Derry City v FC Tobol Kostanay: Second Leg Match Preview

 

Derry City FC v. FC Tobol Kostanay, UEFA Europa Conference League Third Qualifying Round Second Leg, Tallaght Stadium, 17^th August 2023, kick-off 19.45pm Irish time (00.45am Kazakhstani time)

 

            Derry City fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first round of their UECL Third Round qualifier against Kazakhstani outfit Tobol Kostanay last Thursday. A left footed wonderstrike from Roman Asrankulov, which kissed the crossbar before nestling in the top corner, was all that separated the sides in the first leg.

 

            The home team started the brighter of the two sides. Within one minute Ivorian forward Serges Deblé released a shot from inside the box which, fortunately for Derry, was straight at Brian Maher. Derry’s first promising foray forward came when Will Patching found Paul McMullan within the Tobol half. The Scottish winger drove towards the Kazakh defence before jinking between two players, a run which Derry fans are quickly becoming accustomed to. A cynical trip from Asrankulov was necessary to prevent the former Dundee man from bearing down on goal, and the following freekick from Patching was punched away by Ivan Konovalov in the Tobol goal.

 

The Kazakhstani side were lucky to keep all eleven men on the pitch after Serikzhan Muzhikov’s two footed lunge on Adam O’Reilly, just yards from the referee. Austrian referee Stefan Ebner felt that the tackle wasn’t even worthy of a card, despite showing nine yellows during the course of the game. This wouldn't be the last time that Ebner would be in the spotlight either.

 

Derry City had Brian Maher to thank once again early in the second half. Mark Connolly’s poor clearance landed at the feet of Deblé who clipped it forward to Islam Chesnokov. The winger was one-on-one with the City shot-stopper who bravely made himself big and smothered the ball.

 

Ten minutes later, the deadlock was broken. Chesnokov picked the ball up on the halfway line and switched it wide to Miljan Vukadinović. The former Serbian international laid it off to left back Roman Asrankulov who fired the ball into the top corner via the woodwork. An unstoppable drive to give the Kazakhstani side the lead.

 

Derry had a chance of their own just five minutes later. Sadou Diallo, who has been in fine form of late, unleashed a strike from range which seemed to worry Ivan Konovalov. Will Patching got to the rebound and was bundled over within the penalty area. Ebner waved away Derry penalty claims and awarded a free kick to Tobol for a supposed dive from the Englishman. Soon after, a scuffed kick from Konovalov landed to Patching again. The midfielder played it to Michael Duffy who cooly took it past the Tobol defender before firing it into the side netting. A close miss in what would pan out to be Derry’s best opportunity of the game.

 

FC Tobol, therefore, take a 1-0 lead into Derry’s ‘home’ tie in Tallaght Stadium on Thursday, but Derry City are definitely not counting themselves out just yet. In European qualification, a 1-0 lead is slender. Tallaght’s smooth playing surface will work to the advantage of both teams. Ruaidhrí Higgins and Milić Curčić want to play attacking football and, as has been seen with Derry’s win over KuPS and Tobol’s win over Basel, both managers have no problem in going all out to get a result.

 

With a 3-0 win over Drogheda at the weekend, Derry City will be confident in their quality going into Thursday’s second leg. As predicted last week, Higgins made five changes to the Derry side which lost in Kazakhstan. Ciaran Coll, Jordan McEneff, Brandon Kavanagh, Danny Mullen and Shane McEleney started. The squad depth required to rotate heavily yet still win comfortably is testament to Derry’s smart recruitment in recent years. Paul McMullan, Will Patching and Patrick McEleney changed the game in the second half after coming on however. Their introductions brought additional quality in the final third and ensured Derry came away with a vital three points. Jamie McGonigle will be glad to have gotten on the scoresheet again, whilst Michael Duffy added another goal and assist to his tally this season.

 

FC Tobol also played on Sunday, losing 2-1 away to Kairat Almaty. Ivan Rogać and Ivan Konovalov were the only two players to start both against Derry and against Kairat. This means it’s the second time in as many weeks that Curčić made considerable changes to his starting eleven ahead of a big European game. He only made two substitutions too, bringing on Chesnokov and Deblé, thus keeping the rest of his starting squad fresh for Thursday. Tobol, who have reached the final of the Kazakhstan Cup, seem to have given up on league ambitions this year. They sit in 7^th, thirteen points off Astana in third, with just eight games remaining. Should they beat Ordabasy in the cup final, they will qualify for the second qualifying round of the 2024/25 Europa Conference League. Therefore, they can afford to rest players in the league in order to give UECL group stage qualification this season their best shot. Curčić has been rewarded for his recent exploits too, winning the Kazakhstan Premier League Manager of the Month award for July.

 

Neither side seem to have any new significant injury concerns going into the second leg. Despite coming off injured against KuPS, Cameron Dummigan was named in the squads for both the first leg against Tobol, and against Drogheda on Sunday. Despite not featuring in either, his presence on the bench suggests that he should be fit enough to play some part in affairs if called upon. Shane McEleney was replaced by Mark Connolly after going down in the second half against Drogheda, but hopefully his injury is not serious. Michael Duffy seemed to hold his ankle briefly after a challenge against Drogheda also, but his cool finish late in the game seems to have eradicated any doubts of an injury. Tobol’s two substitutions against Kairat Almaty seemed tactical as they went into half-time 2-1 down and needed an attacking injection.

 

It was announced last week that UEFA denied Derry City's request to change their 'home' venue for the second leg to Windsor Park in Belfast, despite both the IFA and Linfield giving the switch the green light. This would have been a symbolic event, holding more significance than merely sporting. 

Derry, resultingly, have been given 3500 tickets for Tallaght’s West Stand. An email from the club stated that other stands would be opened pending ticket demand. The Brandywell was bouncing against HB Tórshavn and KuPS in the last few weeks, something which players and staff have attributed to the club’s European success this season. Despite the distance, Derry fans will surely be on top form to replicate this atmosphere down in Tallaght.

 

A UECL group stage play-off against the winner of the tie between Czech club Viktoria Plzeň and Malta’s Gzira United awaits the victor on Thursday. Plzeň comfortably defeated the Maltese side in the first leg, winning 4-0 at home. It will be the furthest that either Derry or Tobol will have progressed in European competition. In avoiding teams such as Aston Villa, Fiorentina and Eintracht Frankfurt in the play-off, whoever progresses will not write themselves off in the final round. It’s a big one for all involved on Thursday.

 

Pól O’Hare – 15 August 2023