Derry
City FC v. Shelbourne FC., League of Ireland Premier Division Round 34, Ryan
McBride Brandywell Stadium, Friday 20th 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 77th
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 23rd 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 – 11th October 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment