Freddie Draper's red-hot form in front of goal continued as Drogheda United won back-to-back games for the first time in 12 months, beating UCD at Weavers Park.Teenage striker Draper, two months shy of his 19th birthday, has been tasked with spearheading the Drogheda attack this season.The on-loan Lincoln City striker has started every match this term and after netting only once in his first 11 outings, his brace against the Students means he now has five in his last six.Remarkably, United had not managed the moderate feat of successive victories since May of last year when Finn Harps and Shamrock Rovers were beaten.
The victory is all the more impressive given UCD had taken a first half lead through Adam Wells. The left wing back's strike briefly suggested a shock could be on the cards but such hope for Andy Myler was soon extinguished.After fine work from Ciaran Behan and Daniel Norris, Wells’ supplied an excellent side-foot finish to find the bottom corner.
UCD were unlucky not to double their lead almost instantly as Jake Doyle rattled the crossbar seconds after the game restarted.After Luke Heeney won the ball in midfield, Darragh Markey slipped in Draper.
He timed his run perfectly and applied the finish to match to level the game.Just three minutes later, he put United ahead. He controlled a brilliant Aaron McNally pass into the area.