Derry City v. Drogheda United: Match Preview

Derry City v. Drogheda United: Match Preview

Derry City v. Drogheda United, League of Ireland Premier Division Round 1, 16^TH February 2024, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium

 

It will have been 84 days since Derry City’s 3-0 home win over St. Patrick’s Athletic in the final game of the 2023 season, closing the curtain on a campaign full of ups and downs for the City faithful. The excitement from the Candystripes’ run to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League was quickly extinguished after two penalty shootout losses in the space of a week in August which saw City crash out of both Europe and the FAI Cup. A lack of clinical edge in the final third saw Derry drop valuable points towards the business end of the season, resulting in a second place finish for the second season in a row. Some good football was played and good moments were had but fans, players and staff alike will hope that the Candystripes can go one better in 2024 and claim the League of Ireland Premier Division for the first time in 27 years.

 

Similarly to Derry, Drogheda United dropped points in 2023 due to the lack of a deadly forward. Freddie Draper got off to a flying start on loan from Lincoln City, finishing as Drogheda’s top scorer in the league with eight goals despite his loan ending in June. Drogs’ next top league scorers were Adam Foley with seven and Dayle Rooney with five. The latter did, however, create eight assists and will be a big loss after signing for Bohemians in the off season. A seventh place finish for Drogheda capped a solid campaign, especially considering that the team from Louth claimed the scalps of Derry, Shamrock Rovers and St. Pat’s along the way. Tying manager Kevin Doherty down on a full-time basis until the end of the 2025 campaign may prove to be their biggest victory of 2023 though.

 

The visit of Drogheda United on Friday marks the first time since 2019 that Derry City have played the first game of the league season in the Brandywell, when they beat UCD 3-0 nearly five years ago to the day. City have played Drogheda just three times on the opening day of the season since the turn of the century too. They claimed the three points with 1-0 and 2-0 wins in 2009 and 2005 respectively, whilst Drogheda won 2-1 in the Brandywell in 2002. Drogheda haven’t lost a season opener since a 1-0 defeat to St. Patrick’s Athletic back in 2013 however. Meanwhile, the aforementioned win over UCD in 2019 was the last time that Derry won on the first game of the season. Since then, the Candystripes have lost twice and drawn twice. Ruaidhrí Higgins’ men may want to look back to 2017, when they beat Bohemians 4-1 down in Dalymount, for some inspiration on winning big on the first game of the season.

 

In this fixture last season, Derry won twice, Drogheda won once and a fairly scrappy 0-0 draw was played out in Weavers Park in October. Derry’s 3-0 win in the Brandywell in August was their joint biggest league win over United since a 4-0 win in March 2017. In 2022, three of the four league fixtures between City and Drogheda ended in 1-1 draws, showing just how even this fixture can be. Drogheda are known for being tough to break down for a reason.

 

In the off-season, Drogheda United have had to deal with the scenario that many a League of Ireland club has had to face, that of their best players being tempted to other clubs in the league on free transfers at the close of the season. Dayle Rooney, who made thirteen goal contributions in the league in 2023, signed for Bohemians on a two-year deal. Conor Keeley was the other standout departure. The big centre back, who Drogheda were glad to hold on to after interest from Notts County during the summer, signed for St. Pat’s, also on a two-year contract. Arguably Drogs’ two best players last term, they leave big boots to fill. Kyle Robinson, who scored four goals in twelve games in 2023, left for Arbroath in the Scottish Championship. Luke Wade-Slater and Jamie Egan both joined Longford Town whilst Dylan Grimes left the club and Jarlath Jones signed for Athlone Town.

 

Despite their relatively small budget, Drogheda have recruited well ahead of 2024. Frantz Pierrot, who scored twenty goals in thirty four First Division games for Athlone Town last season, was the marquee signing brought in to solve their goal issues. The Haitian striker also scored in both of Athlone’s play-off games and is already off the mark for Drogheda, scoring and assisting against Bohemians in the Leinster Senior Cup. The 24 year old is only on a one year contract in Louth and may attract suitors if he continues his goalscoring form into 2024. The signing of UCD’s captain Jack Keaney was a smart acquisition in replacing Conor Keeley. Keaney can play in both defence and holding midfield and impressed in 2023, despite UCD’s dire campaign. The transfers of Andrew Quinn and Conor Kane from Shelbourne add depth, whilst the loan signings of Derry native Oisin Gallagher and Hayden Cann from Lincoln City will give both a taste of senior football. The capture of South African international goalkeeper Jethren Barr, who most recently played for Portadown, will run Andrew Wogan close for the number one spot. Keep an eye on 18 year old Irish/French striker Killian Cailloce and 21 year old American/Nigerian winger Steve Zishim Bawa who signed from SM Caen and Bodens BK respectively. Kevin Doherty will hope his youthful squad can repeat at least a mid-tabled finish once again this year.

 

Derry City did considerably less business in the transfer market than Drogheda United, with Ruaidhrí Higgins feeling that City needed just one or two more pieces to add to the puzzle of a potentially title winning team. The sale of Brandon Kavanagh to St. Patrick’s Athletic allowed money to be spent elsewhere, most of which I presume went into the €30k fee demanded by Dundalk for Pat Hoban. Kavanagh impressed last season when given a run in the team, but the City faithful will hope that he won’t do too much damage to his former employers in 2024. Cian Kavanagh, who scored important goals against KuPS both home and away in the second round of the UECL also returned to St. Pat’s, where he spent time as a youth player. He’ll probably be second choice behind Ruairí Keating in Inchicore, especially after the sale of Tommy Lonergan to Fleetwood Town. Evan McLaughlin, who missed most of last season due to a health issue, signed for Cork City in the First Division. He did well at a brief loan spell at Coleraine last year and could be important in Cork’s proposed promotion push this term. Speaking of Coleraine, that’s where Jamie McGonigle returned to after two and a half years at Derry. He scored some huge goals for City and was electric in 2021 and the first half of 2022. After spotting that his squad number had changed to free up the number 9 shirt, speculation had begun that his future lay elsewhere. An undisclosed fee was agreed, again which I presume helped in signing Hoban. Jack Lemoignan joined Harland & Wolff Welders in the hunt for game time after impressing on loan at Ballinamallard, meanwhile Caoimhin Porter and Daithí McCallion joined Institute and Ballymena United on loans until June. Assistant manager Paddy McLaughlin left the club too, being replaced with former Derry City player, assistant manager and caretaker manager Paul Hegarty. Derry have recently been hit with a blow going into the season after it was confirmed that Sadou Diallo will miss around two months of action due to a meniscus injury sustained in a high tackle against Finn Harp in pre-season. 

 

Derry’s two signings in the off-season seemed to show the two different types of transfers these days. Firstly, once word got out that City were interested in signing Daniel Kelly from Dundalk, it seemed that the deal was wrapped up fairly smoothly and the player was announced on a two year contract in mid-November with little fuss. Kelly is an athletic and quick winger who can read the game well. At 27, he’s in the peak of his career and has worked with Ruaidhrí Higgins in the past. He’s won the Premier Division, FAI Cup and League Cup during his career and brings pedigree, experience and another option in wide areas. Derry’s other signing this window was quite the opposite of a quiet transfer. Despite being contracted to Dundalk for 2024, the club made it clear that record goal-scorer Pat Hoban was surplus to requirements and could leave the club. Then it was announced that Dundalk found new owners and investment who stated their desire to keep the forward. Talks with Derry were going well despite rumoured interest from Hoban’s hometown club Galway United, as well as Bohemians, St. Pat’s and more recently Shamrock Rovers. Talks were thought to have stalled, before Hoban was announced in the Brandywell a few days later. It was a saga that Fabrizio Romano would have wanted to get in on. Hoban is exactly what Derry need in order to mount a proper title charge though. The 32 year old was the Premier Division top scorer three times and won the Premier Division itself three times, alongside two FAI Cups and a League Cup. He also played in the Europa League group stages in 2020, as well as holding the record as Dundalk’s best ever goal scorer with 148 goals.

 

Both Kelly and Hoban have netted in pre-season and it seems that Derry are going into the league campaign in good form. Despite a 2-2 draw to Finn Harps in mid-January, and a 5-4 loss to Sligo Rovers shortly after, City are coming off the back of 2-0, 4-0 and 3-0 wins over Finn Harps, Glenavon and Institute. Behind closed-door friendlies against Glentoran and Dundalk wielded 5-0 and 3-0 wins also. Drogheda have had a good pre-season too, defeating Bohemians 3-1, rivals Dundalk 2-1 and Malahide United 4-2 to progress to the quarter-finals of the Leinster Senior Cup. Their most recent friendly ended in a 2-1 win against Bray Wanderers. Killian Cailloce scored in a 2-1 friendly defeat against St. Pat’s in January too.

 

It’s hard to predict which way games will go this early in the season but City will hope to get off on the right foot against Drogheda in the Brandywell on Friday. After Shamrock Rovers’, 3-1 win over St. Pat’s in last week’s President’s Cup, it seems that they will, once again, be the team to beat in 2024.

 

Pól O’Hare – 14 February 2024