Premier Division: Shamrock Rovers 2 [Healy 31, Honahan 70] Drogheda United 1 [Keeley 83]
Matt Healy and Josh Honohan were on target at Tallaght Stadium as Shamrock Rovers held off a late surge from Drogheda United to move nine points clear at the summit of the Premier Division.
Even though Conor Keeley clawed a goal back for Drogheda in the closing moments, the hosts held firm to move a step closer to a fifth league title in six years.
This completed a memorable week for Rovers after they also secured a spot in the league phase of this season’s Uefa Conference League at the end of a tension-filled second leg playoff at home to CD Santa Clara last Thursday.
Prior to kick-off in this fixture, there was a minute’s applause to honour the memory of League of Ireland stalwart Ollie Horgan, ex-Shamrock Rovers striker Tommy Hamilton and lifelong Hoops supporter John Larrisy – all of whom have passed away within the past 10 days.
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Rovers were hoping to maintain their excellent recent form against Drogheda, having already recorded three victories at the expense of Kevin Doherty’s men in 2025 – including a 3-0 triumph in Tallaght back on May 9th.
Yet despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, Rovers were finding it difficult to create clearcut scoring opportunities during the early stages of the action.
However, the Hoops persevered with their challenge as the play progressed and ultimately edged in front on 31 minutes when Healy drilled a shot beyond the reach of Drogheda netminder Luke Dennison and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
This put Rovers in a strong position to further cement their status as league pacesetters and Dennison had to be at his best to keep out a brace of Honohan chances just shy of the interval.
Nevertheless, Healy’s goal was all that separated the sides at the start of the second half and the introduction of Dare Kareem as a half-time substitute offered fresh impetus to a Drogheda side who started the day just behind fourth place St Patrick’s Athletic on score difference.
Although Graham Burke went close to doubling Rovers’ advantage on three separate occasions during a five-minute spell, Drogheda had a glorious opportunity to restore parity just shy of the hour mark. Warren Davis appeared to be odds-on to score when he rounded Ed McGinty after seizing upon a defensive error from Adam Matthews, but Roberto Lopes was on hand to block the former Shamrock Rovers youth player as he attempted to find the net.
While this was a major let-off for the Hoops, their supporters were able to relax again when Honohan, who was a consistent threat throughout his time on the pitch, unleashed a superb shot into the top left-hand corner of the Drogheda goal on 69 minutes.
Drogheda centre half Keeley set up a tense finale in Tallaght when he finished off a goalmouth scramble in the 83rd minute, but despite having to deal with six minutes of stoppage-time on their home patch, Rovers eventually claimed the three points on offer.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: McGinty; Cleary, Lopes, Grace; Matthews, Healy (McGovern, 79 mins), McEneff (O’Neill, 79 mins), Honohan (Ozhianvuna, 72 mins); Nugent, Burke (Greene, 79 mins); Noonan (Barrett, 79 mins).
DROGHEDA UNITED: Dennison; Bolger (Cardo, 89 mins), Keeley, Quinn; Lambe, Markey, Oluwa (Kareem, 46 mins), Kane (Cruise, 74 mins); Davis (Stretton, 67 mins), Brennan (Doyle, 62 mins); Heeney (Farrell, 67 mins).
Referee: A O’Dowd (Dublin).
