ball into the box, and the Drogheda number seven stepped up to convert the chance himself. It was a cruel way to end what was a generally positive Rovers performance and although the home side had a couple of decent chances from Flannery and Foy, they weren’t enough to alter the scoreline. Next up for the Bit O’Red is a home clash with Bohemians on Saturday night. Sligo Rovers Tomislav Arcaba, Raffaele Cretaro, Sean Kelly, Seamus Kelly, Jamie McKenzie, Conor O’Grady, Gary Curran (Brian Cash 51 mins), Adam Hughes (c) Matthew Judge (Sean Flannery 63 min), Fahrudin Kudozovic, Stephen Manson (Keith Foy 67 mins) Subs not used: Levi Tierney, Richard Brush Drogheda United Mikko Vilmunen, Damian Lynch, Simon Webb, Steven Gray, Shane Robinson, Tony Grant (Gavin Whelan 81 min), Brian Shelly, Stuart Byrne, Eamon Zayed, Paul Keegan, Ollie Cahill (James Keddy 87 mins) Subs not used: Gabriel Sava, Glen Fitzpatrick, Stephen Bradley, Referee T Connolly (Dublin) Bookings: Sligo Rovers: Matt Judge, Adam Hughes, Raffaele Cretaro, Seamus Coleman, Conor O’Grady Drogheda United: Paul Keegan Report by Paraic Casey |
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