Dundalk FC v. Derry City FC, League of Ireland Premier Division, Round 29, Oriel Park, Friday 1st September 2023, kick-off 7.45pm
Derry City
and Bohemians played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in Dalymount last Friday, but it was a
result which wasn’t ideal for either team. Still level on points, Derry and
Bohs remain firmly within the title race, but Shamrock Rovers’ win over Dundalk
sees them four points clear at the top. That win also means that Rovers' gap to
City and Bohemians has been extended to seven points.
Derry do
have a game in hand, an away fixture at UCD in early September, as well as a
vital tie against the league leaders on the 15th. In theory at least, a
win over UCD and Rovers would cut the gap to the top to one point should Derry hit a patch of good form, and other results go their way. Therefore,
Derry’s title hopes are far from over, but they can’t afford to drop points at
this stage of the season.
The
Candystripes are away to Dundalk on Friday, hoping to win in Oriel Park for just the
second time since 2013. This is definitely a surprising stat, but it makes some sense when considering how good that Dundalk team was for large parts of the
2010s. They won five league titles out of a possible six between 2014 and 2019
and qualified for the Europa League group stages. Current Derry stars Michael
Duffy and Patrick McEleney were central to large parts of their success, whilst
manager Ruaidhrí Higgins was part of the Lilywhite’s title-winning team of
2014.
Derry’s last
win in Oriel Park was definitely one for the history books. It was the last
game of the season in 2021 and Derry, revitalised under new manager Ruaidhrí Higgins, needed
a win to clinch European football (with a bit of help from St. Pat’s in the
form of an FAI Cup final win that year). After going 1-0 down in the first
half, a Ciaron Harkin rocket on the stroke of half-time brought the
Candystripes level. Just seven minutes into the second half, Jamie McGonigle
slid it past Peter Cherrie to score what would turn out to be the decider.
This season Derry
are unbeaten against Dundalk. Back in March, the sides drew 0-0 in the
Brandywell. Five weeks later, Dundalk scored twice in two minutes to go ahead
in Oriel Park before a Cian Kavanagh header equalised in a game that would
finish 2-2. When the sides met in the Brandywell in May, City were dominant.
Goals from Jordan McEneff, Brandon Kavanagh and Michael Duffy ensured a comfortable 3-0
win.
This
Friday’s tie holds more weight though. Dundalk are currently sitting in sixth,
four points behind Derry in the last European spot. The Candystripes are three
points behind St. Pat’s in second and have a goal difference of +17, compared to
the Inchicore side’s +18. Pat’s face a tricky tie away to Shelbourne, who
themselves sit level on points with Dundalk and are in the race for Europe. If
other ties go Derry’s way (Shels beat Pat’s and Bohs beat Rovers), they could find themselves in second place with a win over Dundalk.
Neither
Ronan Boyce nor Cameron Dummigan featured against Bohemians last Friday, whilst
former Dundalk defender Mark Connolly was replaced by Shane McEleney after just
seventeen minutes. Connolly seemed in some discomfort after going down early on
but continued to play on prior to his early departure. These are three key
players who Ruaidhrí Higgins will not want to be without going into the latter
stages of the league campaign. Patrick McEleney hasn’t started since coming off
injured in Derry’s 3-3 draw against KuPS on August 3rd, but has
frequently featured from the bench since. The captain is another man who
Higgins will want to keep as fit as possible for the remainder of the season.
Aside from these concerns, and the long-term injuries to Colm Whelan and Ciaron
Harkin, the Derry manager seems to have no other injury worries. Danny Mullen
was impressive on Friday and will hope to kick-on after scoring his first goal
for City too. Summer signing Sam Todd is yet to feature but was named on the
bench against Bohemians. He may be involved soon due to City’s injury hit
back-line.
Dundalk are
on a decent run as of late, winning two, drawing two and losing one in their
last five games in all competitions. That loss came against league leaders
Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght last Friday. Similarly to Derry, Dundalk progressed
from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League after
beating Bruno’s Magpies of Gibraltar 3-1 on aggregate. They slipped to a
disappointing 5-3 aggregate defeat in the second round against KA Akureyri, who currently sit 7th
in the Icelandic top division. That loss threatened to derail their season, but
wins over Shamrock Rovers and Bray Wanderers in the FAI Cup sees them in an
intriguing quarter-final tie against Galway United. The Lilywhites will hope to
go far into the cup this season, with European qualifiers awaiting the
winner.
Stephen
O’Donnell tends to play a 4-2-3-1, but played a back five against Shelbourne
earlier this month. He has also set his team up in a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 this
term. Dundalk’s Welsh goalkeeper Nathan Shepperd is one of the most promising
young goalkeepers in the League of Ireland. He has started all 28 of the
Lilywhites’ league games this season, keeping 7 clean sheets. English right
back Archie Davies has been impressive for Dundalk too, starting 26 games
and making three assists. Across the rest of the Dundalk backline, Hayden
Muller has made 25 appearances whilst left-back Darragh Leahy has 22. Scottish centre
back Darren Brownlie has been brought it from Partick Thistle to add stability
in the defence.
The Dundalk
midfield consists of former Derry players Greg Sloggett and Keith Ward, who
have made 20 and 19 appearances respectively. Alfie Lewis has made 21 league appearances whilst
former Rochdale man Conor Malley has made 24 starts. 20 year old winger Ryan
O’Kane is a prospect on the wing, chipping in with five goal involvements this
season. Daniel Kelly also has five goal involvements from the wing this term,
as does striker John Martin. Club record goalscorer Pat Hoban has netted ten goals this year and is always a physical threat in the frontline.
The return of former fans-favourite Daryl Horgan, who has made 17 appearances
for the Irish national team since leaving Dundalk in 2017, is a real statement signing by the
Lilywhites. He left Dundalk for Preston North End six years ago, and has since lined
out for Hibernian, Wycombe Wanderers and Stevenage. Horgan scored a late winner
in the FAI Cup second round against Bray Wanderers.
Each point
is precious when it comes to this stage of the season. With nine games left for
Derry, and one less for Dundalk, both sides will likely go all out in search of
a win. With a Dublin Derby between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians the highlight
of the round on Friday, Derry’s title hopes could be skewered should results
not pan out as they hope. A Rovers win would put them ten points ahead of Derry
if the Candystripes lose to Dundalk. The old cliché that the last run of games
are all cup finals is more evident than ever now.
Pól O’Hare – 30 August 2023
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