Ryan Brennan’s deflected late effort earns Drogheda a point at Finn Harps

With Harps struggling to clear, the ball came to the substitute and his shot took a deflection off Ryan Rainey to nestle in the bottom corner to make it 2-2. Even after the equaliser, Sam Long made an unbelievable save from Harps’ Yoyo Mahdy from Bastien Hery’s cross 20 seconds from the end of injury-time.

Kevin Doherty’s visitors went in front from their first attack on five minutes. James Clarke stretched to prod the ball past Gavin Mulreany, Harps’ debutant ’keeper, in for the suspended Mark Anthony McGinley.

It might’ve taken the hosts a little while to get going in the miserable conditions but they were level on 22 minutes through Eric McWoods, who swept home an equaliser after Long had saved well from Mahdy.

A minute before the break, the hosts made it 2-1 with Mahdy on hand to tuck home his first goal for the club after a move that saw Filip Mihaljevic cushion an assisting header from McWoods’ deep cross.

Chances weren’t as frequent in the second period, with Long making saves from a Mahdy free and then a Ryan Connolly piledriver on 71 minutes. Drogheda’s Andrew Quinn was only on the field a matter of seconds when he headed clear off the line from Mahdy minutes before Brennan’s leveller.

Finn Harps – Mulreany; Rainey, Boyle, Tourish, Slevin; Nzeyi, Connolly; McWoods, McNamee (Timlin 90), Mihaljevic (Hery 75); Mahdy.

Drogheda United – Long; Poynton, Cowan, Massey, Weir (Quinn 79); Nugent (Heeney 70), Deegan, Clarke; Rooney, Williams (Lyons 60), Grimes (Brennan 60).

Ref – O Moran.