Drogheda United leave it late to beat Cork 3-1 in Weavers Park tonight, after the visitors played the final 40 minutes with 10-men following a red card after the half-time break.

Despite conceding early in the first half, Drogheda produced a dominant display and take a big step towards guaranteed safety in the Premier Division.

It was a game that got off to a scrappy start, as both sides struggled to properly implement their respective game-plans, but it was the visitors who settled best. Much of the opening ten minutes was back-and-forth between the two sides, with no real defence being played it seemed. The visitors seemed happy to sit back and look to catch Drogheda on the counter attack using the pace of their wingers to escape.

From nothing, Cork found themselves with a corner in the 14^th minute of the game, producing a dangerous counter attack and winning the first corner of the game. Ben Worman stepped up to take the corner, aiming for the head of the various defenders who had made their way into the Drogheda penalty area.

Worman’s cross was judged to perfection, landing amidst the chaos in the box onto the head of Kevin Custovic, the defender powering the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the Drogheda goal. Andrew Wogan was unsighted when the ball was crossed in, and could do very little to stop the ball going in. Cork City found themselves a goal up thanks to a wonderful header from a perfect cross.

Cork could have doubled their lead 15 minutes later, Ben Worman again causing problems for the Drogheda defence. Worman picked up the ball inside the Drogheda half and drove through the heart of the defence, moving from right to left, before unleashing a shot from distance.

The midfielder’s strike took a big deflection on its way towards goal, and the ball looped its way to Malik Dijksteel who was arriving at the back post with speed. Without time to react, Dijksteel flung a leg at the ball and guided the ball towards the bottom corner. However, producing a wonderful reflex save, Wogan was able to deny the winger’s effort from point-blank range to keep Drogheda’s deficit to just one.

For the remainder of the half, it was all Drogheda, but they were unable to turn their possession into goals, as they came up against a resolute Cork defence.

There were fireworks immediately at the resumption of play following the Half Time break, as Drogheda looked to push for an equaliser early on in the second half. They almost got their wish in the 47^th minute from a dangerous corner; Conor Keeley wrestled away from his marker at the corner and powered a header towards goal. Keeley’s bullet header rattled against the bar, much to the relief of Ollie Byrne in net and the rest of the Cork squad.

Cork’s poor start to the second half was made worse in the 50^th minute when they were reduced to 10-men following a second yellow card being shown to Malik Dijksteel. Dijksteel was shown a yellow card midway through the first half, but refused to back down from any challenges across the pitch despite his caution.

Following a late tackle on his teammate Rokas Stanulevicius, Dijksteel took matters into his own hands, pushing Luke Heeney in the chest. Following a brief discussion, Dijksteel was shown a second yellow card for his actions, which were needless. It was a soft second-yellow and the winger can feel hard-done-by, but his actions were unnecessary.

Drogheda wasted little time in making their man advantage count, as they scored just eight minutes after the red card was shown, the goal coming off the back of a dangerous Dayle Rooney free-kick. Rooney’s free kick was floated into the back post of the penalty area and found the head of Conor Keeley. Keeley’s header squared the ball across the face of the net, where it was met by the boot of Kyle Robinson who smashed the ball into the back of the net to draw his side level.

Drogheda were dominant for the remainder of the match, and put Cork under some serious pressure as they pushed for a winner, and they left it late to do so. With less than ten minutes on the clock, Drogheda were camped in the Cork City half.

Ryan Brennan picked up the ball on the far right-hand side and whipped in a dangerous cross into the Cork City penalty area where it was met by the chest of Aaron McNally. McNally produced a wonderful piece of skill to chest the cross into the path of his left boot, volleying the ball into the back of the net to lift the roof off of Weavers Park.

A late penalty for Drogheda sealed the deal for the home side, Ryan Brennan converting from the spot to put some glitter on the score-board for the home side. It was a rather soft penalty, but ultimately it didn’t change the outcome of the game.

Drogheda left it late, but they ultimately did enough to squeeze past Cork City tonight, the red card in the 50^th minute proving crucial in the outcome of this game.