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Bohemians 1-4 Drogheda United

November 7, 2018

Tiarnán Mulvenna was the hattrick hero as Drogheda United secured second place in the league with an emphatic win over Bohemians at Dalymount Park on Friday night.

The enforced absences of Declan O’Brien, strike-partner Peter Hynes and Eric Foley saw Drogheda boss Mick Cooke hand starts to the trio of Derek Prendergast, Mulvenna and captain Paul Crowley as the Louthmen looked to inflict a fourth home defeat of the season on Bohemians.

Mulvenna opened his account on 23 with a fine finish and found himself in the right place again 20 minutes later to double his tally. Evan McMillan’s goal on the stroke of half time gave the hosts hope, but an Alan McNally header on 48 and Mulvenna’s third on 68 saw the last three points of this season safely up the M1.

Hero and Villain

With St. Pat’s breathing heavily down their necks Drogheda knew that nothing less than a win would suffice in their quest for second place, and the visitors started brightly as returning captain Paul Crowley was unlucky to see his stinging effort deflected around the post on 2.

Cooke’s men thoroughly dominated both possession and territory in the game’s formative stages, and the Drogs were denied again on 8 as Greg Murray got down well to save Ryan Brennan’s bottom-corner drive.

Aaron Callaghan’s side were handed another huge let-off eight minutes later as following a botched kickout from Murray, Sean Brennan seized possession only for brother Ryan to scuff his shot at the onrushing Kevin Feely with the goal gaping.

Given the Boynesiders’ steady stream of chances it was only a matter of time before the away side would finally open the scoring, and it was Mulvenna who eventually obliged as he finished past Murray with aplomb following a sublime through-ball from Sean Brennan.

Bohemians finally managed to trouble the opposition goal on 30 as ex-Drog Dinny Corcoran fired tamely into the arms of Gabriel Sava, but it was Mulvenna who commanded the limelight again 10 minutes later as he inexplicably fluffed his shot wide with the ‘keeper all at sea after intricate build-up play from Crowley and Sean Brennan.

Knockout Blow

It wasn’t long before the Dundalk native was again basking in the adulation of the travelling cohort however, as he stabbed home Quigley’s right wing cross following more good work from Crowley and Brennan to seemingly put the result beyond doubt.

But the home side were given a glimmer of hope as the clock ticked into injury time at the end of the first half. A looping ball into the six yard box saw Sava commit an uncharacteristic error as, under pressure from Corcoran, his weak punch rolled to the feet of McMillan, and the Gypsies’ player of the year made no mistake with his finish.

Unperturbed by the sucker-punch, United’s players endeavoured to provide the knockout blow from the beginning of the second half.

Following gilt-edged chances from Ryan Brennan and John Sullivan, Alan McNally was on hand to continue his rich vein of scoring in recent weeks and nod home Philip Hand’s corner, once again giving the Phibsboro outfit a mountain to climb.

Job Well Done

Despite substitute Keith Ward curling his 25-yard free-kick off the upright on 59, the mountain was made insurmountable on 68 as Mulvenna knocked a loose ball to the net after Murray made a proverbial dog’s dinner of John Sullivan’s less than formidable initial effort.

The Bohs stopper did make amends somewhat two minutes later as he repelled Sean Brennan’s powerful shot, but the damage was well and truly done by that stage.

Of some concern to Drogs fans will be the fate of goalscorer-supreme Mulvenna who was carted off with his leg in a cast as the final whistle loomed following a fairly innocuous sequence of play, and the resulting five minute stoppage served only to definitively disrupt the game’s increasingly erratic rhythm.

Sullivan was handed one final opportunity to complete the rout in stoppage time, but a fine save from Murray denied the former Shelbourne midfielder as his team provided a suitable finish to another captivating season of League of Ireland football.

 

Drogheda United:
1 Gabriel Sava
2 Stephen Quigley
3 Philip Hand
4 Derek Prendergast (Marks 85)
5 Alan McNally
8 Ryan Brennan
9 Tiarnán Mulvenna (Breen 85)
10 Sean Brennan
16 Paul Crowley ©
17 Brian Gannon (Sullivan 24)
28 Alan Byrne
Subs not used:
Cathal Brady
Michael Schlingermann
Conor O’Keeffe

Bohemians:
30 Greg Murray
2 Owen Heary ©
3 Derek Pender
5 Evan McMillan
6 Kevin Feely
18 Andy Mulligan (Moore 45)
7 Keith Buckley
11 Stephen Traynor (Ward 45)
24 Dinny Corcoran (Scully 75)
9 Ryan McEvoy
33 Michael Barker
Subs not used:
Roberto Lopes
Kevin Devaney
Dylan Connolly
Andy McNulty

Shots:
Drogheda 16
Bohemians 8

Corners:
Drogheda 7
Bohemians 2

Yellow cards:
Drogheda 1 (Derek Prendergast)

Referee: Damien Hancock

Droghedaunited.ie Man of the Match: Tiarnán Mulvenna