Honours were deservedly shared in a game that produced an extraordinary finish at Oriel Park last night. Ten-man Dundalk looked to have snatched yet another late winner when Drogheda keeper Eddie Van Boxtel fumbled a longrange effort by David Crawley to put the home side in front with just five minutes to go. Drogheda to their credit hit back and substitute Brian Irwin snatched the equaliser a minute into injury time.

Drogheda played it tight at the back from the start with heavy marking of Dundalk's danger man Brian Byrne and this stifled a lot of enterprise by either side.

Drogheda had their chances on several occasions but were foiled by some good goalkeeping by Steve Williams and also some poor finishing by Noel Reid.

Indifferent refereeing of the game led to some frustration among the players which not surprisingly brought about quite a few bookings and eventually the sending off of Peter Withnell in the 73rd minute.

The game really only came to light after that speculative effort by Crawley gave Dundalk a surprise lead. Drogheda stormed back and after Crawley had cleared off the line, Irwin, a former Dundalk player who had only come on in the 88th minute, lobbed Williams from just outside the area.

Overall this was a vastly improved display by Drogheda particularly their back four of Ian Hill, John Coady, Jim Impy and John Reid, while Andy Rammage did well for them in midfield. For Dundalk, apart from Crawley, the best attacker was Raymond Campbell, and Noel Melvin performed well in the centre.