League Report: Galway United 4 - 1 Drogheda United

By Paul Corcoran at Eamonn Deacy Park

Shane Keegan’s men made a great bid for survival when they met fellow relegation contenders Drogheda United on Friday night. It was a night to remember for their hat-trick hero Gavan Holohan as he led the charge for The Tribesmen as they beat The Boynesiders 4-1.

Goals have been hard to come by for both sides and coming into the game both teams would have been justified in thinking that whoever drew first blood would have a huge chance to win this crucial game— Galway United were that team on Friday night.

With just over a quarter of an hour gone Ronan Murray played a clever ball over the Drogheda defence between the running Padraic Cunningham and Gavan Holohan. Drogheda’s defenders failed to deal with the ball and Gavan Holohan took hold of possession before righting himself and striking the ball past Stephen McGuinness.

Just five minutes later Holohan secured a brace against his former club after taking advantage of slow defending from Pete Mahon’s side. This time the midfielder smashed the ball into the top corner from 25 yards out, another goal of the month contender to come out of Galway after Ronan Murray’s strike against Limerick two weeks ago.

Drogheda United were toothless in attack with their first chance coming after they had already conceded two goals. Adam Wixted did his best taking the ball down the right flank but his shot went straight to Conor Winn who was able to clutch the ball into his hands while standing tall.

Late in the first half Marc Ludden found Gavan Holohan all alone in the Drogheda box from a corner. Holohan clearly brimming with confidence after his two goals attempted a volley but he didn’t catch the ball right and his shot went high and wide.

At the other end of the field a lapse in concentration gave Thomas Byrne an excellent chance to claw a goal back for The Boynesiders but his effort was harmless and Conor Winn had no trouble getting down on top of the bobbling ball.

The Boynesiders were a shade unlucky with their chances on the night. Several half-chances were created but they couldn’t quite get the breaks they needed to put the ball in the net. Second half substitute Stephen Elliot found his way inside the Galway box and looked certain to score but Galway’s Lee Grace just managed to get back in time to block down the shot.

Stephen Elliot got on the score sheet for Drogheda after 75 minutes from a free-kick. Ronan Murray was deemed to have handled the ball on the right side of the box and Sean Brennan stood over it. Lee Grace got a defensive header to the ball played into the box but it ended up in Elliot’s path and the striker managed to head the ball into the top of the Galway net.

It would have been a nervy ending to the game for both sides but just five minutes later Gavan Holohan sealed the win, and his hat-trick. Substitute Eoin McCormack ran on to a Galway through ball but the striker’s first touch let him down and he just managed to hold onto possession with Stephen McGuinness bearing down on him.

McCormack turned with the ball at his feet and played the ball to the oncoming Holohan who looked up and struck the ball over McGuinness who had been drawn off his line to finish off an excellent hat-trick for the midfielder.

Galway then added a final wound to the visiting side in injury time. Substitute Conor Melody stood over the dead ball and struck it passed the Drogheda goal onto Lee Grace and the defender’s powerful header looped into the bottom corner of the Drogheda net.

Galway United: Conor Winn, Colm Horgan, Marc Ludden, Lee Grace, Stephen Folan; Alex Byrne, Gavan Holohan, David Cawley, Kevin Devaney; Ronan Murray, Padraic Cunningham (Eoin McCormack, 70).

Subs not used: James Tierney, Paul Sinnott, Vinny Faherty, Conor Melody, Gary Shanahan, Ronan Manning.

Drogheda United: Stephen McGuinness, Colm Deasy, Lloyd Buckley, Luke Gallagher, Conor Kane; Jake Hyland, Chris Mulahll, Sean Russell (Sean Brennan, 65), Adam Wixted (Stephen Elliot, 57), Ryan McEvoy (Jamie Hollywood, 79); Thomas Byrne.

Subs not used: Ryan Coulter, Stephen Dunne, Eoghan Dempsey, Shane Elworthy.

Booked: Conor Kane.

Attendance: 1,028

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Gavan Holohan