U19 Report: Dundalk U19 5 - 1 Drogheda United U19

Dundalk Under 19s took all three points from their league encounter with neighbours Drogheda United at a sunny Oriel Park following a second half blitz which saw a one nil half time deficit turned into a five one victory.

The first half began with a number of half chances for both sides with the opening goal arriving after twenty minutes as Nathan Seery’s free kick on the edge of the box found the bottom corner of Lyons’ net. The visitors almost doubled the lead within a minute but the crossbar saved the hosts from going further behind. They were indebted to their goalkeeper for keeping their lead intact a few moments later as Sweeney stretched to his right to palm a low driven effort around the post.

Dundalk’s plans were disrupted just after the half hour as Dean Watters was injured following a robust challenge in midfield. Sean O’Hanlon took to the field to replace him. As half time approached Carlton Ubaezuono made a searing break down the left hand side but the Drogheda defence did well to close out his cross.

The second half opened with an early chance for Aaron Townley but he couldn’t convert. However, the young Lilywhites didn‘t have to wait long to open their account as Cian Flynn beat the offside trap down the left hand side before firing an angled drive across the goalkeeper to tie up the scores in the 68th minute. Goal number two for Martin Connolly’s men arrived within ten minutes as Adam Finnegan lashed an unstoppable drive to the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Aaron Townley widened the gap on the scoreboard less than two minutes later as he pounced on some space just outside the Drogheda box to drive forward and slip a strike low beyond the reach of the advancing Sweeney. The last few minutes saw a raft of substitutions before Jack O’Keefe broke down the right, made his way into the box and blasted past Sweeney from close range- the striker also scored in the corresponding under 17 and under 19 fixtures last season. Flynn then put the icing on the cake with his second goal of the game, a deft header in injury time, following a left wing cross.

Dundalk FC: Matt Lyons; James Rice, Gavin Smith, Jack Traynor, Carlton Ubaezuono; Dean Watters, Adam Finnegan; Cian Flynn, Aaron Townley; James Woods; Jack O’ Keefe  

Substitutes: Oisín Finn,  Mahir Said, Scott Prendergast (all unused), Shane Gregory, Seán O’Hanlon, Shaun Whelan

Drogheda United: Dylan Sweeney; Sean Tunney, Craig Darcy, Emmett Carolan, David Harper; Kyle Mulloy, Lee Partridge, James Carroll, Karl Fitzsimons, Nathan Seery; Stephen Meaney

Substitutes: Jamie Hickey, Lee Mc Guinness (Unused) Sam Reilly, Gavin Taylor, Sean Hughes, Aaron Kenna (Used)