eLOI Week Nineteen round-up
by setantasports.com staff, 21 July 2008
St Patrick's Athletic were held to a draw on Monday, Galway United won on Friday, Sligo Rovers hammered Finn Harps on Saturday, and Cork City beat Drogheda United on Sunday in a thrilling Week Nineteen.
Bray Wanderers 0-1 Galway United
Galway manager Jeff Kenna made his competitive playing return in this match and he would be more than happy with his side’s 1-0 win – a result that moved them off the foot of the league.
Bray’s Paddy Kavanagh missed two great chances to put the home side in front, but failed to find a way past the in-form keeper Alvin Rouse.
That left it open for a grandstand finish as Vinny Faherty won the ball on the right for Galway and crossed to the feet of Derek Glynn, who turned and blasted the winner in.
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Derry City 0-0 Bohemians
Bohs moved level on points with St Patrick’s Athletic at the top of the table after they held Derry to a scoreless draw at The Brandywell.
Jason McGuinness, who was later sent off, prevented Derry from going ahead as the first half approached the half hour mark. The central defender got in the way of a Niall McGinn effort after good work from Gareth McGlynn.
Killian Brennan then went close with a free-kick for Bohs, but neither side had had too many chances in the first-half. Then Derry upped the pressure with Thomas Stewart and Mark McChrystal coming close with efforts.
Gypsies keeper Brian Murphy was called upon to deny Sammy Morrow, McGinn and McGlynn, before the latter missed badly at the death.
Sligo Rovers 4-1 Finn Harps
The Bit O'Red forgot about their off-field problems as they breezed past 10-man Finn Harps at The Showgrounds on Saturday.
Paul Cook's men took an early lead through a Gavin Peers header on 7 minutes, and they were celebrating again on 19 minutes when Gary Curran finished a long throw-in from Chris Butler.
Any hope that the visitors had of crawling back into this match went up in smoke with the dismissal of Stephen Parkhouse just before half-time for picking up two yellow cards.
The onslaught continued after the interval with Romauld Boco and Raffale Cretaro grabbing a goal each. A late strike from Shaun McGowan didn't do much to lift the spirits of the Harps fans who had just experienced another defeat.
UCD 1-1 Cobh Ramblers
Matt Gregg was the hero for Pete Mahon's side on Saturday night when he scored the equalising goal deep into injury time to ensure this match ended all square.
The former Bray Wanderers shot-stopper took a big risk in going forward for the last set-piece of the game, but was in the right place to head in Derek Doyle's free-kick.
Things didn't well for Gregg though, as he had a penalty awarded against him on 12 minutes when he fouled Daryl Kavanagh. That allowed Ross Gaynor to score a first goal for Ramblers on his first start for the club.
UCD will have felt that they should have won this game after Pat McWalter and Shane Fitzgerald both came close to scoring before Gregg got that dramatic leveller.
Drogheda United 0-1 Cork City
A single strike from Dave Mooney was enough to give The Leesiders an away win over the eircom Premier Division champions at United Park on Sunday.
The league's top scorer blasted in a penalty on 58 minutes after Graham Gartland had tripped the striker inside the box.
The Boynesiders attempted to salvage something from the match by piling on the pressure in the final quarter of the game, but they just couldn't find the breakthrough that they were searching for.
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St Patrick's Athletic 1-1 Shamrock Rovers
The spoils were shared in this Dublin derby on Monday evening at Richmond Park with a goal in each half ensuring neither team came away with the full points.
Mark Quigley opened the scoring on 6 minutes in spectular style when he latched onto a Keith Fahey pass, made room for himself, and blasted it past Rovers keeper Barry Murphy.
The Hoops arrived with a gameplan to defend and shut down the opposition, but manager Pat Scully soon changed his own script when he took off Barry Ferguson for Tadhg Purcell. They soon began hunting for an equalisier.
Padraig Amond was the man who got it on 74 minutes to earn his side a precious point, but it could have been stolen away from them right at the end if Ryan Guy only had a bit more composure in front of goal.