Drogheda Utd ... 0 Shelbourne ... 3: Shelbourne recorded an all too easy victory over a poor Drogheda side at 02 Park last night. They were a goal to the good at half-time, made it 2-0 11 minutes into the second half and sealed the points with a third goal seven minutes from the end.
Shelbourne deservedly took the lead 11 minutes from half-time when Richie Baker's right-wing free was headed powerfully to the net by Mark Roberts.
The visitors went two up with 56 minutes gone when Stephen Geoghegan's header came back off the crossbar before Barry Prenderville followed up with a header to send it to the net.
Shelbourne could even afford to miss a penalty with 74 minutes on the clock when Geoghegan lifted the ball straight into the arms of home goalkeeper Gary Rogers. The defending champions made no mistake when awarded a second penalty just seven minutes from the end. David Crawley stepped up to hammer the ball to the net.
DROGHEDA UNITED: Rogers; O'Connor, Cronin, Lynch, Todd, Tierney, Taylor, McDonald, O'Brien, Myler, Dempsey. Subs: Delaney for McDonald (68 mins). Smith for Tierney (79 mins); Quinless for Taylor (79 mins).
SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Crawley, Prenderville, Byrne (D), Gannon, Roberts, Byrne (S), Hoolihan, Geoghegan, Baker. Subs: Murphy for Geoghegan (84 mins).
Referee: P Whelan (Dublin).
