Drogs hold Europe-chasing Galway United to scoreless draw

Drogheda United and Galway United couldn't be separated at Weavers Park but the draw does more for Kevin Doherty’s battlers than it does for improving the Westerners' hopes of returning to the European stage for the first time in 34 years.

Both sides earned impressive victories on Friday last, with Galway claiming the scalp of league leaders Shelbourne and Drogheda earning a vital win over Bohemians. Despite that, personnel changes were kept to a minimum just 72 hours later.

Doherty picked the same starting XI that began the game in Dalymount Park while Galway brought Rob Slevin and David Hurley in for Colm Horgan and Edward McCarthy.

Whatever the result on Boyneside, the Tribesmen would have remained in the conversation for European qualification in any case.

Shamrock Rovers' victory against Bohs in Tallaght puts them in the driving seat but John Caulfield’s wily Galway are not to be discounted

Drogheda’s recent home form indicated that his team were in for a stern test. The home side were unbeaten in seven league and cup outings at United Park.

But Galway could take heart from their previous results against the Drogs this term. They had only scored more than twice in a league game on two occasions in 2024 – and both of those came against the team in claret and blue.

The carrot for the hosts was a win that would lift them to seven points clear of rivals Dundalk at the bottom of the Premier Division. With five games left to play, that would represent the kind of cushion that would allow Drogheda to breathe a little easier with an FAI Cup semi-final on the horizon too.

It didn’t transpire that way but they wouldn’t have been too disappointed. A fourth clean sheet in five home games is nothing to be sniffed at for a side who