Drogheda United 2 St Patrick's Athletic 0:Having had to grind out narrow but important wins against lesser opponents in recent weeks, Paul Doolin's men stepped up a gear to beat their early-season title rivals convincingly at United Park last night thanks to goals from Shane Robinson and Eamon Zayed.
The win leaves them eight points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, and while it is understandable the manager prefers not to pile pressure on his players, his denials count for little. The league is now theirs to lose.
On the strength of their efforts here, it is hard to see them squandering this golden opportunity to land the club their first title.
Jason Gavin's imminent return will add to the team's already formidable defence, while the cushion they enjoy over both last night's opposition and Shamrock Rovers may actually inspire more adventure from a team that has outscored all others in the division.
In much more urgent need of the win than their hosts, St Patrick's started positively, Glen Fitzpatrick passing up a good early opportunity to put his side in front and Darragh Maguire just failing to turn a fine Alan Kirby cross home.
It wasn't long, however, before John McDonnell's decision to go with a 3-4-3 formation started to look misguided. United use their wingers effectively, and while John Frost and Alan Kirby had been told to track back from midfield with Richie Baker and James Keddy, they never got entirely on top of the task and left space in midfield.
Sure enough, United started to work the ball out wide to good effect. Twice Brian Shelley forced Barry Ryan into stops with long-range efforts, and Zayed hit a low, angled shot the goalkeeper kept out only thanks to quick footwork.
After Graham Gartland turned Shane Robinson's corner over, the pressure paid off, Keddy getting deep into the right corner before turning the ball back for Robinson, whose low drive took a deflection to beat Ryan at his near post.
The visitors reorganised, with Billy Gibson dropping from midfield to right back, Frost taking a more defensive post on the left and Stephen Brennan moving forward into midfield, but problems persisted. Zayed might have scored after Ryan failed to beat the striker to the ball just outside the area but the goalkeeper recovered well to save. Then Sami Ristila looked to have earned a penalty when Darragh Maguire took the striker's legs.
The referee, though, waved play on, and St Patrick's went in for the break, it seemed, with the opportunity to at least save a point. What followed was certainly better in terms of possession but rarely did they threaten Connor's goal.
Their hopes of avoiding defeat were destroyed by a goal on the break, Stuart Byrne pushing the ball into Zayed's path and Maguire tackling well but succeeding only in finding Tony Grant out wide.
The substitute striker, with almost his first touch of the game, curled a cross to the far post, where Zayed, having done brilliantly to get into position, turned the ball home.
United hadn't conceded two goals in four months and haven't surrendered a two-goal advantage all season, so, with just 16 minutes remaining, the Dubliners probably knew the game was up.
As it turned out, things might have been worse for them. Maguire headed off the line from Baker late on and Rogers had to hoof clear from a similar position in the dying minutes after Grant's close-range shot squeezed under Ryan.
DROGHEDA UNITED: Connor; Shelley (Keegan, 50 mins), Tambouras (Gray, 86 mins) Gartland, Webb; Baker, Robinson, Byrne, Keddy; Ristila (Grant, 72 mins), Zayed.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Ryan; Maguire, Brennan, Rogers; Kirby, Ndo (Fahey, 72 mins), Gibson, Frost; Quigley (Barker, 76 mins), Fitzpatrick, Guy (O'Connor, 85 mins).
Referee: D Hancock (Dublin).
