Finn Harps let a one-goal lead and a man advantage slip as Drogheda United won 3-1 at Head in the Game Park.
Conor Tourish gave Ollie Horgan’s side the lead minutes into the second half. and after going down to 10 men with Sean Roughan receiving a second yellow, Drogheda looked under pressure but substitute Evan Weir equalised for the hosts.
Drogheda took the lead in the 91st minute as Ryan Brennan’s cross found former Harps man Adam Foley who scored.
Bastien Héry was sent off in added time for a reckless kick on Ryan Brennan.
In the 5th minute of added time Foley found Nugent at the back post and his touch then finish past McGinley gave the win to Kevin Doherty’s side.
The first half saw both sides create very little, with Sam Long the only player being tested from a Ryan Rainey shot, who should have done better with his effort from the edge of the box.
Bastien Héry had a long shot go over the bar but neither keeper were troubled.
The second half was a much better contest and Harps quickly took the lead from a brilliantly worked free kick.
Ryan Connolly whipped the ball to the edge of the box and Rob Slevin flicked it on to the back post where Rainey headed across goal to Tourish who finished to put the away side ahead.
Harps looked comfortable with Drogheda unable to test Mark Anthony McGinley and it looked to get even better for the away side when Sean Roughan was given a second yellow for a late challenge.
Harps should have made it 2-0 from the resulting free-kick but it was cleared off the line and minutes later, Drogheda were level.
A long ball found James Clarke on the right wing and he did well to beat Rob Slevin on the byline before cutting the ball back to substitute Evan Weir.
Weir, who had just come on hit it first time and slotted the ball past McGinley.
The equaliser gave Drogheda confidence despite the numbers advantage for Harps, and the home side kicked on.
Dane Massey had a free-kick go just over then he found substitute Foley in the box but Mark Timlin cleared.
Finn Harps appealed for a penalty kick as the five minutes of added time went up and Drogheda quickly countered as Brennan found Foley in the box and he scored against his former club.
Héry was then sent off for kicking out at Brennan in frustration and Drogheda would make it 3-1 in the dying seconds.
Another counter attack saw Foley find Nugent as the back post and his touch and shot past McGinley gave the claret and blue a great comeback win.
Finn Harps welcome Dundalk to Finn Park on Monday night.
Drogheda United: Sam Long; Sean Roughan, Andrew Quinn, Keith Cowan, Dane Massey; Gary Deegan, Georgie Poynton, Darragh Nugent, Dayle Rooney, James Clarke; Chris Lyons
Subs: Evan Weir for Rooney (67 mins), Adam Foley for Lyons (80 mins)
Finn Harps: Mark Anthony McGinley; Ethan Boyle, Conor Tourish, José Carrillo, Rob Slevin, Regan Donelon; Ryan Connolly, Bastien Héry, Barry McNamee, Ryan Rainey; Filip Mihaljević
Subs: Yoyo Mahdy and Mark Timlin for Mihaljević and Donelon (72 mins), Jesse Devers for McNamee (77 mins), Luke Rudden for Carrillo (92 mins)
