Drogheda score late winner in dramatic Louth derby
The dramatic affair included a sending off and late winner.
Hayden Cann was the Drogheda United matchwinner as Kevin Doherty’s team edged a breathless Louth derby despite going down to 10 men in the second half.
Jethren Barr’s 74th-minute sending-off threatened to derail United’s hopes of picking up a third win of the season – and the points that would put them five clear of their neighbours at the bottom.
Frantz Pierrot had given the Drogs the lead in the second half but Jamie Gullan’s free-kick levelled the game after the South African goalkeeper was dismissed for hacking down Cameron Elliott.
That left Dundalk sensing the game was theirs for the taking.
Instead, it was United who stole it. On-loan Lincoln City defender Cann fired in after the Lilywhites failed to clear Evan Weir’s 94th-minute free-kick delivery.
Referee Rob Harvey had added 10 minutes on at the end of a frantic second 45 minutes but Dundalk couldn’t find another equaliser.
Drogheda twice had Luke Heeney to thank for crucial goalline clearances, one in each half. Robbie Benson and Gullan were the players denied.
The first half was a forgettable affair with a Dundalk player being hit - and thankfully uninjured - by a light projectile in the back from close range as he went to take a throw-in the only thing to note from a drab opening period.
But the second half was an altogether different kettle of fish.
It was a derby proper, contested like the points really meant something. With the two Louth clubs in ninth and tenth, three points were crucial.
Pierrot’s goal came after Gary Deegan stole the ball from Paul Doyle on the edge of the area.
After Barr cleaned Elliott out, Andy Wogan came into the game. Gullan’s set piece beat him straight away.
But Cann scored his first League of Ireland goal to send most of the 2,339 supporters in United Park wild.
His fellow Lincoln loanee Oisin Gallagher won a free kick and the ball fell kindly for Cann, who smashed a shot past George Shelvey, who himself saw red after full time.
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