Drogheda United 4 Longford Town 1
Drogheda United registered their fourth win on the bounce with a 4-1 victory at home to Longford Town. Two goals in the final five minutes from Jordan Adeyemo eased the Boynesiders to the win.
Longford manager Daire Doyle made five changes to his starting XI and while they began with a fresh impetus, it was Drogheda who created the better of the early chances.
Chris Lyons was proving himself to be a real handful, twice he went close from a header before setting up Darragh Markey who shot wide.
The Boynesiders broke the deadlock on 35 minutes. Lyons was fouled just outside the box and Murray’s free kick beat Lee Steacy at his near post. Just before the break, Killian Philips won the ball back and fed James Brown who broke free and squared a pass for Mark Doyle to guide his effort into the far corner.
Town pulled one back in bizarre circumstances on 53 minutes. Callum Thompson was allowed cross and Aaron Dobbs capitalised on a defensive mix-up to force the ball home following a goal mouth scramble.
The introduction of the prolific Rob Manley gave the visitors a further boost. He put the ball in the net on 61 minutes but it was to be deemed offside.
Introduced on 83 minutes, Adeyemo would go on to make sure of the win. Markey played the striker through for his first before James Clarke won the ball in midfield and split the Town defence for the striker to score in injury time.
Drogheda United: Odumosu, Kane, Brown, O'Reilly, Massey, Markey (O'Shea 89), Deegan, Phillips, Doyle, Murray (Clarke 76), Lyons (Adeyemo 83).
Longford Town: Steacy, Kirk, O'Driscoll, McDonnell (Byrne 86), Chambers (McNally HT), Thompson, Davis (Manley 54), Zambra (Bolger 76), Grimes, Dervin, Dobbs.
Referee: Damien MacGraith (Donegal).
Waterford 1 Finn Harps 2
Substitute Adam Foley grabbed his sixth goal of the season as Finn Harps came from behind to inflict a fifth straight defeat on bottom side Waterford.
Marc Bircham’s Blues led at the RSC through Jamie Mascoll’s third minute opener, only for Barry McNamee to equalise with a penalty on 75 before substitute Foley completed the comeback less than a minute later.
Defender Mascoll started the move for the opener by finding Adam O’Reilly in midfield and he swept the ball onto Cian Kavanagh.
Spotting Mascoll continuing his run, the tall forward freed the full-back who raided into the box and slotted his shot inside Mark McGinley’s near post.
McNamee squandered their first chance on nine minutes by blazing over after goalkeeper Brian Murphy was caught outside of the box, while the unmarked Josh Collins was also wasteful at the other end by firing straight at McGinley.
Seán Boyd saw his close-range header on the half hour denied by a brilliant save from Murphy before his strike partner Tunde Owolabi beat the Blues goalkeeper on the stroke of the break, only to angle his curler a yard wide.
The one-way traffic continued after the break, with Boyd’s shot on the hour drawing another one-handed stop by Murphy.
Ethan Boyle headed over from two yards as the pressure intensified and the inevitable turnaround loomed.
It started when they were awarded a penalty for Darragh Power’s mistimed challenge on Owolabi, allowing McNamee to convert his penalty down the middle of Murphy’s goal.
Harps then hit the front less than 60 seconds later. Foley charged past Cameron Evans from the halfway line before drilling a low shot across Murphy into the far corner from an acute angle.
Waterford: B Murphy; D Power, J Collins, C Evans, J Mascoll; N O'Keefe, S Griffin; J Waite, J Martin, A O'Reilly; C Kavanagh (E Molloy 71).
Finn Harps: M McGinley; K Sadiki, S McEleney, J Dunleavy; E Boyle, M Coyle (K O'Sullivan 61), B McNamee (T McNamee 90), W Seymor, M Russell (M Timlin 72); T Owolabi, S Boyd (A Foley 61).
Referee: Rob Hennessy (Limerick).
