Bohs hold off Drogheda to climb into second place

Ronan MacNamara Ronan MacNamara | 04-20 08:15

Bohemians moved up to second place in the Premier Division table after they overcame Drogheda United to secure their third straight league win.

James Akintunde's fourth goal of the season after 15 minutes was enough to cap off an excellent week for the Gypsies who have climbed from eighth place to within two points of leaders Shelbourne in the space of seven days.

Drogheda arrived following four successive draws that saw some good performances go unrewarded and despite pushing for a late leveller they remain in the relegation play-off place, with just one win from their opening ten games.

The visitors were often the architects of their own downfall with careless errors on the ball presenting Bohs with opportunities in the first half.

The home side profited on some poor defending down the Drogheda left, the fervent Luke Matheson afforded two bites of the cherry before pulling the ball back for the onrushing Akintunde to slot home from seven yards.

Drogs had a couple of nearly moments on the counter-attack and their best chance fell to Ryan Brennan whose acrobatic effort was scooped over the bar after some ping-pong in the penalty area.

From the resulting goal kick, the visitors failed to deal with Kacper Chorazka’s long punt and the ball was presented to former Boyne-sider, Dayle Rooney who set up Declan McDaid. Stretching to shoot, the latter pulled his attempt narrowly wide of the far post.

Declan McDaid and Luke Heeney tussle for possession

Drogheda started the second half on the front foot but it was Bohemians who had the first efforts on goal.

Conor Kane made a great block to deny Rooney on the penalty spot while Jordan Flores headed over from the resulting corner.

Rooney and McDaid changed the game off the bench for Alan Reynolds’ charges in their Monday night win over Dundalk and the pair toyed with Drogheda with some neat interplay, before Rooney fired wide from 20 yards.

While Drogheda regularly coughed up possession cheaply in the opening 45 minutes, Bohemians almost conceded an equaliser after having a 3v2 on the counter.

Flores was caught out by substitute Frantz Pierrot, who latched onto Oisin Gallagher’s lobbed pass but was denied by Chorazka.

As the game ticked into the final ten minutes Dalymount grew nervy as Drogheda pushed for an equaliser.

They very nearly got it when substitute Killian Cailloce saw a header cleared off the line with his first touch.

The hosts held on for back-to-back home wins and clean sheets and a fourth win in five games for Reynolds.

Bohemians: Kacper Chorazka; Aboubacar Keita, Patrick Kirk, Luke Matheson, Jevon Mills (Byrne 46) Jordan Flores, Adam McDonnell (Clarke 89), James McManus (McManus 75), Oluwaseun Akintunde (Connolly 67), Declan McDaid (Piszczek 67), Dayle Rooney.

Drogheda United: Jethren Barr; Hayden Cann, Conor Kane (Webster 80), Warren Davis (McNally 59), Gary Deegan, Adam Foley, Oisin Gallagher, Luke Heeney (Cailloce 80), Jack Keaney, Darragh Markey, (O’Brien 65) Ryan Brennan (Pierrot 59)

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