Drogheda United got their first win in six games when a last minute winner from Stephen Dunne goal gave them a 2-1 win over Shamrock Rovers at United Park on Friday night.
The Drogs had taken the lead in the first half through Sean Thornton’s penalty. But Rovers hit back with a spot kick of their own with just one minute remaining, when Graham Burke scored. Substitute Sean Brennan was sent off in the lead up to Rovers penalty.
In added time Drogheda got a free-kick which was sent into the box, and in the ensuing scramble Dunne poked home to send the United Park crowd wild.
It was a fantasting win for Pete Mahon’s charges, and it put the Drogs level on points with Rovers, and up to eighth in the table.
Midfielder Richie Purdy said after the game, “Yeah it was a great result for us. We needed to stop the rot after losing 6 on the bounce so it was was important to stop that going any further. Everyone of the lads worked their socks off and it was scrappy at times but I thought we deserved to win the game overall.”
On their recent results he said, “The last few weeks has been tough, results wise but we were unlucky in 1 or 2 of them games. Against Bohs we were unlucky to lose that, and against Beay we could have at least got a point against them. However we’ve started back winning again and hopefully we can go on a good run now.”
He was also pleased to put one over his former team, “Yeah it was nice to beat my old club. This was one of the first fixtures I looked at when they came out. The only thing was that I got some stick of a few of mates after the game as they’re all Rovers fans, but at least I have one over on them.”
Fellow midfielder Jake Hyland said, “Great to get a win over Rovers no matter what stage of the season it is, the win was fully deserved. I thought we dominated the game from start to finish and created the better goal scoring chances.”
It was a little extra special for Hyland being an ex-Bohs player, “Obviously as an ex Bohs player and fan it was great to get one over on Rovers. I’m still close to all on the lads and they texted me after buzzing that we’d beat them, but it was fully deserved.”
“That win was coming for us at Drogheda as we’ve been unlucky. On paper it was 5 league defeats in a row but we learned from every one, and took the positives as we are only a new team learning every week, so the losses are a new experience from last year and will stand to us further on in the season.”
Photo Credit: George Kelly (Shamrock Rovers)