Derry
City FC v. St. Patrick’s Athletic FC., League of Ireland Premier Division Round
36, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 3rd November 2023 kick-off
7.45pm
It’s the
final game of the 2023 campaign and Derry City have European football secured
for the summer of 2024. The Candystripes’ 1-0 away win against Cork City last
week, thanks to an unstoppable Ronan Boyce strike, saw them guarantee European
football for the third season in a row. City face a St. Patrick’s Athletic side
who too have claimed their spot in UEFA Conference League qualifiers next season,
but will have one eye on preparing for the FAI Cup final. Should Derry avoid defeat,
they will finish second in the League of Ireland Premier Division for the
second season running – the first time they have done so since 2005 and 2006.
St. Pat’s’
2-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers in their previous league fixture saw Rovers clinch
their fourth consecutive league title. The Saints found themselves within one
point of the eventual champions at the end of Round 26 in August, whilst City
spent time at the top of the table back in May. The two teams in the Brandywell
on Friday night both failed to capitalise on Shamrock Rovers’ poor start and will
end the season with a sense of ‘what if?’, particularly from a Derry point of
view.
Last week’s win over Cork City saw
the Candystripes dig deep in awful weather conditions. Despite two disallowed
goals, one for offside and one for a foul, and a flurry of late chances in the second
half, Cork couldn’t find a goal. The defeat condemned the Rebels to a promotion/relegation
play-off against the winner of Waterford and Cobh Ramblers. Ronan Boyce’s goal
was a worthy winner and a spectacular way to guarantee European football. The
right back left fly into the top corner after a one-two with Cameron Dummigan outside
the box. Danny Mullen could’ve, and really should’ve, made it 2-0, but it takes
the pressure off Derry going into the final game of the season.
Derry’s record against St. Pat’s this
season is scattered. On the first day of the season back in February, Joe Redmond
scored in the 89th minute to equalise for the Saints after Jordan McEneff
opened the scoring. In late April in the Brandywell, a goal and assist from Ben
Doherty saw City cruise to a 2-0 victory. It was a different story in June
though as the Saints hit Derry for four in what was their most impressive
result of the season, condemning Derry to their heaviest defeat of the Ruaidhrí
Higgins era. Pat’s also progressed to the FAI Cup quarter-finals after a penalty
win against Derry back in August, a trophy which they’ll hope to win next
Sunday.
Derry’s Sadou Diallo will miss the
final game of the season after his dismissal against Shelbourne two weeks ago.
The midfielder picked up a two match ban after his tackle on Shane Farrell. Centre
back Mark Connolly was replaced in the second half by Sam Todd after going down
injured. Jamie McGonigle was only fit enough for the bench against Cork City
and didn’t feature. Patrick McEleney, who is going for Achilles surgery
following the game against St. Pat’s, played over twenty minutes after being substituted
on alongside Danny Mullen and Jordan McEneff. Ciaran Coll also featured late
on. St. Patrick’s Athletic have no injury concerns aside from John Grivosti’s
long-term setback, although Jon Daly made use of all five substitutes against
Shamrock Rovers.
Chris Forrester is joint top of the
Premier Division scoring charts alongside Ruairi Keating, Jack Moylan and
Jonathan Afolabi – an impressive feat for the 30 year old midfielder. He and left
back Anto Breslin are the only two players in the St. Pat’s squad to feature in
every Premier Division game this season. Seventeen year old Sam Curtis has
played in 33 games, as has striker Conor Carty. Dean Lyness, Jamie Lennon, Mark
Doyle and Tom Lonergan have all featured in more than thirty. Winger Jake
Mulraney was a high profile signing from Atlanta United in the off-season and has
contributed with thirteen goal involvements in 28 league appearances this term.
Mark Doyle is Pats’ second highest scorer in the league, sitting on seven goals
– the same amount as Derry’s top scorer Michael Duffy.
For Derry City, the 2023 campaign was
a strange one. The highs were high and the lows were low. The season began positively.
A 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers in the President’s Cup in February seemed to be
a statement of intent from Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side. Four wins and three draws
from their opening seven games saw Derry unbeaten until April, but a rocky
patch around the Easter period saw City drop to fourth – six points behind then
leaders Bohemians. A disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Shamrock Rovers on the
first of May saw the Tallaght side leapfrog Derry into second place. Four wins
on the bounce followed, but an inconsistent spell of two wins from eight games prior
to their first European game had City four points behind first placed Rovers in
early July.
Derry City
and HB Tórshavn played out a cagey 0-0 draw in the Faroe Islands in the first leg
of the first round of UECL qualifying. Sadou Diallo’s first half header in the
return leg in the Brandywell saw the Candystripes enter the second round for
the first time since 2014, where a tough tie against Finnish side KuPS lay
ahead. Despite going into half-time 1-0 down, the electric Brandywell crowd drove
the players to a famous 2-1 win. Will Patching and Cian Kavanagh’s goals won’t
be forgotten any time soon. The return tie was just as historic. Derry went
ahead early on, but again found themselves behind at the break. Second half goals
from Diallo and Michael Duffy meant the game finished 3-3 and saw Derry progress
on aggregate. Tobol Kostanay had shocked FC Basel to progress to the third
round before beating Derry 1-0 in the first leg out in Kazakhstan. The return
leg was to be played in Tallaght Stadium, and a travelling crowd of more than 3,000
were desperate to see City pull off a famous result. It looked like it was
going to happen too. Will Patching netted a penalty in the first half after a
period of sustained Derry pressure. After 120 minutes though, it wasn’t meant to
be as Tobol progressed through a heartbreaking penalty shootout.
Three days
later, Derry suffered penalty heartache once again. This time, Friday’s
opposition St. Pat’s were victorious in the FAI Cup second round. In truth, it
seemed like the emotional rollercoaster of a week which saw City exit both Europe
and the cup were to define Derry’s season. The Candystripes have only lost one
game since then, a 1-0 away defeat to Sligo Rovers, although that all but ended
City’s realistic title hopes. Four draws in the last nine league games saw
Derry drop points, and saw Rovers run away with the title. A win for both Derry
and Rovers on Friday would still see the four-time champions end the season with
a seven point gap to second place. It seems like players, staff and fans alike
need the season to end on a positive note with a win on Friday, before starting
the new campaign on a clean slate to go again. Should Derry hold on to key
players, the additions of just a few new faces could push City to a sustained
title charge in 2024.
Pól O’Hare – 1st November 2023
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