Drogheda United knocked Shamrock Rovers off top spot last night, as they eased their own worries at the other end of the table with a sensational smash and grab win in Tallaght.
Freddie Draper and Dayle Rooney were the heroes for Kevin Doherty’s patchwork side.
The Boynesiders somehow defied a defensive crisis to frustrate the Hoops, who were frustrated time and again until Rory Gaffney pulled one back late in the game.
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Rovers were comfortably in control from the start, with Jack Byrne pinging balls right and left, linking up with wing-backs Neil Farrugia and Trevor Clarke.
Clarke’s battle with Conor Keeley looked like a mismatch from the start. Centre-back Keeley was moved wide to look after the Rovers ace as part of a huge defensive reshuffle.
Injuries forced Doherty to slot Ryan Brennan into central defence for the second week running, while Alan McNally was once again switched from the wing to left-back.
However, the makeshift defence stood firm, with Emmanuel Adegboyega a towering presence at the heart of their rearguard effort.
Drogheda have been a real thorn in Rovers’ side in recent times, with the Hoops managing just three wins against them in their last nine meetings.
As for the Boynesiders, their last win was eight games earlier - away to Derry City, who last night overtook Rovers at the top of the table.
For Hoops boss Stephen Bradley, it was a 300th game in charge of the Hoops to forget, despite his side’s dominance.
Graham Burke fired wide after just five minutes and Neil Farrugia was denied by goalkeeper Colin McCabe on 13. Rory Gaffney thought he’d squeezed home the rebound, but McNally produced a block on the line.
McCabe saved from Burke, before Gary O’Neill slalomed into the area and, in an unfamiliar position so high up the pitch, opted for a poorly executed square ball when a shot was on.
The chances rained down on the Drogheda goal, as Burke’s shot was blocked and Lopes headed a Byrne corner over.
Byrne went for goal himself in the 34th minute after good play between himself and Gaffney, but his shot was pushed behind by McCabe.
Gaffney headed Byrne’s cross wide of the far post and, from Gaffney’s 43rd minute cross, Clarke’s header was stopped on the line by Brennan, after a mix-up between McCabe and Adegboyega.
Seconds later, Rovers were behind. There seemed to be no threat as Keeley thumped the ball as far down the pitch as possible from the edge of his own area.
But Draper had only one thing on his mind as he took control of the ball and advanced, shadowed by Sean Hoare.
Draper cut inside onto his left boot, leaving Hoare in his wake, and he curled the ball with real venom past Leon Pohls and inside the far post.
Drogheda doubled their lead 12 minutes into the second-half - and this time the build-up was far from route one, with the Boynesiders stitching together an excellent passing move.
It culminated in Gary Deegan finding Luke Heeney on the right, he whipped the ball into the path of Rooney, whose exquisite first-touch gave him the time to calmly find the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Rovers continued their advance, with Towell, Burke and Gaffney all being frustrated on multiple occasions, until 11 minutes from time when they finally found the net.
Another Towell shot was blocked, but this time the ball fell kindly to a Hooped shirt, with Gaffney in the right place to drill home on the rebound.
Lopes headed Byrne corner wide with the best of the chances that came during the remainder of the game, including seven minutes of stoppage time.
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