Galway United 2-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic
St. Patrick’s Athletic’s title hopes took another early blow on Friday when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat in Terryland to Galway United.
After impressive work from Greg Cunningham, Patrick Hickey lined up his shot from outside the box, which bounced off Luke Turner and over Joseph Anang on seventeen minutes.
The Tribesmen were in dreamland when Hickey bagged his brace not long afterwards. Jeannot Esua picked up the ball out wide after a hesitant clearance, and perfectly picked out the American striker for a bullet header.
Snap shots followed from Romal Palmer, Brandon Kavanagh and Jake Mulraney, all of which were dealt with easily by Brendan Clarke in goal.
The Saints kept the game alive through a moment of magic from Aidan Keena. A trademark delivery from Mulraney was controlled beautifully by the striker, before he turned and unleashed a venomous volley past Clarke on the half hour mark.
Clarke was called into action again in the second half as Pats searched, to no avail, for an equaliser. Zach Elbouzedi dug out a cross for Joe Redmond, whose header was clawed away incredibly from point blank range.
Galway manager John Caulfield, who said goodbye to his late mother earlier that day, joined assistant Ollie Horgan in the home dugout for the second half. His players gave him a performance to be proud of.
Galway United: B. Clarke, J. Keohane, K. Brouder, R. Slevin, G. Cunningham, J. Esua, D. Hurley (V. Borden 79′), B. Burns (C. Byrne 70′), P. Hickey, M. Dyer (R. Donelon 70′), S. Walsh (M. Wilson 90+1′)
St. Patrick’s Athletic: J. Anang, R. McLaughlin, L. Turner, J. Redmond, A. Breslin (A. Kazeem 83′), J. Lennon, R. Palmer (C. Forrester 83′), B. Kavanagh (M. Melia 46′), Z. Elbouzedi (S. Power 70′), J. Mulraney, A. Keena (C. Carty 85′)
Drogheda United 3-0 Sligo Rovers
Cup winners Drogheda United marked their homecoming in emphatic fashion, with three goals and a clean sheet condemning Sligo Rovers to their second consecutive defeat.
An early moment of class from Shane Farrell saw him sit down three Sligo midfielders, striding forward before getting the shot off. Sam Sargeant saved, but was lucky to grab the second ball which almost trickled over the line.
Three minutes before half time, Farrell found space again to pull a low cross into the box, and home debutant Josh Thomas was on hand to strike right-footed on the edge of the area, leaving Sam Sargeant stranded.
Sligo started the second half better, and Ollie Denham was unlucky to see his bullet header flash wide from a corner kick.
Rovers did have the ball in the net with ten minutes to go through Cian Kavanagh, who found space to convert Francely Lomboto’s cross, but it was ruled offside.
Substitute Warren Davis was a livewire, and he did well to shrug off Reece Hutchinson’s challenge, proving the assist for Darragh Markey, his powerful shot making it 2-0 on 74 minutes.
Deep into injury time, Thomas Oluwa drew a save from Sargeant, but the ball was parried into the path of Luke Heeney. The midfielder’s first goal in over four years was enough to seal the result.
Drogheda United: L. Dennison, O. Lambe, A. Quinn, C. Keeley, J. Bolger, C. Kane, S. Farrell, R. Brennan (L. Heeney 89′), D. Markey, Z. Bawa (T. Oluwa 61′), J. Thomas (W. Davis 72′)
Sligo Rovers: S. Sargeant, H. Lintott, J. Mahon, O. Denham (G. McElroy 90+5′), R. Hutchinson, J. Doyle-Hayes (F. Lomboto 69′), C. Malley, J. Hakiki (R. Manning 83′), O. Elding, W. Fitzgerald, C. Kavanagh
Waterford 0-1 Shelbourne
Defending champions Shelbourne remain the only team with a 100% record on gameweek two, getting the job done in Waterford with a 1-0 away win.
Sean Boyd did exceptionally well on the touchline on thirteen minutes, weaving through two players to provide the cross for Mipo Odubeko. The former Ireland U21 international only had to swing his boot to convert the chance and score the only goal on the night.
Odubeko did convert another golden chance when Kerr McInroy’s pinpoint cross made its way into the box and was headed into the bottom corner, only for the offside flag to go up.
The Blues later had multiple efforts blocked on the goal line in quick succession. Conan Noonan’s ball into the box fell awkwardly, and a scramble ensued involving Tommy Lonergan and Padraig Amond, with Conor Kearns and Mark Coyle throwing their bodies in the way and preventing the equaliser.
Just as the hosts looked to be working their way back into the game in the second period, Ryan Burke was dismissed for a high tackle on Evan Caffrey. The defender lost possession and threw himself into the rash challenge.
Boyd then almost doubled the advantage for Damien Duff’s side, guiding his header over the bar after a sweeping ball forward by Paddy Barrett, and substitute Ellis Chapman narrowly dragged a long-range strike wide of the right-hand post.
Waterford: S. McMullan, N. Bakboord (S. Glenfield 77′), A. Boyle, K. Radkowski, D. Leahy, R. Burke, D. McMenamy (K. White 77′), R. McDonald (L. Roberts 87′), C. Noonan, T. Lonergan (M. Pouwels 77′), P. Amond
Shelbourne: C. Kearns, S. Gannon, S. Bone, P. Barrett, K. Ledwidge, M. Coyle (J. Norris 78′), K. McInroy (J. Lunney 66′), H. Wood (E. Chapman 78′), E. Caffrey (A. Coote 66′), S. Boyd (J. Martin 83′), M. Odubeko
Derry City 1-0 Bohemians
Tiernan Lynch secured his first win as Derry City manager, despite only witnessing fourteen minutes of the game, overcoming Bohemians 1-0 at the Brandywell.
It took just ten minutes for Michael Duffy to break the deadlock, dipping an immaculate free kick into the top left corner and netting his fifteenth career goal against Bohs. James Talbot had no chance.
A spat arose on the touchline shortly afterwards, appearing to involve Alan Reynolds and Shane Ferguson, with Lynch briefly intervening. Incredibly, both managers received their marching orders as a result.
The Candystripes will feel they should have had a second. Dom Thomas dinked the perfect cross to a waiting Duffy at the back post, but Talbot made himself big to deny him.
Minutes later, Duffy was productive again, this time attempting to recreate his earlier free kick but drawing another low save from the Bohs keeper.
The visitors looked sloppy at the back, and Liam Boyce was gifted a chance just before the interval. Adam O’Reilly fed him through and he blazed the ball into the side netting.
Bohs, fresh from a derby win over Shamrock Rovers, only managed a single chance on the night. Debutant Rhys Brennan’s peach of a cross found the head of new signing Connor Parsons, but he could only guide his attempt over the crossbar.
Derry City: B. Maher, R. Boyce, M. Connolly, S. Todd, S. Ferguson (A. Doherty 61′), S. Diallo (R. Benson 61′), D. Thomas (P. McMullan 82′), C. Winchester, A. O’Reilly, M. Duffy, L. Boyce
Bohemians: J. Talbot, L. Smith, R. Cornwall (S. Grehan 46′), L. Kavanagh, K. Best (K. Buckley 72′), N. Morahan (A. McDonnell 61′), D. Devoy, R. Tierney, R. Brennan, C. Parsons, L. Mousset (C. Whelan 72′)
This week’s fixtures:
Cork City vs Bohemians
Derry City vs Waterford
Drogheda United vs Galway United
Shelbourne vs Shamrock Rovers
St. Patrick’s Athletic vs Sligo Rovers
by