Derry City v Galway United: Match Preview

 

Derry City v Galway United: Match Preview

Derry City v. Galway United, League of Ireland Premier Division, Round 20, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, Friday 7^th June 2024, kick-off 7.45pm

 

Last weekend: Dundalk 0-0 Derry City, Derry City 3-0 Waterford

After a disappointing draw to then bottom-side Dundalk on Friday, Derry City bounced back with a dominant 3-0 win over Waterford – the form side in the division. The Candystripes had the opportunity to go level on points with table-topping Shelbourne with two wins on Friday and Monday, but the draw in Oriel Park didn’t have the City faithful hopeful for the visit of Waterford.

The Dundalk match wasn’t a pretty affair. In Jon Daly’s first home game as Dundalk manager, his side were well organised and threatened Brian Maher’s goal more than he would have liked. The City keeper made some fine saves to keep the Candystripes in a game which, on another day, could have seen the home side come away two or three goals to the good. There were 24 fouls in all, including a free-kick given against Dundalk goalie Ross Munro for stepping outside of his box with the ball in his hands. Will Patching’s following effort was smothered by the Scottish shot-stopper, in what was probably Derry’s best opportunity of the game. It was a performance that Ruaidhrí Higgins’ men would have wanted to forget as soon as possible, as City went back up the road fortunate to have gained a point.

Dundalk’s 3-2 win over St. Patrick’s Athletic on Monday night, in an occasion which saw Stephen Kenny face the side with which he won ten trophies for the first time since leaving in 2018, showed that the Lilywhites certainly had the ability to put Derry to the sword had their strikers brought their shooting boots.

In front of just over 2000 in the Brandywell, at an awkward 6pm Monday evening kick-off, the Derry players started on the front foot. Buoyed on to right Friday night’s wrongs, City found space and created chances from both the flanks and through the middle. Three goals within the first half hour had the Candystripes going into the break comfortable. It was some of the best football they’ve played this campaign, and it was refreshing to see the team go forward with such urgency and energy. Michael Duffy opened the scoring after eleven minutes, firing into the top left corner from inside the box to set the tone for the evening. Mark Connolly scored his first goal in nearly two years ten minutes later, latching onto Will Patching’s cross to convert a perfectly placed header past Sam Sargeant in the Waterford goal, rounding off a tidy team move. Pat Hoban bagged his tenth of the season on the half hour mark, sweeping into the bottom corner and giving Waterford no hope of a comeback. The same again on Friday would do nicely.

 

Derry City:

After news last week that Colm Whelan has returned to full training ahead of a return in the summer following more than a year out with another ACL injury, it was another injury to a key player that overshadowed Monday’s performance. Patrick McEleney, starting just his second game of an injury hit campaign, was tackled by Waterford’s Gbemi Arubi on the hour mark and fell to the ground near the half way line. It was immediately obvious that the City skipper had suffered a serious injury, with it rumoured to be a broken arm. It’s another heartbreaking setback for the midfielder, who was just returning to full fitness. It could unfortunately be three or four months before we see the number 10 back in a Derry shirt.

Cameron McJannet was an unused substitute on both Friday and Monday night, whilst Ronan Boyce only played fifteen minutes against Dundalk and remained on the bench against Waterford. Sam Todd has been out of the team after being substituted at half-time against Sligo Rovers, whilst Jordan McEneff’s foot injury will see him side-lined for considerably longer yet. In positive news, Ciaron Harkin played for the first time since coming off the bench against Waterford back in April. The 28 year old may see more gametime as he regains full fitness. It was also announced during the week that versatile midfielder Cameron Dummigan has committed his future to the Candystripes, signing a new contract which will keep him at the Brandywell until 2026. He’s one of multiple key players out of contract in November and will hopefully be the first of many to sign new deals at Derry City.

Pat Hoban netted his tenth goal of the season against Waterford, five of which have come against the Munster side, making him the first Derry striker to hit ten in the league since Jamie McGonigle two years ago. A City player hasn’t won the golden boot since Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, who finished the season with 14 goals in 2019. Hoban needs another four to beat that tally and his smart finish on Monday has put him a goal clear of Pádraig Amond in second and Shamrock Rovers duo Aaron Greene and Johnny Kenny in joint third in the scoring charts. Three different scorers and three different providers showed the quality of Derry’s attacking play against Waterford – something which they’ll want to carry into Friday’s fixture at home to Galway United.

 

Galway United:

Much has been said of Galway United’s goalscoring exploits in the First Division last season. The Tribesmen bagged 98 goals in 36 games, an average of 2.73 goals per game. They also conceded just 18, meaning they kept a clean sheet in 50% of their matches. They’ve carried that defensive form into the Premier Division, conceding just eleven in eighteen fixtures – three better than next best Shelbourne. Galway haven’t, however, found scoring as easy to come by in the Premier Division. Their tally of 14 is second lowest, above only Dundalk (12) and six behind the next lowest scoring teams, Sligo Rovers and Drogheda United (both 20).

Despite not scoring many, Galway United sit fifth in the table, with three games in hand on Derry City and St. Patrick’s Athletic, and at least one on everyone else aside from Bohemians. Seeing that they’re just four points off Shamrock Rovers in third, some goalscoring form could have them right in the mix for European spots. Wins away to Derry and at home to Shelbourne have been the highlight of John Caulfield’s season, as well as scoring twice in additional time to beat Drogheda United 3-2 after going 2-1 behind in mid-May.

Defender Maurice Nugent is joint with Stephen Walsh as Galway’s top scorer this term, both with three goals, whilst club captain and former Derry City midfielder Conor McCormack tops the assist charts. Considering that Wassim Aoucharia and David Hurley contributed to 39 of Galway’s 98 goals last term, and only Hurley has found the net on one occassion this season, John Caulfield’s men could do with some confidence in forward areas. We saw against Derry that United are a very organised team and can hurt on the counter attack, something which Ruaidhrí Higgins will need to have his side wary of.

 

Round-Up:

Galway United’s win in the Brandywell in late March was their first on Foyleside since May 2015 and handed City their first defeat of the campaign. The two have only met in the north-west eight times since 2010, with the home side coming away with victories on five occasions. Only one of those was a draw, in September 2016, whilst Galway recorded wins twice. Looking at the bigger picture, Derry City have beaten Galway just three times in their last ten league meetings – the last coming in June 2017 in Maginn Park. Nathan Boyle and Ronan Curtis scored twice within the opening nine minutes to take home all three points that day. Current Galway captain Conor McCormack was also shown a red card after just 28 minutes in a goalless draw between the two nearly eight years ago to the day.

St. Pat’s’ 2-1 win over United last week was the Connacht men’s first loss in nine league games, going back to the first of April. After losing four of their first eight, Galway won four and drew five of those nine following games. They’ll certainly be no roll-overs on Friday and, knowing that they have so many games in hand on those around them, Galway will be fighting for every point that they can get to rise up the table. Veteran goalkeeper Brendan Clarke has kept an impressive ten clean sheets this term, owing to the solidity of the defence in front of him. If City are to win on Friday, they’ll need to be firing on all cylinders to break down John Caulfield’s resilient defensive structure.

Pól O'Hare – 5^th June 2024