DUNDALK don't normally do things like this. They flattered to deceive for 22 minutes, but then rolled up their sleeves and seemed to have eked out a winner when they scored in the 84th minute. The 3,500 crowd sensed the best, or the worst, depending on loyalties divided along local parochial lines, whereupon, with the Fat Lady's microphone in hand, Drogheda snatched a draw two minutes into injury time.

Despite the thrilling climax, it was an anti climactic tie. An unexpectedly clear evening and a lush dry pitch appeared the ideal backdrop to an FAI Harp Eager Cup first round tie in front of Oriel Park's biggest crowd of the season, but even the surface was misleadingly nice to look at, not nearly so nice to play on.

The game had begun so brightly as well, but in the absence of an early breakthrough it gradually subsided into stalemate and the football was not of sufficient quality to maintain excitement.

If there was a turning point to the first half then it came after 19 minutes when Joe Gall en, from Joe Hanrahan's cross, forced John Grace into a reflex save with his leg. Alas, the Dundalk striker injured himself in the process and within three minutes hobbled off to be replaced by Peter Withnell.

Whereas Gallen tends to rove across the line, like his partner Mick Byrne, and prefers the ball to feet, Withnell is very much the forward lying, solo flying target man. That alone shouldn't explain why Dundalk suddenly stopped passing the ball and showing for each other as they had been doing in a bright start. But it was noticeable how much the defenders and midfielders were playing the ball longer.

Despite having the wind at their backs, this was not the case initially where it was noticeable how much Keith Long's emergence in central midfield had altered their style. But even when pegging Drogheda back in that opening 20 minutes for spells, the discomfiture shown by a clearly unfit Eddie Van Boxtel spread through the rest of the Dundalk defence.

Their first scare came after five minutes when Tevor Crolly's dipping shot was touched on to the bar by Van Boxtel. Within four minutes Matt Britton might have given his defence a badly needed buffer but miscued an eight yard shot after a typical weaving run past three defenders and low cut back by the lively Hanrahan.

Moments before the injury to Gallen, Gallen and Byrne in turn failed to convert another Hanrahan centre whipped in at about knee height. After that the game became a struggle for Dundalk, clearly forced to carry a few less than fully fit players.

As the passing deteriorated and the errors multiplied around him, Bobby Browne increasingly became Drogheda's and the game's most influential figure. He read the game cleverly and intelligently, probing this way and that. With wide midfielder Tom Sullivan also enjoying a return to his old stomping ground and Trevor Vaughan a willing target man, Drogheda came into the game.

Dundalk bunched nervously in front of Van Boxtel, rooted to his line, for seven corners before the break. But they created comparatively few openings and, ironically, Browne wasted the one clear chance which arose when sending a free header wide.

With the wind in their backs after the interval the closest Drogheda came to piercing the excellent Mick Doohan Stephen Napier axis was with Tresson's fierce 55th minute drive.

By contrast, with a more reliable left foot, Withnell could have put Dundalk ahead either side of the break when teed up by first Hanrahan and then by Noel Reid's miscued back pass Mick Shelly cleared Withnell's header off the line and Long shot over, both from more Hanrahan centres.

Hanrahan was again the provider six minutes from time when he linked cleverly with Long and created space for the latter's cross, flicked on by Mick Byrne for Doohan to turn and thump an unerring left footer past Grace.

The game is usually up when Dundalk strike first, six minutes after the kick off never mind six minutes from the end. But, remarkably, for once they let their guard down late on.

Once in a while, the hacks get it right. Moments after the announcement of what appeared to be a consolation Man of the Match award for Browne, the diminutive Drogheda playmaker took Ryan's lay off from Shetly's throw in to the byline and pulled the ball back for Tresson to score with a rising first time drive from 15 yards into the roof of the net if the champions thought last night was a struggle, Sunday evening's replay (most likely at 7 pm) in a throbbing United Park will be no tea party. It should be interesting.

Derry City last night finally signed former Finn Harps skipper Paul Hegarty for a fee of £5,000. The Brandywell club agreed to play Harps in a friendly match as part of the deal. Hegarty (28) is not eligible for Sunday's FAI Cup clash with St James's Gate but is expected to make his return to the Derry team in Tuesday night's rearranged league fixture against Bohemians.

.Ajax Amsterdam were defeated for the first time in 18 months last night, going down 2-1 to Israeli Cup holders Maccabi Haifa in a friendly in Israel.

.The president of Inter Milan Massimo Moratti, have has said that Alan Shearer could become a transfer target. In an interview with the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport he said Inter wanted Real Madrid's Chilean striker Ivan Zamorano but Shearer was another option.

. Bayern Munich said yesterday they had turned down an approach by Newcastle for striker Jean Pierre Pap in. "Papin is staying with us until the end of the season, a Bayern spokesman said. However, Papin will be available at the end of the season for nothing, as Bayern supremo Franz Beckenbauer has told him that his contract which expires then, will not be renewed.