{"id":428393,"date":"2026-05-02T08:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/428393\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T08:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:32:08","slug":"drogs-end-nine-match-wait-with-triumph-over-sligo-rovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/428393\/","title":{"rendered":"Drogs end nine\u2011match wait with triumph over Sligo Rovers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Drogheda United&#8217;s nine-match winless run is well and truly behind them as Mark Doyle\u2019s first-half goal secured a second straight victory at home to Sligo Rovers.<\/p>\n<p>It is a big result in more ways than one, with Sligo slipping to defeat after a four game unbeaten stretch that included three wins on the bounce.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1 May 2026; Ryan Brennan of Drogheda United celebrates at the final whistle after the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Drogheda United and Sligo Rovers at Sullivan &amp; Lambe Park in Drogheda, Louth. Photo by Paul Phelan\/Sportsfile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00244e94-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nIt was a win worth celebrating for Ryan Brennan at full time<\/p>\n<p>They won\u2019t rue missed opportunities on their long journey back west. John Russell\u2019s side simply didn\u2019t create enough to warrant taking anything from the game. Drogheda deserved their victory.<\/p>\n<p>Drogheda made two changes from the side that begun last Friday night\u2019s stunning come-from-behind victory against Shelbourne. Shane Farrell and Doyle replaced Jago Godden and Dare Kareem.<\/p>\n<p>For Russell, with his team on a three-match winning streak, only the enforced injury absence of Jeannot Esua changed his hand with Sean Stewart coming in to replace the Cameroonian defender.<\/p>\n<p>At least Sligo could count on their upturn in results of late in their favour as they arrived on the Windmill Road. Their record at Drogheda did not make for pleasant reading \u2013 winless in eight and losers of the last three, without troubling the scoresheet.<\/p>\n<p>That gave Kevin Doherty hope that last the win at Tolka Park was more than an aberration and could be built upon on home soil seven days on.<\/p>\n<p>Just days before Drogheda\u2019s travelling supporters will mark their return to LOI stadia \u2013 in Tallaght Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday \u2013 there were flares lit in the stand to greet the players onto the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>That was despite the club pre-empting this weekend\u2019s double header with a firm statement promising &#8216;immediate and possibly indefinite stadium bans\u2019 for those found with pyrotechnics. This issue isn\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1 May 2026; Drogheda United manager Kevin Doherty celebrates after the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Drogheda United and Sligo Rovers at Sullivan &amp; Lambe Park in Drogheda, Louth. Photo by Paul Phelan\/Sportsfile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00244e95-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nKevin Doherty celebrates after his side first win in nine games<\/p>\n<p>The game\u2019s only goal arrived on 14 minutes. Brandon Kavanagh\u2019s corner was not cleared and after Conor Keeley turned the ball goalwards, Doyle helped it over the line from a yard or so out.<\/p>\n<p>From approximately a yard from goal, it is unlikely he\u2019ll find the net from closer in this season. He still required two attempts at the finish though, after Sam Sargeant saved initially when the ball dropped loose from Brandon Kavanagh\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n<p>All Sligo could muster was a pair of headers either side of half-time that hardly troubled Flynn Talley, the Englishman in the Drogheda goal.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Oluwa should have sealed victory for Drogheda late in the day, but couldn\u2019t keep his volley low. It was the perfect height for Sargeant.<\/p>\n<p>Sligo had possession and pressure, of sorts, late on but nothing came of it.<\/p>\n<p>Drogheda United: Flynn Talley; Edwin Agbaje, Andrew Quinn, Conor Keeley, Conor Kane; Ryan Brennan, Shane Farrell; Warren Davis (Jason Bucknor, 81), Brandon Kavanagh (Jago Godden, 61), Thomas Oluwa; Mark Doyle (Kieran Cruise, 71).<\/p>\n<p>Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant; Sean McHale, Gareth McElroy, Ollie Denham, Sean Stewart (Alex Nolan, 75); Carl McHugh, James McManus; Archie Meekison; Daire Patton (Mai Traore, 82), Cian Kananagh, Will Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n<p>Referee: Kevin O\u2019Sullivan<\/p>\n<p>Watch Lyon v Arsenal in the UEFA Women&#8217;s Champions League semi-finals on Saturday from 1.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drogheda United&#8217;s nine-match winless run is well and truly behind them as Mark Doyle\u2019s first-half goal secured a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-428393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}