Shelbourne narrowly defeat Drogheda United to move closer to landing title

Damien Duff's side sit five points ahead of Champions Shamrock Rovers who have two games still to play.

NEARLY THERE?: Shelbourne manager Damien Duff celebrates after his side's victory. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Shelbourne 2 Drogheda United 1

Shelbourne celebrated their centenary weekend at Tolka Park with a hard fought and dramatic 2-1 win against Drogheda United.

Great finishes from Sean Noyd and Rayhaan Tulloch looked to send Shels on their way but a stunning Bridel Bosakani strike ensured a nail biting finish in Drumcondra.

Buoyed by an impressive come-from-behind win against Waterford seven days previous, things were beginning to fall kindly for the Reds in their search for their first title in 18-years, but firstly they had to do their own job.

Although there was a party-like atmosphere at the famous old ground, the visitors showed they weren’t just here to make up the numbers matching the home side’s intensity early on as expected from a Kevin Doherty outfit, who would have been forgiven for having eyes elsewhere with a crucial couple of weeks to come in the shape of the FAI Cup Final and relegation/promotion play-off.

But the boisterous home fans didn’t have to wait long to erupt as Rayhaan Tulloch's smashed clearance was cleverly flicked around the corner by John Martin, sending Boyd clear on goal with 11-minutes played.

The talismanic number nine took a couple of touches to set himself before cleverly dinking the ball over the onrushing Luke Dennison.

The Sean Gannon/Burt axis were having a field day linking up on the right hand side, constantly enjoying space and creating danger at will but the hosts failed to add to their tally.

To their credit, the visitors halted the one-way traffic, and frustrated the league leaders for the remainder of the half with both sides needing the halftime break for different reasons.

Drogheda came flying out of the traps for the second half and could have equalised within minutes of the restart, almost taking advantage of some slack Shels rearguard play.

Having pressed high, the ball fell kindly to Adam Foley who quickly fizzed the ball to the feet of Luke Heeney. The Meath man was unlucky to see his drilled a low effort narrowly missed the bottom corner.

This served as a major wake-up call for Duff’s charges who looked to settle any potential nerves, when Rayhaan Tulluch was on hand to finish from close range following great work from Boyd who did well to keep the attack alive before cutting the ball back from the endline.

With the game out of reach Doherty made a triple substitution to rest some big names ahead of a crucial couple weeks, but Bridel Bosakani didn't get the memo as he stunned the home crowd with an outstanding left foot finish that sailed into the top corner and it was game on again.

In keeping with the fashion of the season as a whole, nothing was straight forward for either side as the game drew to a close with chances at either end.

But the home side did manage to get over the line to sit five points ahead of Champions Shamrock Rovers who have two games still to play, meaning they could their hands on the title in the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium next Friday night.

Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Sean Gannon, Paddy Barrett, Kameron Ledwidge, Tyreke Wilson; JJ Lunney, Evan Caffrey (John O’Sullivan, 90+3’); Liam Burt (Ali Coote, 72’), John Martin (Aiden O’Brien, 65’), Rayhaan Tulloch (Harry Wood, 72’); Sean Boyd.

Drogheda United: Luke Dennison; Andrew Quinn, Jack Keaney, James Bolger (Aaron Harper-Bailey, 57’) ; Elicha Ahui (Matthew O’Brien, 57’), Gary Deegan, Luke Heeney, Darragh Markey (Warren Davis, 46’), Aaron McNally (Killian Cailloce, 74’); Adam Foley, Douglas James-Taylor (Bridel Bosakani, 57’).

Referee: Neil Doyle.