SHAMROCK ROVERS just can’t buy a league win over Drogheda United these days.
Good job then, from a Hoops point of view, that Cork City scored a last-gasp equaliser away to St Patrick’s Athletic.
The consolation, after another night of frustration against the Boynesiders, is that they head into European action with their four-point lead over the Saints still intact.
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But they are now six league games without a win over a side that is currently just two points above the relegation play-off place.
In front of 2,284 fans, Drogheda’s biggest crowd since their 2019 First Division decider against Shelbourne, Kevin Doherty’s men once again suffocated the life out of Rovers’ attack.
Their previous five league meetings ended in three stalemates and two wins for the Boynesiders, a remarkable record considering the contrast between the two sides.
The visitors’ bench last night included returning goalkeeper Mannus, Ronan Finn, Aaron Greene, Richie Towell, Johnny Kenny and Ireland Under-17 ace Naj Razi.
Most of Rovers’ reserves would easily slot into the starting-11 at Drogheda. Indeed, there are few managers around the country who wouldn’t envy the depth of Stephen Bradley’s squad.
Yet despite the talent at his fingertips, Bradley has found this Drogheda side to be the toughest of all of Rovers’ rivals to break down.
Try as they might, Graham Burke and Rory Gaffney ran time and again into a big maroon wall.
The Hoops tried a few crossfield balls to right-wing-back Darragh Nugent and found him more often than not, but that was the easy part.
The hard part was threading the ball through Drogheda’s well organised defence or finding the head of a teammate with a lofted cross.
It just wasn’t happening for the champions.
Nor could Sean Kavanagh, with plenty of Championship experience at Fulham, gain any joy on the other side of the pitch.
Burke and Markus Poom both tried their luck from distance, with one shot stinging the palms of goalkeeper Andrew Wogan and the other bouncing off a Boynesiders defender.
Emmanuel Adegboyega was outstanding in central defence, both in the air and on the ground, as was Conor Keeley beside him.
But keeping things tight and disciplined at the back was just one part of Drogheda’s performance, and as with previous meetings they looked dangerous on the counter.
Darragh Markey in particular was a real nuisance, as he used his pace to great effect on the left of Drogheda’s attack.
He was convinced that he should have had a penalty in the 18th minutes when he fell inside the area under pressure from Burke.
Referee Kevin O’Sullivan pointed for a goal-kick and replays seemed to back up the official’s call.
O’Sullivan’s positioning had to be spot-on, as it was one of those incidents that fell into the ‘seen them given’ category.
Two minutes later and a Markey corner was headed wide by Emmanuel Adegboyega, while another Markey cross from the left was headed straight at Pohls by Dayle Rooney.
Adam Foley had a great opportunity on 42 minutes to convert yet another Markey delivery, but he got his timing all wrong and headed well wide of the target.
Burke was hoping to start the second-half with a bang when he took aim at the Drogheda goal from inside his own half, but he appeared to hurt himself in the process.
A couple of minutes later and Burke was back up to full speed. His shot on the turn was blocked and Dylan Watts, following up, smashed the ball off the crossbar and over.
Luke Heeney rattled the woodwork at the other end with a thumping 25-yard drive that almost left an imprint on the right-hand post.
Evan Weir did well to head a Gaffney shot on the turn over for a corner at one end.
And at the other, Roberto Lopes had to be quick to react to a ball dropping to Rooney on the edge of the area on 73 minutes. He made up a lot of ground to block the goalbound effort.
For Rovers, it’s one point from their two visits in seven days to Louth.
The focus turns to Europe now and their Icelandic Champions League opponents Breidablik, but they would have been far happier preparing for next Tuesday’s game with a win last night.
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