Drogheda United v. Derry City, League of Ireland Premier Division Round 33, Weavers Park, Friday 6th 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 8th, 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 20th 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 6th. 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 – 4th October 2023
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