Coyle sent off as Derry lose

Derry City striker Liam Coyle was sent off during injury time as his side surprisingly lost to lowly Drogheda United at the Brandywell yesterday.

And the late sending-off, for an alleged off-the-ball head butt, compounded Derry's woes as Kevin Mahon's men had hoped to bounce back after the previous weekend's reversal against Bohemians.

Mahon refused to protect his star striker. "He foolishly lost his discipline and will now serve a suspension as a result. That certainly does not help the team," he said. Drogheda, who battled hard throughout, scored against the run of play in the 38th minute and it was a goal which could so easily have been avoided.

A deep corner by Derek Thornton found its way to the back post where the unmarked Darren O'Keefe casually swept the ball home from close range.

Derry battled back and while Darren Kelly and Gary Beckett squandered half chances, Johnny McIvor wasted a great opportunity on the stroke of half-time. A superb move up the right flank, involving Eddie McCallion and Beckett, ended with the ball falling perfectly into McIvor's path but with only the goalkeeper to beat, the left winger sliced the ball wide of the target.

Coyle's claims for a penalty in the 49th minute were dismissed by referee Eddie Barr but the Dublin official did award a spot kick at the other end three minutes later.

A poor clearance by Peter Hutton was intercepted by John Butler and when the Drogheda substitute raced into the penalty area, he was brought crashing to the ground by goalkeeper David Platt.

And while Platt superbly parried the penalty, the alert Fergal Coleman reacted first and drove the rebound high into the net from the angle.

DERRY CITY: Platt; McCallion, Kelly, Hutton, Hargan; Doherty, Hegarty, Quigley, McIvor; Coyle, Beckett. Subs: Moran for Doherty (54 mins), McCaul for Hegarty (62 mins), McLaughlin for Hargan (79 mins).

DROGHEDA UTD: G Byrne; Maher, A Murphy, Impey; Thornton, O'Dowd, O'Keefe, Revins, C Murphy; Coleman, M Byrne. Subs: Butler for M Byrne (38 mins), Boyle for Thornton (48 mins), McCann for Coleman (88 mins).

Referee: E Barr (Dublin).