Goalkeeper

Mark McNulty (Cork City) – Showed his worth with a number of point-blank saves to deny Sligo.

Defence

Sean Hoare (St Patrick’s Athletic) –  Easy to see why Pat’s fans rate him so highly. Looked comfortable throughout alongside the experienced Kenny Browne and could have scored at the other end.

Dave Webster (Bray Wanderers) – The centre half marshalled his defence and won his aerial battles whilst keeping Drogheda’s in-form strike duo quiet all evening.

Sam Oji (Limerick) – Another rock solid performance from the Limerick centre-half who heads and clears away every ball that comes his way. He even popped up with an assist for Rory Gaffney’s goal!

Sean Gannon (Dundalk) – Another fine performance from the full-back, who had a hand in the build-up to Stephen O’Donnell’s goal, as the Lilywhites moved three points clear at the top.

Midfield

Billy Dennehy (Cork City) - The winger has been in inspired form for the Leesiders since returning from Shamrock Rovers and stepped up to slot home an equaliser from the spot in injury-time.

David Cassidy (Bray Wanderers) – The former Drog was a livewire for Bray, providing support for Akinade and proving a goalscoring threat himself, twice going close in the first half.

Kieran Djilali (Sligo Rovers) - A constant source of creativity on the right-hand side for the visitors.

Steven Beattie (Bohemians) - The Bohs winger proved a real handful for full-back Robbie Williams and was involved in nearly every good attacking move from the home side.

Strikers

Pat Hoban (Dundalk) – Bullied and out-muscled the UCD defence and was rewarded for an all-round performance with two clinical finishes.

Philly Gorman (Athlone Town) – Was a thorn in the side of the Derry defence throughout and Shane McEleney struggled to contain the bustling striker.

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