League of Ireland Premier Division: Bohemians 0 Drogheda United 1 (Thomas 86)
Smash and grab by Drogheda United at a stunned Dalymount Park.
Conor Keely stamped his authority on this trip to Dublin, with an unflappable performance at centre-half before he created the winning goal for substitute Joshua Thomas.
It all happened in blur. On 86 minutes, Bohemians had dominated every statistic except the one that matters the most.
They ran out of time, with the defeat giving Shamrock Rovers a chance to go 10 points clear at the top of the League of Ireland if they beat Derry City at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday.
RM Block
Tempo. Relentless tempo was how Alan Reynolds had transformed Bohs into Rovers main rival for the Premier Division title.
The pace is dictated by Dawson Devoy and Ross Tierney.
Everything seemed set to fall into place when Dawson clipped a deceptive pass over the Drogheda back five for Tierney to shuffle his feet, only to draw an excellent save from Luke Dennison.
Tierney returned the favour inside 20 minutes but Dawson’s piledriver was deflected for a corner.
With Dayle Rooney and Connor Parsons storming down the wings, and James Clarke in the form of his life behind Collie Whelan, it looked like Bohs would make light work of their guests.
Whelan started because Bohs new target man, Douglas James-Taylor, was injured. This allowed the Londoner to avoid the ire of the 300 Drogs-ultras who made the 100 kilometre round trip. The 23-year-old swapped county Louth for Phibsboro last month to pursue a “massive opportunity.”
James-Taylor could prove the final piece in the Bohs jigsaw as Reynolds aims to secure Europe football next season. They could only watch this week as Shelbourne, St Patrick’s Athletic and Rovers set up lucrative ties against opposition from Croatia, Turkey and Kosovo.
For all Bohs recent progress in the transfer market, at Drogheda’s expense, Kevin Doherty has refused to stand still. The Drogs manager signed the New York-born striker Michael Cardo, who was an unused sub here as Fuhad Kareem made his second start in the league.
Kareem is raw but when the 19-year-old learns how to move like a centre forward, the former St Pat’s prospect will become a nightmare for every defender in the country. Cian Byrne did not enjoy his early exchanges with the enormous teenager.
The full-blooded nature of the game boiled over after 33 minutes when Byrne was booked for a slide tackle that caught Andrew Quinn, and the ball. This prompted afters from Ryan Brennan and Jordan Flores. Referee Paul Norton calmed matters by flashing two yellow cards and, for good measure, Darragh Markey and Rooney were also cautioned before the break.
An initially noisy 4,372 attendance inside Dalymount had gone silent entering the last 10 minutes as Bohs could not turn 72 per cent possession into three points.
It was not for a lack of shooting, although just five of their 18 attempts troubled Dennison.
Drogheda’s move to full-time professionalism, the last top-tier Irish club to do so, has them already accumulating six more points than last season’s 34-point total.
Captain Brennan led the resistance but Keely and Quinn more than earned their wages as Devoy could not pick them apart.
With four minutes remaining, the unthinkable happened. Bohs had nine men in and around the Drogheda box when Keely disposed Tierney and sent Thomas racing clear. The Welsh striker kept his shot low to beat Kacper Chorazka.
Bohemians: Chorazka; Byrne (Buckley 71), Cornwall, Flores; Rooney, Morahan, Devoy, Parsons (McDonnell 80); Tierney, Clarke; Whelan (Brennan 80).
Drogheda United: Dennison; Lambe, Quinn, Keeley, Bolger (Cooper 88), Kane; Brennan (O’Sullivan 88), Heeney (Farrell 77); Markey; Oluwa (Davis 63), Kareem (Thomas 63).
Referee: Paul Norton.
