Tadhg Purcell has been rewarded for his strong form for Shamrock Rovers over the first half of the campaign with a new two-and-a-half year contract that secures his future until the end of the 2009 season.
The 21-year-old striker scored his 10th goal of the season in Tuesday's win over Waterford and won the Premier Division's player of the month award for May. Purcell also recently completed a degree in botany and is set to continue his studies at post-graduate level.
"It's great news," said Rovers manager Pat Scully, who brought Purcell, a former youth player at Rovers, back to the club from Kilkenny City shortly after making the switch himself in late 2005. The player was the club's top scorer in last year's promotion winning campaign.
"I'm delighted with the new contract," says Purcell. "Pat has looked after me, and so has the club - I'm looking forward to repaying their confidence."
Galway United, meanwhile, have placed versatile midfielder Colm James on the transfer list.
As Drogheda United look to secure their fourth straight league win, manager Paul Doolin could field an unchanged side for this evening's encounter with Bohemians.
The home side are still without Jason Gavin, Ollie Cahill and Declan O'Brien but Richie Baker, Aidan O'Keeffe and Tony Grant all continue to edge towards full fitness and newly-signed central defender, John Tambouras, has, says Doolin, settled in well.
The Dubliners will be without John Paul Kelly (ankle) or Jason McGuinness (back but Harpal Singh is finally back in contention after a two month lay-off with a shoulder injury.
Their own form has improved steadily on the back of a string of clean sheets and on their last visit to United Park they put the home side out of the FAI Cup.
"Yeah, I've no problem giving credit where it's due," says Doolin.
"They're done very well, they kept a lot of clean sheets although, the one thing I'd say is that we were a bit like that last year and we got slaughtered."
At the Carlisle Grounds, John Robertson gets another chance to assess the options open to him ahead of next week's first European outing against Armenian champions, Pyunik. Kevin Deery or Ruaidhri Higgins could replace Barry Molloy, who suffered a family bereavement this week, while Pat McCourt is suspended.
For the hosts, Colm Tresson (calf) and Chris Deans (ankle) both face late fitness tests.
n A Celtic XI will play two games in Ireland at the start of next month. The Scottish champions will send a team to face Finn Harps in Ballybofey on Monday, August 6th, before moving on for a game against Galway United at Terryland Park two days later.
League of Ireland, Premier Division
P W D L F A Pts
Drogheda Utd 16 10 4 2 26 14 34
St Patrick's Ath 17 10 3 4 26 14 33
Shamrock Rovers 17 9 4 4 20 8 31
Bohemians 17 8 6 3 18 7 30
Cork City 15 7 5 3 19 15 26
Sligo Rovers 17 7 1 9 17 26 22
Derry City 17 5 6 6 16 16 21
UCD 16 4 6 6 17 16 18
Bray Wanderers 16 5 3 8 13 21 18
Galway United 16 3 6 7 13 16 15
Waterford United 17 4 3 10 12 24 15
*Longford Town 17 1 5 11 10 30 2
* Longford Town deducted six points
