Cork City v. Derry City: Match Preview

 

Cork City FC v. Derry City FC., League of Ireland Premier Division Round 35, Turner’s Cross, Friday 27^th October 2023, kick-off 7.45pm

 

            It’s the penultimate game of the season and a win for Derry City can clinch European football for 2024. The Candystripes have fallen to third place since their 0-0 draw with Shelbourne last Friday, as St. Pat’s defeated Sligo Rovers in their game-in-hand to go within three points of league leaders Shamrock Rovers – whom they face in a title decider this week.

 

            Derry suffered their third sending off in their last five games in the draw with Shelbourne as Sadou Diallo was dismissed for a late tackle on Shane Farrell – leaving City at a man disadvantage for the best part of seventy minutes. It was a dull evening for the Candystripes who failed to muster a shot on target and had to rely on a couple of fine saves from Brian Maher to get anything out of the tie. A win for Shelbourne would’ve seen them come within two points of Derry going into the last two fixtures.

 

            Derry City have the worst recent form of any team in the top half of the table, picking up just six points from the last five games. Their only win in that time came against UCD in the Brandywell and are scoreless in the last two. Cork City are six points behind Sligo Rovers in eighth place and anything but a win for the Rebels will mean that they must play in the promotion/relegation play-off if they are to avoid the drop. Cork’s recent record doesn’t make for easy reading for their fans either. Similar to Derry, they have picked up just six points from their last five. After beating Sligo Rovers 3-0 in early September, Cork have lost to Shelbourne, Dundalk and St. Pat’s in the league before beating UCD 2-0 last weekend. Both Cities need a turnaround in form in order to finish the season positively.

 

            Derry will be without midfielder Sadou Diallo against Cork after his red card against Shelbourne last week. There do, however, seem to be no new injury concerns for the Candystripes. Patrick McEleney and Jordan McEneff both played for more than half an hour off the bench, whilst Ronan Boyce replaced Paul McMullan on the eightieth minute in order to maintain defensive solidity. Brandon Kavanagh also played the last five minutes. Ciaran Coll was an unused substitute for the third game in the row, whilst Mark Connolly, Sam Todd, Cian Kavanagh and Tadhg Ryan all played no part against Shelbourne. Ben Doherty will make his 100^th appearance for Derry City against Cork City on Friday.

 

            Cork City have both a mostly clean bill of health and a clean suspension record coming into the tie against Derry. Only two Cork players have made over thirty league appearances this season though - centre back Josh Honohan and striker Ruairí Keating. Captain Cian Coleman and midfielder Aaron Bolger have made 29 appearances, whilst former Finn Harps frontman Tunde Owolabi and ex-Celtic midfielder Aaron Bolger have both made over 25. Star of the show in Turner’s Cross this year has undoubtedly been the aforementioned Ruairí Keating. The 28 year old striker, who beat Will Patching to the September Player of the Month award, has netted thirteen league goals this season so far – leaving him joint top of the Premier Division’s scoring chart with Jonathan Afolabi and Chris Forrester. He’ll be in confident form after netting the winner against UCD last week. Eighteen year old midfielder Joe O’Brien Whitmarsh, who also scored last week, is second in Cork’s league scoring charts with just four goals – showing the Rebels’ reliance on Keating. Interestingly, five different goalkeepers have lined out for Cork City in the league this season. Ireland U21 goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran has made the most appearances with twenty, whilst Altrincham loanee Ollie Bryne has made nine. Tiernan Brooks, who has also played for Ireland’s U21s, suffered an injury on his Cork City debut on loan from Notts County. Tobi Oluwayemi, who is now loan at Admira Wacker from Celtic, started Cork’s first two games of the season – including in the 2-0 loss against Derry in the Brandywell.

           

            That 2-0 win in February was the first of Derry’s three victories over Cork City this season. Colm Whelan scored the winner in a 3-1 win in Turner’s Cross in his return from injury back in May, whilst Tiernan McGinty netted the winner on his Derry City debut against Cork City in late June. The Candystripes will be hoping to finish the season with a 100% record against the Rebels - UCD are the only other team who Derry have beaten in all four meetings this term. Cork City haven’t beaten Derry since October 2018 when ex-City man Barry McNamee netted the opener in a 3-0 win in the Brandywell. The last victory for Cork against Derry in Turner’s Cross came in July of that year when they put five past the Candystripes. Garry Buckley netted twice, whilst former Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney found his first Cork City goal. Current First Division top scorer Ronan Coughlan scored late on, whilst Rochdale midfielder Jimmy Keohane also scored.

 

            With just two games remaining in the 2023 campaign, it’s a disappointment that Derry’s title charge dwindled out just as it was beginning to look possible. Qualification for Europe is paramount for City though. Aside from the fact that it is attractive to prospective new players, the financial impact of going a few rounds into European qualification is significantly more than the prize money for winning the league or cup. With a tricky tie against St. Pat’s in the last game of the season coming up next week, a win against Cork City on Friday is necessary.

 

Pól O’Hare – 25^th October 2023

Derry City v Shelbourne: Match Preview

 

 

Derry City FC v. Shelbourne FC., League of Ireland Premier Division Round 34, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, Friday 20^th October 2023, kick-off 7.45pm

 

            Derry City’s dreams of a first league title since 1997 are all but over after a 0-0 draw away to Drogheda last time out. A win would have put Derry within two points of Shamrock Rovers, albeit with Rovers having the comfort of a game in hand, but the gap now sits at four points going into the last three games of the season. Shamrock Rovers can guarantee a fourth league title in a row with wins over Cork City and Drogheda United in their next two fixtures, whilst the Candystripes now look concerningly over their shoulder. St. Pat’s sit just two points behind City and have a game in hand – a rearranged home tie against Sligo Rovers due to their FAI Cup involvement – which will take place three days after a tricky away game against fellow cup finalists Bohemians in Dalymount on Friday.

 

            Friday’s opponents, Shelbourne, found themselves entering the international break in the top four after defeating Dundalk 1-0 in their last fixture. They have played the same number of games as Derry City (33) and sit five points behind the Candystripes. St. Pat’s, who sit in third, have both a three point buffer on Shels as well as a game in hand. Bohemians – after defeating UCD in their game in hand last week – have leapfrogged Shelbourne to retake fourth spot from their cross-city rivals.

 

            With just five points separating second and fifth in the table, Derry City will need to ensure that they don’t slip up in order to consolidate their place in the European spots. St. Pat’s and Bohemians have the comfort of knowing that, if they both finish in the top four, they will both get European qualification for the 2024 season. If a team who finishes in the top three – already guaranteeing European football – also wins the FAI Cup, fourth spot in the league table will be sufficient to gain entry to the UECL qualifiers next year. As Derry City finished second and won the cup in 2022, fourth placed St. Pat’s gained European qualification for the 2023 season – City repaying the favour from the year before.

 

            A win over Shelbourne, and a Bohemians loss against Pat’s, would see City go six points above Bohs in the league table. Therefore, they would need just one point from their final two games, or for Bohs to drop points, to guarantee their spot in UECL qualification in 2024. Whether Derry finish second, third or fourth, they will get European football as long as St. Pat’s and Bohemians make up the other top four spots along with Shamrock Rovers. Conceding just three goals in their last six games - whilst scoring fifteen - City will aim for positive results in their last three games to end the season on a positive note. It’s not as exciting as a title race, but it’s important to come away from the season with European football to look forward to. Summer signing Paul McMullan admitted that European football was definitely a factor in choosing to come to Derry, and it’s a draw that the club needs to have in order to attract the best attainable talent.

 

            Derry City, though, may have a few new niggles to be concerned about going to the tie against Shelbourne. Cameron McJannet went down on the hour mark against Drogheda and was replaced by Sam Todd. The 25 year old knew his game, and possibly his season depending on the severity of the injury, was over – signalling to the bench that a substitution was necessary. Adam O’Reilly seemed to pick up an injury off the ball and stayed down for a short amount of time. He played on until the 77^th minute when he was replaced by Brandon Kavanagh. Patrick McEleney, and the aforementioned Sam Todd, featured for the Candystripes for the first time since the 5-0 win over UCD in early September. Colm Whelan is out for the season, and it’s looking unlikely that Ciaron Harkin will return before November either. Ronan Boyce was an unused substitute on the bench after missing the previous game as a result of his sending off against Sligo Rovers. There are no new suspension worries for Derry though, as each of their last four games have all seen a red card – two of which were distributed to Derry players.

 

            Shelbourne travel to the Brandywell after losing just once since defeat away to St. Pat’s on the 23^rd of June. That loss came away to Shamrock Rovers at the end of September and, since the loss in Inchicore in June, Shelbourne have won six and drawn five league games. Damien Duff’s men also boast the best defensive record in the league, conceding just 23 goals in 33 games – Derry City trail close behind having conceded 24. Scoring goals seems to have been Shelbourne’s main problem this season, having won nine of their thirteen league wins by just one goal. Their goal tally of 37 is the fourth lowest in the division, higher only than the clubs in the bottom three: UCD, Cork City and Sligo Rovers. Jack Moylan is their top goal-scorer in the league with ten goals, whilst Sean Boyd and former Derry winger Matt Smith are tied on second with just four goals each. Both Boyd and Smith have been injured since July and August too. Their tally of fourteen draws is also the highest in the league, whilst only Shamrock Rovers have lost less games this term – highlighting their defensive solidity but lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.

 

            Shelbourne haven’t beaten Derry City since April 2022, when their ten men won 2-1 in the Brandywell - their last league victory against the Candystripes before that came in June 2012. Two 1-0 wins for Derry, two 1-1 draws and a 0-0 draw have since followed in league action, showing how close-fought ties between these two usually are. Aside from City’s 4-0 demolition of Shels in the 2022 FAI Cup final – the biggest margin of victory in Irish cup final history – games between City and Shelbourne are rarely high scoring. There hasn’t been a winning scoreline separated by more than one goal in the league since Derry’s 3-1 home win in October 2013. Michael Rafter and Rory Patterson scored the goals for the Candystripes that night. This doesn’t seem to apply for cup action though, with the last three FAI Cup games between Derry City and Shelbourne ending 4-0 to Derry in 2022, 7-3 to Derry in 2018 and 3-0 to Derry in 2012. There has been a red card show in two of the three meetings between the two this year, one apiece for each side. With both teams gunning for European qualification, Friday night’s affair could be a heated one.

 

            It was announced in June of this year that Hull City’s Turkish owner Acun Ilıcalı had purchased a stake in Shelbourne FC to become majority shareholder. It’s expected that Shels will have significantly more financial backing going into the 2024 season, despite Damien Duff denying claims from Stephen Bradley that Shelbourne would have the biggest budget in the league next year. The extra financial might that may come from Ilıcalı’s ownership hasn’t yet been seen, but the loan signings of goalkeeper Harry Fisk, midfielder Harry Wood and forward Will Jarvis – all from Hull City – have hinted at how the relationship between Hull and Shels may look in the future. Fisk has been kept out of the starting eleven by Conor Kearns, but Harry Wood has two goals and five assists in twelve appearances since joining in the summer. Will Jarvis has made nine appearances, with his first goal for Shelbourne turning out to be the winner against Dundalk last time out.

 

            Shelbourne have a real gem on their hands in Jack Moylan though. Up there with the best young players in the League of Ireland, Moylan has netted ten goals and registered three assists in the league this term. The 22 year old is comfortable in playing across the front-line or in attacking midfield. Unfortunately for Shelbourne, it was announced that he will join Lincoln City in League One upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the season. Moylan is one of three players in the Shelbourne squad who have appeared in all thirty-three league game this season, alongside Conor Kearns and Evan Caffrey. Midfielder JJ Lunney is just one behind, on thirty-two appearances. Left back Tyreke Wilson and winger Shane Farrell have also made thirty appearances. Shelbourne have one of the youngest sides in the division too, with just three players being over the age of 26 in the squad - Paddy Barrett and Luke Byrne, both aged 30, and Shane Griffin, aged 29. With all three being defenders, their experience has played a large part in Shelbourne’s impressive record at the back.

 

            Despite lacking in the goals department, Shelbourne’s defensive stability is their key strength. Derry made chances against Drogheda but failed to put them away - something which has cost them dear in the title race this season. A clinical edge in front of goal will be required if City want to finish 2023 unbeaten against Shelbourne, whilst another draw may prove problematic going into the penultimate games of the campaign – especially considering how close second to fifth are in terms of points. Even though the title race is over, Derry need to record wins from their last three fixtures to end the season on a high.

 

Pól O’Hare – 11^th October 2023

Drogheda United v Derry City: Match Preview

Drogheda United v. Derry City, League of Ireland Premier Division Round 33, Weavers Park, Friday 6^th October 2023, kick-off 7.45pm

 

            Derry City bounced back from defeat against Sligo in style, scoring five second-half goals to hit relegated UCD for six in the Brandywell. Six different scorers netted for the Candystripes, with Will Patching’s sweeping effort into the top corner the pick of the bunch – one of two goals for the Englishman which have been nominated for the League of Ireland’s goal of the month award for September. Michael Duffy also scored once and assisted twice to help City to their biggest margin of victory this season.

 

            Despite the dominant nature of the win, Derry still sit five points behind Shamrock Rovers at the summit after a second-half Graham Burke strike saw the Hoops past Dublin rivals Shelbourne. Now with just four games to play before the season’s end, it’s Rovers are firmly in the driving seat. Ruaidhrí Higgins and his men haven’t lost hope though, knowing they’ll need to win all twelve points from their final four fixtures in order to capitalise should the champions lose two of theirs.

 

            Drogheda United lie in wait for Derry City, less than two weeks after beating third place St. Pat’s in Inchicore – all but ending the Saints’ title push. In the Louth Derby four evenings later though, Drogheda fell to a 3-1 defeat against Dundalk despite going 1-0 up in the first half. Sitting twelve points above the stricken Cork City in the relegation play-off spot, and three above Sligo Rovers in 8^th, Drogheda are as good as safe from the drop though. Their goal difference of -7 is also considerably better than Cork’s -26, meaning Drogheda will want to finish the season in a strong fashion and without having to worry about relegation.

 

            Both Derry City and Shamrock Rovers have to face Drogheda United, St. Patrick’s Athletic and Cork City before the season’s out. Derry face Shelbourne in two weeks’ time, whilst Rovers are due to play Sligo Rovers on the final day. Derry’s demolition of UCD, who drew 0-0 with Shamrock Rovers a week prior, has meant that the Candystripes have weakened Rovers’ goal difference advantage on the Candystripes to two. With four games to go, and Rovers going without a fixture until the 20^th of October, Derry must win all of their last four games in order to maintain a slim chance of lifting the title in November. Another issue is the fact that the teams who are more likely to take points from Shamrock Rovers – Drogheda and St. Pat’s – both face Derry. Higgins’ men will need to carry on with their fine goalscoring form.

 

                        Drogheda United, since losing 3-0 in the Brandywell in August, have had mixed form. They went on a three game winning run, beating Kerry FC in the FAI Cup before scoring three times back-to-back against Cork City and UCD. After a 3-1 defeat to Bohemians in the cup quarter-final, the Louth side held Bohs to a scoreless draw in the league before beating St. Pat’s earlier last week. They will be hoping to bounce back from their most recent defeat to Dundalk but have beaten Derry just once in their previous seven league meetings. Three one all draws occurred in those seven games, whilst both sides beat each other 1-0 away. In March 2022, a Jamie McGonigle brace ensured a 2-0 win for the Candystripes. The Dungiven man netted again in August 2023 – a 3-0 win in the most recent tie between the sides.

 

            Derry haven’t scored more than one goal in Weavers Park since May 2021, and have won just once there since. Adam O’Reilly bagged his first goal for the club to capture all three points last time City travelled to Drogheda. It’s not just Derry who struggle in Drogheda too. Shamrock Rovers haven’t won there in the league since August 2021, with their last win in Drogheda coming after-extra-time in the second round of the FAI Cup in 2022. In saying that, Drogheda have won just five of their sixteen home games this season and Derry have lost just two of their last 18 against the Louth side. The City faithful will be glad to hear that Derry have the best away form this season, picking up 28 points on the road.

 

            If Derry captain Patrick McEleney doesn’t feature on Friday night, it will have been a month since his last appearance, when he played 35 minutes in City’s 5-0 win against UCD on September 6^th. Some of his creative spark seemed to be missed against Shamrock Rovers, and definitely against Sligo Rovers as City struggled to create meaningful chances. Against UCD last week however, City’s starting front three were on form. Danny Mullen and Michael Duffy both scored, whilst Paul McMullan registered an assist. Brandon Kavanagh looked lively off the bench and did well to score City’s fourth and assist the sixth. Jamie McGonigle will also have been pleased to have scored his first goal since mid-August, when he last netted against Drogheda United. Ronan Boyce’s suspension was served last Friday meaning he is eligible to play in Weavers Park. Despite being on the bench for the past three games, Sam Todd hasn’t played since that 5-0 win over UCD in early September either.

 

            Drogheda United centre back Conor Keeley, who was the subject of a bid from Notts County during the summer, missed the Louth derby through injury. He has made thirty league appearances since joining from Ballymena United in January and will be a miss in the Drogheda defence. He was replaced in the starting eleven by Jamie Egan, who has made just three appearances since joining on loan from Bristol Rovers in the summer. 17 year old goalkeeper Andrew Wogan has started every league game since taking Colin McCabe’s spot in June and seems a promising netminder. He has kept just three clean sheets – against Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers and UCD – but hasn’t shied away from Premier Division football.

 

Dayle Rooney started against Dundalk after scoring a goal of the season contender to beat St. Pat’s. That goal was his fourth of the season. Along with nine assists this campaign, the former Shelbourne winger is in good form. Darragh Markey has also racked up seven assists this campaign, whilst former Finn Harps frontman Adam Foley has six goals and five assists in twenty five league appearances. Manager Kevin Doherty has tended to set his team up in a 4-2-3-1 but beat Derry City with a 3-5-2 back in April.

 

            It looks unlikely that the Candystripes will lift the league title this year, but it’s not over just yet. A few blips along the road for Shamrock Rovers could open the door for City should Ruaidhrí Higgins’ men keep winning. Finishing the season strongly and winning their last four games would give the players confidence going into the new campaign next year – but there is still work to be done this term yet.

 

Pól O’Hare – 4^th October 2023