Drogheda United travel to Oriel Park on Friday night to take on Dundalk in the first Louth Derby of the 2026 League of Ireland Premier Division season.
The Boynesiders come into the game on the back of a strong 2 0 home victory over Waterford last week, marking the first home win of the new campaign for Kevin Doherty’s side.
Drogheda made an explosive start in that match, scoring twice inside the opening ten minutes. A header was cleared off the line in the third minute before the ball fell to Shane Farrell, who struck a superb finish into the roof of the net from the edge of the box.
Just minutes later it was 2 0, as Conor Kane broke down the left and picked out Thomas Oluwa. Oluwa cut the ball back across goal to Edwin Agbaje, with Mark Doyle eventually applying the finish past Waterford goalkeeper McMullan.
Friday night’s fixture will be the first league Louth Derby since 2024. The sides did meet in pre season in the Jim Malone Cup, where Dundalk edged the contest on penalties following a 1 1 draw in normal time.
There are no suspension concerns ahead of the game, with Warren Davis the only injury doubt after missing last week’s win over Waterford.
Match Officials
• Referee: Rob Hennessy
• Assistants: Emmett Dynan and Dermot Broughton
• Fourth Official: Neil Doyle
Pre-Match Quotes – Mark Doyle
Since we came in for pre-season, it’s been really positive, really enjoyable being in with all the lads. It’s been an easy transition. There’s only Conor Kane here that I played with when I was here before. We’ve had two good results. Obviously the Galway game was a real scrap but a great win away from home in the last minute. It’s always great when you can grind out a win in those kind of games where you aren’t necessarily playing well. Last week was a better performance from everybody, we were able to play a bit more football. I think we played really well, and confidence is high now going into Friday.
2026 Squad – Top Five All Time Competitive Appearances In All Competitions
• Ryan Brennan 250 appearances 31 goals
• Conor Kane 233 appearances 2 goals
• Mark Doyle 148 appearances 51 goals
• Andrew Quinn 111 appearances 6 goals
• Warren Davis 99 appearances 12 goals
Last five results friendly unless stated
• League: Drogheda United 2 0 Waterford, goals Shane Farrell and Mark Doyle
• League: Galway United 0 1 Drogheda United, goal Jago Godden
• Malone Cup: Drogheda United 1 1 Dundalk, Dundalk won 4 2 on penalties, goal Leo Burney
• Friendly: Bray Wanderers 1 3 Drogheda United, goals Brandon Kavanagh, Ethan O’Brien and Edwin Agbaje
• Friendly: Drogheda United 1 1 UCD, goal Thomas Oluwa
2026 Goalscorers (Total / League / LSC)
• Shane Farrell 2 1 1
• Mark Doyle 1 1 0
• Jago Godden 1 1 0
• Kieran Cruise 1 0 1
• Ryan Brennan 1 0 1
• Brandon Kavanagh 1 0 1
• Jason Bucknor 1 0 1
