Ronan Boyce nets cracker as Derry City defeat Drogheda in season opener
Ronan Boyce opened the scoring for Premier Division title hopefuls Derry City, who defeated a Drogheda United side that included Donegal Town's Jack Keaney
Ronan Boyce was on target as Derry City got their 2024 campaign off to a winning start on Friday night.
Boyce opened the scoring in a 2-1 win for the Candystripes against Drogheda United at the Brandywell.
The Ramelton man fired home from 25 yards just over a minute into the second half.
Boyce took receipt of a pass from Pat Hoban and whipped the home crowd into a frenzy with a superb strike.
Last season, Boyce netted two goals in 33 appearances.
Three minutes later, Derry goalkeeper Brian Maher saved a penalty by Ryan Brennan before new signing Hoban opened his account to double the hosts' lead.
Evin Weir pulled one back, but Derry – who expect to be title challengers this season – held on.
Donegal Town's Jack Keaney played 90 minutes on his Drogheda Unite debut. Keaney made the move to the Drogs having been at UCD.
Former Finn Harps skipper Ciaran Coll, who hails from St Johnston, came on as a 90th minute substitute for Derry.
Burt's Mark Coyle had his first outing as the new Shelbourne captain in a 1-1 away draw with Waterford at the RSC. Coyle played an hour as Sean Boyd, another ex-Harps player, equalised for Shels after Maleace Asamoah broke the deadlock in the third minute.