Stephen Caffrey got Bohemians back on track with a winner 11 minutes from time to beat a Drogheda United side that deserved more from a contest they certainly made a match of.

The winner wasn't exactly pretty but Bohemians will have no complaints as Caffrey arrived at the back post to force home a cross from Mark Dempsey.

The goal was harsh on Drogheda who had got themselves back into the match in the second half after being second best before the interval.

Jamie Harris marked his return to the Bohemians front line when opening the scoring after 22 minutes when heading home unchallenged from Paul Byrne's corner.

The Welshman should have made it 2-0 a minute later when he turned well from Derek Swan's cross to get in a firm shot only to see Gareth Byrne make an excellent save with his feet.

Alan Murphy staged the Drogheda revival with their equaliser seven minutes after the break.

Michael McCann cleverly beat the Bohemians offside trap and Murphy nipped across his teammate to toepoke the ball past Wayne Russell who had raced way off his line.

The game was alive and kicking now with both goalkeepers forced into saves before Caffrey won it for Bohemians with his late strike.

BOHEMIANS: Russell; O'Connor, Maher, Mullen, Brunton; Byrne, Caffrey, Hunt, Dempsey; Swan, Harris.

DROGHEDA UNITED: G Byrne; Boyle, A Murphy, Maher; C Murphy, O'Keeffe, O'Dowd, Thornton; McCann, Coleman, M Byrne. Subs: Revins and Fitzell for Coleman and M Byrne (both 88 mins).

Referee: P Whelan (Dublin).