Sullivan the late hero for Drogs

Drogheda United 3 Dundalk 2

Dundalk, now rooted to the bottom of the table, led 2-0 in the first half and still had a single-goal advantage with four minutes left, but Mick Cooke’s men turned it around with Peter Hynes’s second goal of the night and then Sullivan’s stunning winner.

The Lilywhites got off to a dream start with a goal inside five minutes, Mark Griffin profiting from some slack defending on the right side of before lashing a rising shot past keeper Gabriel Sava.

Dundalk immediately went in search of a second goal, sensing their rivals were in some disarray, but despite forcing three corners in quick succession it was the Boynesiders who created the next chance, Peter Hynes slicing badly wide after being set up by Tiarnan Mulvenna.

Griffin gave another warning of his threat with a glancing header from a Mark O’Brien cross that drifted straight into the arms of Sava. But Drogheda seemed to be gaining the upper hand when they were hit with a sucker-punch on 25 minutes.

Griffin was allowed to run unchallenged up the left flank and, although his cross was cut out by Alan Byrne, the Dundalk sharpshooter was onto the rebound in a flash to send the ball beyond Sava.

Out of nothing the Drogs grabbed a lifeline just after the half-hour when Hynes collected a throw-in and stroked a brilliant curling left-foot shot beyond Peter Cherrie from just outside the box.

Coming up to half-time the Boynesiders looked the better side but after a fine one-touch passing move in the 40th minute, Mulvenna shot straight at Cherrie.

Straight after the restart Mulvenna had a shot saved on the line by Chris Shields, before Hynes pulled another good chance wide. However, the Lilywhites survived that early onslaught before coming under severe pressure in the closing stages.

Cherrie fisted away a Philip Hand free-kick and Mulvenna had a close-range shot scrambled off the line, but the Dundalk defence was finally breached on 87 minutes when Hynes popped up at the back post to head home Derek Prendergast’s long, diagonal cross.

And deep into stoppage time substitute John Sullivan stunned the visiting support by sending a superb volley beyond Cherrie from Hand’s deep cross.

DROGHEDA UNITED: Sava; Gannon, Byrne, Prendergast, Hand; Mulvenna, Crowley, Foley (Sullivan 72), R Brennan (Brady 72); Hynes, O’Brien (S Brennan 80).

DUNDALK: Cherrie; Mountney, Foran, Shields, Osborne; Mulvenna, Crowley, Foley, R Brennan; Hynes, O’Brien.