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Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Keeley clinches point for Drogs at Waterford
SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division WATERFORD FC 2 DROGHEDA UNITED 2 Conor Keeley rescued an unlikely share of the spoils for Drogheda United as Waterford FC's inability to defend set pieces came back to haunt them deep into second-half injury-time in their SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division clash at the RSC. After Blues skipper Padraig Amond thought that he had won the game with an 81st-minute finish, the visitors had the final laugh in added time when the central defender hammered home from close-range when he was left unmarked at the back post to meet a Darragh Markey corner-kick. The Waterford front three combined for the breakthrough goal on 19 minutes. Conan Noonan slipped the ball into the feet of Amond, who in turn played the perfectly weighted pass for Tommy Lonergan, who beat keeper Luke Dennison with a deflected effort off Elicha Ahui from 14 yards. Drogheda were level from a set piece at the other end four minutes later. Shane Farrell sent in a left-wing corner-kick into the centre of the penalty area, and Warren Davis powered a simple close-range header to the far corner past a helpless Stephen McMullan. Davis was twice denied in a bid to give his side the lead on 40 minutes when Shane Farrell whipped in another dangerous left-wing corner that saw Conor Keeley send the ball back into the six-yard box for the striker, but after Rowan McDonald blocked his initial effort, he hooked the rebound just over. John Coleman's side got their noses in front on 81 minutes when Grant Horton sent over a right-wing cross that saw Elicha Ahui clear to Dean McMenamy, who saw his goalbound effort touched home by Padraig Amond past Luke Dennison. The leveller came three minutes into added time from another set piece. Darragh Markey swung over a right-wing corner-kick to the back post, where the unchallenged Conor Keeley blasted high to the roof of the net from close-range before Elicha Ahui was sent off late on for a second yellow card. WATERFORD FC: McMullan; Horton, McDonald, Leahy, Burke; Olayinka (McMenamy 77), Glenfield (McCormack 85), White; Lonergan (Pouwels 88), Amond, Noonan. DROGHEDA UNITED: Dennison; Lambe (Cruise 61), Keeley, Quinn, Ahui, Kane; Heeney, Markey, Farrell (Bawa 77); Davis, Taylor (Oluwa 53) Referee: Rob Harvey (Dublin). Attendance: 2241
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Rooney delivers from the spot as Bohs win again
Premier Division: Bohemians 1 Derry City 0 Dayle Rooney proved spot on for the second time in a fortnight as resurgent Bohemians maintained their excellent form. Winger Rooney's second-minute penalty proved the only goal of an intriguing game as a shockingly disjointed Derry couldn't build on their recent fine record in Phibsborough. A seventh win from their last nine games, and fifth from six at Dalymount Park, sees Bohemians, second bottom of the table two months ago, regain third place in the Premier Division table. Derry slip to sixth place. With one change from their narrow defeat at Drogheda United last week, as Archie Meekison came in for Collie Whelan, Bohemians had the dream start when awarded a penalty with just 20 seconds on the watch. Captain Dawson Devoy, Rooney and Ross Tierney set up James Clarke whose shot from the edge of the area struck Derry skipper Mark Connolly on the arm. Referee Rob Hennessy had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. As he did with the winner against Shelbourne two weeks ago, Rooney scored emphatically from 12 yards with a rising drive to the roof of the net. Derry briefly enjoyed a spell of possession, though laboured to make any headway in the final third. And it was Bohemians who looked far more threatening when they got forward, really stretching Derry at the back with a double chance on 18 minutes. First a break down the left by Meekison set up Tierney whose shot was headed away by Carl Winchester. The Derry defensive midfielder was well-positioned once again seconds later to block a shot from Devoy as Derry, at sixes and sevens at the back, survived falling further behind. So much so, head coach Tiernan Lynch made a tactical switch when bringing on Gavin Whyte for Shane Ferguson in a switch from three at the back to a 4-3-3 formation. It scarcely made a difference as Derry remained at sea defensively, surviving another double let-off on 38 minutes. Rooney caught the visitors' rearguard flat-footed when dinking a delightful ball over the top for the run of Adam McDonnell who, stretching, lobbed over the crossbar. A mistake by centre-back Kevin Holt then gifted Clarke a sight of goal with Derry relieved to see the shot arrow wide. Further defensive frailty presented Clarke with another opening a minute before the break, which he rifled over the top. Derry made three changes at the break with Kevin Holt, Hayden Cann and winger Michael Duffy substituted as Ronan Boyce, Ben Doherty and Dom Thomas came on in another reshuffle. Bohemians, though, remained on the front foot with Jordan Flores flashing a header from a Devoy corner wide before the home skipper was perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty when appearing to push over Danny Mullen. It was the 70th minute before Derry carved their first real chance of the game, Niall Morahan doing exceptionally well to take the ball off substitute Robbie Benson's toe from Adam O'Reilly's low cross. Impressive loanee Sean Grehan, on his final appearance before returning to Crystal Palace, showed his defensive quality to deflect a drive from Thomas over the top as Derry chased an equaliser. But, as they had started, it was Bohemians who finished the stronger, with substitutes Rhys Brennan and Whelan, twice, close to extending their lead. Derry's night to forget all but summed up by the sending off of Benson on 82 minutes for a foul on Keith Buckley, his second booking. Bohemians: Chorazka; Morahan (McManus, 87), Grehan, Cornwall, Flores; Devoy, McDonnell (Buckley, 65); Rooney, Tierney (Mountney, 87), Meekison (Brennan, 65); Clarke (Whelan, 74). Derry City: Maher; Cann (Doherty, h-t; Benson, 60), Connolly, Holt (Thomas, h-t); Ferguson (Whyte, 24), O'Reilly, Winchester, Todd; McMullan, Duffy (R. Boyce, h-t); Mullen. Referee: Rob Hennessy (Clare). Attendance: 4,111.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Coffey the hero as Cobh Ramblers overcome Treaty
Barry Coffey got the winner as Cobh Ramblers defeated Treaty United 2-1 at St Colman's Park on Friday evening. That means Mick McDermott's side stay second at the break after a night that began with Cian Murphy scoring and the visitors equalising with an own goal at the start of the second half. Murphy kicked things off by collecting a through ball from Waterford's Shane Griffin and firing in with the inside of his left boot in the 4th minute. Treaty went on to dominate possession, but failed to create a clear-cut opening that really tested Timothy Martin despite some good play by Karl O'Sullivan and Trpimir Vrljicak in the box. In response, Cobh forced their Limerick counterparts into wide positions, and the resulting crosses were headed away by a Coleman and Brendeán Frahill. McDermott tried to build on this at the break by replacing David Bosnjak with John O'Donovan and moving to a back five that had Luka Le Brevet and Nolan Evers working as wing-backs. This plan was short-lived as Treaty won a free-kick in the 48th minute and Cian Coleman bundled this into his own net. Ramblers went back in front after Shane Griffin picked out Coffey, and the midfielder got in to score his 11th of the season in the 53rd minute. Cobh could have made it 3-1 with their next spell inside the box after Waterford's Shane Griffin put a low ball in, but this was flicked wide by Murphy. The would-be scorer followed that up by setting up Coffey on the penalty spot and his shot lacked conviction in the 82nd minute. Treaty did everything but test Timothy Martin late on as they pushed for a second equaliser. Meanwhile, Vincent Leonard produced a dramatic 86th-minute winner to help leaders Dundalk to all three points against Wexford. Elsewhere, Seán Brennan produced a second-half double to earn his UCD side all three points against Athlone Town, while Bray Wanderers came from behind to secure a 3-1 win over Finn Harps. Cobh Ramblers: Timothy Martin; Luka Le Bervet, Cian Coleman, Brendeán Frahill, Nolan Evers, Niall O'Keeffe, Shane Griffin, David Bosnjak (John O'Donovan HT), Barry Coffe, Samuel Belis (Matthew Whelan 83), Cian Murphy. Treaty United: Corey Chambers; Evan O'Connor (Richkov Boevi 86), Robbie Lynch, Eoin Martin, Lee Lynch (Nikodem Kozlowski 57), Connor Wilson (Colin Conroy 86), Steven Healy (77), Benjamin Lynch, Trpimir Vrljicak (Youself Mahdy), Lee Devitt, Karl O'Sullivan. Referee: Oliver Moran
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Colin Healy sees Kerry take care of Longford
SSE Airtricity Mens First Division: Kerry FC 2 Longford Town 0 Kerry FC moved up to seventh place in the First Division table and just five points off the play-off spot after an impressive 2-0 win over lowly Longford Town. The win was Colin Healy's first on the line at Mounthawk Park. It means Kerry have collected 10 points from a possible 15 from their last five games and a nice way to enter the mid-season break. The opening half was a slow burner as the sides battled for midfield supremacy with Ronan Teahan doing well for the home side while Emre Topcu was working hard for the visitors. But it was typical fare between two sides at the wrong end of the table though the home side squandered two decent goal-scoring opportunities. Kerry struck for a deserved lead in the 43rd minute when Oran Crowe crossed from the right side and Kevin Williams rose highest to head the ball goal-wards and in nipped 17-year-old Luke Palmer who smashed his fourth goal of the season. The hosts almost made it 2-0 early in the second half when Palmer struck the post but in the 51st minute he became provider as he put Daniel Okwute through and Eric Yoro was forced to take him down inside the box. Yoro was shown a straight red and Sean McGrath drilled the ball low to Harry Halwax right and Kerry was now 2-0 in front and playing against 10 men. KERRY FC: Tim-Oliver Hiemer; Kevin Williams, Niall Brookwell, Chris McQueen, Samuel Mujaguzi ; Sean McGrath, Carl Mujaguzi, Oran Crowe, Ronan Teahan; Luke Palmer, Daniel Okwute Subs: Sean O'Connell for Carl Mujaguzi (31), Joe Adams for Ronan Teahan (56), Kennedy Amechi for Luke Palmer (65) LONGFORD TOWN Harry Halwax; Pharrell Manuel, Osaze Irhue, Andy Spain, Dean O'Shea, Joshua Harsani Giurgi; Eric Yoro, Emre Topcu, Luke Wade Slater, Aaron Doran, Daragh Murtagh Subs: Francis Campbell for Giurgi (76), Mohammed Bodief for Topcu (76), Emmanuel James for Murtagh (76) Referee: Daryl Carlon (Limerick)
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Keena on the spot for Saints in Sligo
SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division: Sligo Rovers 0 St Patrick's Athletic 1 (Aidan Keena pen 10) St Patrick's Athletic revived their stuttering campaign with a scrappy 1-0 win over bottom of the table Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds. Ex-Sligo striker Aidan Keena's 10th minute penalty was the difference for an underwhelming St Pat's who moved up one place in the table, while this was a 12th loss in 18 games for struggling Sligo. St Pat's, fifth in the standings coming into this game and with just one win from their last five games, made five changes to their starting team. Among their absentees were Chris Forrester and teenage sensation Mason Melia. They fielded two ex-Sligo players for this north-west assignment, Simon Power and Aidan Keena. Sligo welcomed back midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes and were again looking to their season's breakout star, Owen Elding, who has netted seven goals so far. St Pat's made the early running - a fizzing shot from Jason McClelland was tipped over by Sam Sargeant - and they hit the front in the 10th minute via Aidan Keena's converted penalty. The spot-kick was awarded following a foul on Simon Power, who was a busy presence for the visitors. But St Pat's didn't create anything else of note for the remainder of the first period aside from a weak shot on target from goalscorer Aidan Keena. Sligo, who were a threat when full-back Reece Hutchinson got on the ball on the left flank, only had one chance of note in that first-half - an off target header from Cian Kavanagh, who got on the end of a Jake Doyle-Hayes free-kick delivery. The woodwork denied Sligo an equaliser in the 52nd minute. Enterprise from teenage full-back led to a curling shot from Ronan Manning that came off the crossbar via a touch from St Pat's defender Joe Redmond. Simon Power then directed a shot just wide of the far post as St Pat's, although under increased pressure from an improved Sligo, remained a threat on the counter. Sligo had a chance to rescue a point in the fifth minute of stoppage time but Francely Lomboto's shot was straight at St Pat's goalkeeper Joseph Anang. Sligo Rovers: Sergeant; Reynolds (McDonagh 65), Mahon, McElroy, Hutchinson; Wolfe (Hakiki 65), Doyle-Hayes; Elding, Manning (Lomboto 78), Fitzgerald; Kavanagh (Waweru 46) St Patrick's Athletic: Anang; McLaughlin, Redmond, Hoare (Grivosti 44), Breslin; Power, Lennon, McClelland, Elbouzedi; Leavy (Turner 90+5), Keena (Carty 86) Referee: Neil Doyle Attendance: 2,356
