Drogheda find form to end Cork's run

Cork City 0 Drogheda United 2: TEN-MAN Cork City's saw their 10-match unbeaten league run come to an end in an exciting tie at Turner's Cross last night.

Down a goal after 15 minutes and a man after just 17, City were always facing an uphill battle against the reigning champions who resemble a side starting to find form and one that could have scored five on a good night for the Louth side.

It was an incident-packed first half, but City scarcely deserved to retire 2-0 down at the break. Drogheda's first goal arrived totally against the run of play.

Joe Kendrick crossed from the left and Ritchie Baker got in a great position to head beyond Mick Devine.

It proved a niggly affair, the tone set when Joe Gamble kicked out at Shane Robinson in front of referee Dave McKeon, who had no option but to show the red card at the Ireland international.

The sending-off effectively killed this game as a true contest. Despite the double setback, City stayed true to their attacking philosophy and Dave Mooney managed to get two half chances against the rock-solid centre-half partnership of Graham Gartland and Jason Gavin.

Drogheda also lived on the edge, picking up three yellow cards in a nine-minute spell but they silenced the home crowd again on 36 minutes. The roaming Ollie Cahill cut into the box from the right, crossing for Tony Grant who had his header stopped by Devine. But Grant deftly fed the rebound to Aidan O'Keeffe who knocked home from close range.

Ollie Cahill was creating problems down the left on the restart and Devine came off his line to deny the former City winger.

City nearly clawed one back on 56 minutes. The industrious Mooney almost got his just reward when, from a Liam Kearney cross, he acrobatically turned his bicycle kick inches over Jamie Ewings's crossbar.

Six minutes later, Drogheda opened up City again, Baker's beautiful ball into Grant, who was standing in isolation five yards from goal, but directed his shot badly into the side netting.

O'Keeffe should have added his second of the night in the 79th minute. Cahill picked him out with a delightful cross from the left but the centre forward somehow steered his shot wide.

CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Cillian Lordan, Murray, Danny Murphy; Gamble, Healy, Kearney; Mooney, O'Callaghan, Behan (O'Connor 66).

DROGHEDA UNITED: Ewings; Shelley (Keegan 66), Gavin, Gartland, Kendrick; Baker (O'Brien 90), Hughes, Robinson, Cahill; Grant (Zayed 81), O'Keeffe.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times