Derry City v St Patrick’s Athletic: FAI Cup Match Preview

 

Derry City v St Patrick’s Athletic, FAI Cup Round Two, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, Sunday 20^th August 2023, kick-off 5pm.

 

            Derry City bowed out of the UEFA Europa Conference League following a cruel penalty-shootout defeat against FC Tobol on Thursday. After a gruelling two hours of football in Tallaght Stadium, the Candystripes couldn’t find a winner despite drawing the tie level on aggregate through a Will Patching penalty in the first half. The Kazakhstani side capitalised on penalty misses from Ben Doherty and Brian Maher to set up a group stage play-off against Czech side Viktoria Plzeň, who beat Gzira United of Malta 6-0 over two legs to progress.

 

            Ruaidhrí Higgins spoke of his devastation at being knocked out in such a manner, but expressed his pride in the team after the match. It’s a quick turnaround for City as they regroup to face St. Pat’s in the second round of the FAI Cup on Sunday. After 120 minutes of football on Thursday, Higgins will have to work with a fatigued squad in order to pick his strongest starting eleven.

            Despite the match against Tobol Kostanay going to extra-time and penalties, Derry know how to deal with a domestic game in quick succession of a big European tie. After their 1-0 defeat in Kazakhstan last week, City faced a long trip home and didn’t get back into Derry until midday on the Friday. With just two days back in the country, City defeated Drogheda United 3-0 to come within five points of the Premier Division summit on Sunday.

 

            Derry City will be hoping for similar luck this time round. St. Pat’s have only beaten Derry once in the history of the FAI Cup, a 2-0 final win in 2014. The two sides haven’t faced each other in the cup since 2018 either, when City came out 1-0 winners following a late Aidy Delap goal. This season, Derry and Pat’s have faced each other thrice in league action. Both sides have beaten each other this term already - Derry coming out 2-0 winners in the Brandywell in April and Pat’s winning 4-1 in Inchicore in June. An entertaining 1-1 draw was played out in the opening game of the season between the two teams in February.

 

St. Pat’s, despite a slow start to the league season, enjoyed a purple patch following the appointment of Jon Daly as their new manager in May. Since taking over as interim manager on May 2^nd, the Saints have played seventeen games, winning ten, drawing three and losing four. Two of those four losses came to F91 Dudelange in the UECL first round, emphasising Daly’s impressive job in turning round Pat’s domestic form. Derry sit one point behind the Inchicore side in the league table and play them in the Brandywell on the last game of the season. That game may be vital in the races for both the league title and for European places come November.

 

            In terms of FAI Cup action this season, Derry progressed to the second round following a comfortable 3-0 win over Athlone Town. Pat’s also faced First Division opposition in the first round, beating Longford Town 2-1 to reach this stage. A place in the quarter final awaits for the winner, and with Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne both bowing out in the first round, City and St. Pat’s will fancy their chances of going the full way. Should Derry progress, they could set up a north-west derby with rivals Finn Harps in the quarter final. The Ballybofey side beat Leinster Senior League opposition Skerries Town 5-0 on Friday evening.

 

            As Derry’s game against Tobol reached the latter stages, the City players were getting increasingly fatigued. Will Patching was replaced by Patrick McEleney early in the second half after going down injured. The former Manchester City midfielder has been in fine form of late but may not start on Sunday, depending on the severity of his knock. Michael Duffy has played a lot of football after coming back from injury, and Mark Connolly was heavily affected by cramp in extra-time. Brian Maher, who unfortunately missed a penalty in the shootout, played well but suffered a nasty fall in the second half. Tadhg Ryan, who kept a clean sheet in the first round tie against Athlone Town, may be in-line to start on Sunday as a result.

 

            St. Patrick’s Athletic, after losing 5-3 on aggregate to F91 Dudelange in the first round of UECL qualifying, haven’t had much disruption to their schedule due to European involvement. They also have had nine days of preparation following their 0-0 draw at home to Bohemians last Friday, ensuring they have a fresh squad to face Derry. Joe Redmond, who suffered a serious hamstring injury earlier in the season, has recently returned to the St. Pat’s squad. The 23 year old is a former Ireland U21 international and is Pat’s’ captain when fit. He scored an 89^th minute equaliser against Derry on the opening day of the season in Inchicore. Tom Grivosti, who partners Redmond in central defence, is out for the season after suffering an unfortunate ACL injury in late May.

 

            Despite playing seventeen league games this season, former Feyenoord defender Noah Lewis left St. Patrick’s last week. 17 year old full back Sam Curtis can deputise at centre back however, whilst new signing David Norman played on the left of a back three for Northampton Town last season. Former Liverpool, Aberdeen and Oldham Athletic right back Ryan McLaughlin is a recent addition to the Pat’s defence. The 28 year old has been included in the squad twice but is yet to feature. Chris Forrester is always one to look out for too, racking up twelve goals and four assists in the league this season. Former Hearts and Atlanta United winger Jake Mulraney also has twelve goal involvements in twenty-two this term. English goalkeeper Dean Lyness has been impressive between the sticks this season too, keeping eight clean sheets in twenty-two league games.

 

Elsewhere in the second round, fans of Cork City and Waterford will have to wait until Monday to witness their sides’ second meeting of the year after the tie was postponed prior to kick-off. Despite being 2-0 up away to UCD, Galway United were left frustrated after Storm Betty put a premature end to their game. That match will restart from scratch on Monday evening. Bohemians comfortably defeated Munster Senior League side Rockmount 6-0, whilst Dundalk edged past a resilient Bray Wanderers. Daryl Horgan’s first goal following his return from Wycombe insured that the Lilywhites left the Carlisle Grounds with a 1-0 win. Drogheda United also beat First Division opposition by a single goal, holding onto an early lead to win away to Kerry. In one of the more obscure ties of the second round, St. Patrick’s C.Y.F.C face Wexford on Sunday.

 

Both Derry City and St. Pat’s will hope for a successful cup run this term. Derry, who won the cup in 2022, and Pat’s, winners in 2021, both know that favourable draws in the quarter final will leave them within touching distance of another Aviva day out. Nine of the sixteen teams playing in the second round play in either the First Division or the regional Senior Leagues, meaning that both the Candystripes and the Saints are two of the favourites to win the competition. Due to this fixture taking place on Sunday, whilst four of the eight other ties took place on Friday, Derry and Pats will have more of a feel of what to expect in the quarter final. The draw for the quarters takes place on Tuesday 22^nd August at 12.30pm.

 

Pól O’Hare – 19 August 2023