Dundalk 1 Drogheda 0

Dundalk moved to within striking distance of Eircom Division One league leaders Athlone Town with an unconvincing 1-0 win against struggling Drogheda at Oriel Park last night.

The margin of success was expected to be much greater but nothing can be taken for granted in a derby match and so it proved.

The only goal of the game came in the 25th minute when John Flanagan hit a speculative shot from outside the box which skidded across the ground to beat Drogheda goalkeeper Cathal Warfield.

Even though Drogheda were looking down the barrel of a gun at their tenth league defeat of the season, they never allowed their heads to drop and were unlucky not to pull level when Trevor Vaughan and John Butler both missed good chances.

Dundalk took a stranglehold on the game in the second half and could have doubled their advantage in injury time, when Derek Delaney was unceremoniously dragged back in the Drogheda box for a definite penalty.

But Warfield came to United's rescue with a good save from the ensuing spot kick by David Crawley.