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Date Time League Season
28 July 2023 7:45 pm LOI Men's Premier Division 2023

Match Report

Drogheda comeback to deny Bit O’Red

Second-half goals from Adam Foley and Dayle Rooney help Drogheda come from two goals down to salvage a draw against Sligo Rovers at Weaver’s Park this evening.

A goal from Stefan Radosavljevic and an own goal from Conor Keeley had the Bit O’ Red two to the good before the late comeback from the Boynesiders.

In the opening stages of this tense encounter, the ball spent as much time in the air as it did on the ground, with neither side willing to make an early mistake.

Seven minutes into the game Kailin Barlow had a sighter from the right of the Drogheda box, with his effort being fumbled by Andrew Wogan, who was lucky Manu Adegboyega was on hand to clear the danger.

The game reverted to its scrappy state after this half-chance and this fraught contest mainly played out in the middle third of the pitch.

Then out of nothing, Sligo Rovers were in front thanks to Stefan Radosavljevic.

Kailin Barlow collected the ball halfway into the Drogheda half and slipped in David Cawley who made a clever run past the Drogheda defence. Cawley took his time but then fired his shot off the post. Luckily it ended up at the feet of Stefan Radosavljevic who fired the ball into the net despite the best efforts of Luke Heeney on the line.

The early stages of the second half were as broken as the first half and neither team could hold onto the ball, never mind create a chance of note.

But then the evening got worse for Drogheda when Radosavljevic’s delivery from a free kick from the right side of Drogheda’s box was turned into his own goal by Conor Keeley on the hour mark.

Drogheda responded well and got a goal back eight minutes later through a mix-up between the defence and keeper.

A hoisted ball over the top bounced between McNicholas and his defence which allowed Darragh Markey to nip between the pair, acrobatically throwing himself at the ball in an attempt to score past the keeper. The Sligo keeper did enough to stop Markey’s effort but Foley was on hand to dive and head the ball into the empty net.

The game was level in the seventy-seventh minute when a diagonal ball into the box was met by the head of Drogheda substitute Warren Davis, who found Dayle Rooney flying in at the back post to complete the comeback despite a defender on the line.

The first half was scrappy and disjointed with few chances. The second half was scrappy and disjointed but with lots of chances.

Drogheda Utd

35Andrew Wogan Goalkeeper
3Evan Weir Defender
5Conor Keeley Defender 59'
6Emmanuel Adegboyega Defender
7Darragh Markey Midfielder
8Gary Deegan Midfielder
9Kyle Robinson 24 Forward
11Adam Foley Forward 68'
16Dayle Rooney Midfielder 77'
21Luke Heeney Midfielder
28Darragh Noone 22 Midfielder
1Colin McCabe Goalkeeper
12Colm Cox Goalkeeper
14Matthew O’Brien Midfielder
18Jamie Egan Defender
20Emre Topcu Midfielder
22Aaron McNally 28 Forward
24Warren Davis 9 Midfielder
29Michael Leddy Forward
37Luke Wade-Slater Midfielder

Sligo Rovers

1Luke McNicholas Goalkeeper
2Johan Brannefalk Defender
6Greg Bolger Midfielder
8Niall Morahan Midfielder
18Stefan Radosavljevic 9 Forward 46'
19Lukas Browning-Lagerfeldt Midfielder 9'
21John Mahon 26 Defender
22David Cawley 5 Midfielder
27Max Mata Forward
28Nando Pijnaker Defender
34Kailin Barlow 10 Midfielder
31Conor Walsh Goalkeeper
5James Finnerty 22 Defender
9Pedro Martelo 18 Forward
10Frank Liivak 34 Forward
26Garry Buckley 21 Midfielder
37Conor Campbell Forward
39Kyle McDonagh Defender
46Conor Reynolds Defender
47Owen Elding Forward
  • 96'

    Finnerty comes on for Cawley

  • 90'

    SIX minutes of added time

  • 82'

    McNally burst down the right and feeds Davis whose shot is just saved by the fingertips of McNicholas.

  • 77'

    2-2! Davis heads a diagonal ball into the box back across for the onrushing Rooney who does enough to power his header past McNicholas.

  • 73'

    Martelo comes on for Radosavljevic

  • 70'

    Yellow for Davis for a supposed elbow on Pijnaker

  • 68'

    Foley dives to header the ball after Markey's stretching was saved by a hesitant McNicholas. Game on!

  • 63'

    Warren and Markey link up nicely on the edge of the Sligo box and Markey gets a shot away from outside the area. McNicholas saves the effort comfortably yet again

  • 62'

    Noone and Robinson are replaced by Aaron McNally and Warren Davis

  • 60'

    Straight away after the tip-off Robinson gets down the left and sets up Weir in the box, but his strike was directly at McNicholas and the keeper saves it well.

  • 59'

    2-0 TO SLIGO! Conor Keeley gets the last touch on a Radosavljevic free-kick delivery

  • 55'

    Pijnaker is back on his feet and able to play on, greeted by jeers and boos from the home fans.

  • 53'

    Pijnaker is down again, this time with a head injury. The Sligo players want the referee to brandish a card for Robinson's aerial dual with the New Zealander but nothing doing.

  • 46'

    Liivak is immediately booked for a late tackle in the Drogheda half.

  • 46'

    Liivak and Buckley come on for Barlow and Mahon at half time.

  • 46'

    And we are back underway.

  • 45'

    HALF TIME: Sligo takes a lead into half-time thanks to Stefan Radosavljevic. Drogheda have been outplayed so far in this game even though the goal came from a moment of class from Barlow and a bit of luck with the shot from Cawley hitting the post. A big shift needed from the home side if they want to change the outcome of this game.

  • 40'

    Sligo have been the better team in this game so far. Drogheda look frustrated. Sligo get the ball from a throw-in in the right Drogheda corner and find Kailin Barlow who flashes a ball across the face of goal.

  • 37'

    Robinson heads wide from a ball in from the left but looked to have been held before he jumped for the ball. Pijnaker can consider himself a little but lucky

  • 28'

    Foley is shown yellow for a late tackle on Pijnaker.

  • 23'

    1-0 TO SLIGO! Barlow plays Cawley through with a brilliant pass that split the defence. Cawley shoots and hits the post but Radosavljevic is on hand to hit his shot back on target despite the best efforts of Heeney.

  • 18'

    Robinson spins as he takes the ball down and lays it off to Adegboyega but the centre-back fires his shot high over the bar from twelve yards out. Best chance of the game.

  • 17'

    After a spell that contained a few chances for both sides, the game has become very broken yet again. You can tell how important this game is for both sides.

  • 9'

    Browning booked for a late tackle on Heeney

  • 9'

    Nice flick in the box from Rooney towards Weir and the full-back crosses into the Sligo box. Sligo just about deal with the dangerous ball.

  • 7'

    Barlow fires a shot at Wogan and although the chance spins out of the gloves of Wogan, Adegboyega cleans up mess

  • 5'

    A very scrappy affair so far but Markey creates the first-half chance of the game playing Foley in. No real danger.

  • 1'

    Sligo Rovers get the game underway!

  • Hello and welcome to coverage of the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. This evening at Weaver's Park we see Drogheda United hosting Sligo Rovers in a repeat of last Friday night. Conor Cantwell here ready to report on the action ahead.

Past Meetings

(First Round)
2 - 1
FAI Cup
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC v Sligo Rovers FC

(Round 10)
1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC 1-1 Drogheda United FC

(Round 3)
1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC 1-0 Sligo Rovers FC

(Round 29)
2 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers 2-0 Drogheda United

(Round 21)
0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers

(Round 12)
3 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers v Drogheda United

(Round 5)
0 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers

(Series 33)
2 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers v Drogheda United

(Series 26)
0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers

(Series 15)
1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers v Drogheda United

(Series 8)
1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers

0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC v Sligo Rovers FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Drogheda United FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC v Sligo Rovers FC

4
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC v Sligo Rovers FC

2
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Drogheda United FC

3 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC v Sligo Rovers FC

2
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Drogheda United FC

1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Weavers Park

Drogheda United FC v Sligo Rovers FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Drogheda United FC

Ground

Weavers Park
United Park, Cross Lane, Fair Gate, The Borough District of Drogheda, County Louth, Leinster, A92DKR0, Ireland

Conor Cantwell is a freelance sports journalist based in Co. Meath. Conor has been covering club football in Ireland and England since 2022. Conor has a keen interest in soccer, Gaelic games, rugby, tennis and basketball and has been writing blogs about the Premier League and the NBA since 2022.