Drogheda boss Kevin Doherty: win over Dundalk tops them all
BIG WIN: Drogheda United manager Kevin Doherty celebrates after the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Drogheda United and Dundalk at Weavers Park in Drogheda, Louth. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
For a part-time club, Drogheda United are the full-time disrupters of the Premier Division pecking order.
They’ve accepted their inability to fund an operation all nine of their top-flight rivals have adopted renders them an outlier but they compensate through other virtues.
Last year, there was no lack of financial punch to Cork City’s ultimately unsuccessful quest to leapfrog the Drogs.
This season’s falling giant, Dundalk, are also struggling to synchronise economics to results.
Although there’s still just over half of the season left, Drogs enjoy a five-point buffer on their Louth rivals.
When yesterday’s derby was poised at 1-1 heading into the last 10 minutes and Drogs had lost goalkeeper Jethren Barr to a red, Dundalk could visualise the bottom of the table being left behind.
The last club to win the title before Shamrock Rovers had finally won after 12 games, that victory over Bohemians sandwiched between draws against Sligo Rovers and leaders Shelbourne.
It ensured the Lilywhites wouldn’t be cut adrift at the foot.
Now they’ve blown their chance of catching their neighbours for the time being, the broader pack ahead comes their eyeline.
Yet, that coterie of teams – Galway United, Sligo Rovers and Waterford – are also collecting wins while they falter.
Kevin Doherty’s celebrations at a packed Weavers Park illustrated the magnitude of these three points for Drogheda. Former player Killian Phillips, back on a break from Crystal Palace, led the joyous scenes.
“We’ve had great wins here against Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk and St Pat’s – that was a 94th minute winner last year – but this tops them all because of the circumstances,” said the Drogs boss after Hayden Cann’s stoppage-time winner.
“We had 10 minutes of stoppage time to get through with 10 men and without our goalkeeper.
“We took the chance of a huddle straight after Dundalk equalised – not telling the players we wanted a draw here but we can’t get beaten.”
Frantz Pierrot’s third goal in six matches gave Drogs the breakthrough 10 minutes into the second half before Jamie Gullan also grabbed his third of the season to cancel it out on 80 minutes.
That was a curling free-kick from 20 yards, awarded not just for a foul on sub Cameron Elliott by Jethren Barr but one deemed worthy of a straight red card by Rob Harvey.
But Doherty’s determined 10 men nicked the points when Cann – impressing the watching Jez George from his parent club Lincoln City – profited from a scramble in the box from Ryan Brennan’s free-kick cross to cushion the loose ball home from eight yards.
Dundalk’s goalkeeper George Shelvey was also red-carded, clashing with Gary Deegan at the final whistle of a tempestuous affair.
Deegan was involved in the opener but Dundalk would argue the Drogs terrier shouldn’t have been on the pitch for his assist.
After picking up a 35th-minute yellow card for one of his classic ferocious tackles on Paul Doyle, he was late with another on Robbie Benson seven minutes later. Not issuing a second booking was odd, not awarding a fall inexplicable.
Aware his enforcer was on a tightrope, Doherty resisted withdrawing him at the break.
“It came into my head to take him off but he’s clever and we spoke about it at half-time,” admitted the Drogs boss, who played under his opposite number Noel King while at Shelbourne.
It was prophetic, for Deegan was central to the opener shortly after the restart.
Ambitious passing from goal-kicks cost Dundalk during the ropey early start that triggered Stephen O’Donnell sacking and it returned here when Shelvey fed Doyle facing his goal.
Pressure and the dispossession by Deegan allowed him to set up Pierrot to lift the ball high into an unguarded net.
Once Drogheda centre-backs collided on 70 minutes when trying to head clear, Gullan pounced. His shot from an acute angle beat Barr but not Brennan, whose outstretched leg kept the ball out.
Fresh legs brought fresh opportunities and Elliott beat the offside trap to cut in from the right, only to be cleaned out by Barr.
With numerical advantage and the equaliser, Dundalk’s tails were up but their failure to defend the sole threat four minutes into added time was their undoing.
J Barr; L Heeney, A Quinn, H Cann, E Weir; R Brennan, G Deegan; A Foley, D Markey (O Gallagher 83), W Davis (A McNally 67); F Pierrot.
G Shelvey; A Davies, Z Johnson, A Boyle, H Muller (R O’Kane 89); P Doyle (K Oostenbrink 60), S High; J Mountney (C Elliott 72), R Benson, D Horgan; J Gullan.
Rob Harvey (Dublin).
2,339.
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