A late surge of goals proved to be the difference at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium this evening as Derry City overcome the challenge of Drogheda United with a 2-0.

Jordan McEneff opened the scoring just before halftime, with late goals from Jamie McGonigle and Michael Duffy securing the win for the Candystripes.

The win sends Derry City into third, ahead of Bohemians on goal difference and just five points behind league leaders Shamrock Rovers with a game on hand on The Hoops.

The sides were evenly matched in the early stages of the game, and neither side looked like threatening the other's goal.

Danny Mullen was the first player to try his luck in the seventh minute, when he raced towards the edge of the box, firing an effort well over the Drogheda United crossbar.

Adam O’Reilly also tried his luck from distance with a dipping effort that looked like it might cause Andrew Wogan some issues but the Derry midfielder's strike didn’t fall enough and suffered the same fate as Mullen’s earlier attempt.

Drogheda would have the best chance of the first half when Shane McEleney let a long ball bounce past him, allowing Kyle Robinson to retrieve the hopeful ball and square it across for Adam Foley.

Foley took his time before firing a close-range shot at the Derry goal but in taking his time on the shot, Brian Maher came to close out and saved brilliantly from the strong effort, keeping the teams deadlocked after fifteen minutes.

The home side grew into the game and were by far the better team after this early scare, and just before half-time Derry did take the lead, courtesy of Jordan McEneff.

Sadio Diallo neatly controlled the ball in the Derry City half and sent Michael Duffy off on a run. The talented Derry winger pirouetted away from several Drogheda defenders before pulling the ball back for McEneff on the edge of the box, who smashed a shot past the efforts of Wogan to open the scoring.

Drogheda started the second half with another huge chance when Dayle Rooney’s delivery from just inside the Derry half found the head of Robinson but a disappointing wayward header from inside the six-yard box concluded the attack.

Derry’s bench made a big difference with Will Patching, Paul McMullen, Patrick McEleney and Jamie McGonigle all coming and making hay as the Drogheda side tired.

The second goal was created by the link-up of two of these substitutes as Patching dinked a beautiful through pass for McGonigle who made absolutely no mistake with the finish, rifling his finish past Wogan.

The icing on the cake for Derry was applied by Michael Duffy after he latched onto an incisive pass by another Derry substitute, Paul McMullen, allowing the Candystripes winger to curl a tidy finish into the bottom corner.

The score is harsh on Drogheda but Derry deserved the win and will be buoyed by this result as they prepare for their Europa Conference League encounter in Dublin this Thursday.