Derry City v St.
Patrick’s Athletic: FAI Cup Match Preview
Derry City FC v St. Patrick’s Athletic FC, Sports
Direct FAI Cup Second Round, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, Sunday 21st
July 2024, kick-off 6pm
Derry City need to quickly forget about Thursday’s extra-time
defeat to Bruno’s Magpies in the UEFA Conference League, as they aim to get
their FAI Cup campaign off to a positive start against the holders. Evan de
Haro’s extra-time sucker punch inflicted a blow on the Candystripes that will
deny them around €300k and a double-header against FC Copenhagen. It also means
that Ruaidhrí Higgins will have a fatigued squad going into Sunday’s cup game.
St Patrick’s Athletic travel to the Brandywell for the second year in a row,
hoping for a repeat of last August’s action which saw them knock Derry City out
of the cup on penalties – just four days after City suffered the same fate in Europe.
Last time out: Derry City 2-0 Bruno’s Magpies (2-3 agg.):
It was a case of ‘so close yet so far’ for the Candystripes
on Thursday night, as they crashed out of Europe at the first hurdle. Going
into the game 2-0 down from the previous leg, Derry City had it all to do to
qualify for the second round and face Danish giants FC Copenhagen.
The game started exactly as expected. Derry City began on
the front-foot and Magpies immediately had everyone behind the ball. A couple
of early opportunities for the away side saw Javier Forjan head one off the
post and Ash Taylor head wide from a corner – but those were Magpies best
opportunities of the first half. The first of a number of refereeing blunders
took place as the City faithful celebrated what they thought was the first goal.
Paul McMullan’s ball into the box was met by the head of Pat Hoban and directed
into the bottom corner as he outmuscled Francisco Zuniga. The Magpies captain
fell to the ground, before putting his hands to face in apparent discomfort just
as he watched the ball nestle in the corner. The Andorran ref deemed Hoban’s header
illegal, ruling out the goal and booking the City striker.
The deadlock was finally broken eight minutes later as Mark
Connolly nodded Ben Doherty’s corner past Dayle Coleing to narrow the aggregate
gap to one. The referee couldn’t stop Derry City’s goal this time. As the crowd
rose to the occasion and Derry mounted pressure late in the first half, Doherty found
Adam O’Reilly who was making a darting run into the box. A trailing leg from
Carlos Garcia saw O’Reilly downed in the area. Perhaps not a blatant penalty,
but there was certainly contact between the two players. Not enough contact for
the referee though, who showed the City midfielder a second yellow for diving –
City inexplicably down to ten going into half-time.
Despite the man disadvantage, Derry again came out flying in
the second half as Paul McMullan stung the fingertips of Coleing just a minute
into the half. Twelve minutes after the restart and City found themselves level
in the tie. After his header came off Will Patching on the goal-line, Pat Hoban
stabbed in to put Derry 2-0 up in the Brandywell. Ten man City finally felt
that the chance of progression was there. An audacious Will Patching free kick
in the 72nd minute had Coleing scrambling as the ball landed on top
of the net. Six minutes later and Magpies should have really found themselves ahead
on aggregate as Kevagn Ronco squared to Edu Salles in the box. The latter blazing
over from short range. City found themselves in a similar situation just
minutes later, as Paul McMullan had the whole goal to aim at following Danny
Mullen’s pull-back but sent the ball flying wide.
2-0 City at 90 minutes meant that extra-time was needed to
settle the tie. With tired legs in both camps, the rhythm of the game was disrupted
and the affair became a scrappy one. There weren’t many clear cut chances in
the first half of ET, but when Juanje’s shot from distance rattled the crossbar
on the 111th minute before landing at the feet of Evan de Haro,
Magpies found themselves with a golden opportunity. The 21 year old made no mistake,
drilling under Brian Maher and giving the away side the advantage once again.
Three minutes later and City had another penalty claim waved away when Will
Patching was felled after a volley goalwards. Another ‘no’ from the Andorran ref.
City’s heartbreak was compounded five minutes before the end, when Coleing
spilled the ball at the feet of Pat Hoban, who’s overhead kick was cleared off
the line by Ash Taylor. Colm Whelan came painfully close with a volley in the
120th minute, but the team from Gibraltar clung on and progressed for
the first time in their history to host FC Copenhagen next Thursday.
Derry City:
It was a heartbreaking evening for Derry City who, on another
day, could have had four or five in normal time alone. The disallowed goal and dismissal
of Adam O’Reilly in the first half were two huge turning points, and both very dubious
calls from the referee. The fact that Derry fought back to score again and take
the game to extra-time despite being a man down, as well as dominating
possession throughout, showed the resolve of the group. In honesty though, the
damage was done in Gibraltar last week. If it was 1-0 rather than 2-0, I have
no doubts that we would’ve gone through in the second leg.
Pat Hoban, who was well marshalled in the first leg, caused the
Magpies back-line a lot of issues on Thursday night and was deserving of his
goal. Paul McMullan ran and ran all game, still tracking back and making forward
runs deep into extra-time. The winger really should have scored in the second
half but was still the best player on the pitch. Colm Whelan was unlucky not to
score late on, whilst Will Patching and Cameron Dummigan plugged the Adam O’Reilly
shaped gap in the midfield well following the 23 year old’s red card.
Neither Ciaron Harkin nor Ronan Boyce were in the squad for either
of the games against Magpies, but I feel that they both could have done well
last night. If Boyce was on the bench, he could have been brought on at right
back to allow Cameron Dummigan to play in the midfield after the sending off. Ciaron
Harkin’s tenacity would have boded well in extra-time, especially considering
that Sadou Diallo was caught on the ball more than once after coming on late in
the second half.
Ciarán Coll had a solid game playing as the left sided centre
back, a role I’d like to see him given more-often between now and the end of the
season. Even at that, though, we could still definitely do with another
defender to replace Cameron McJannet. McJannet’s last game was on the 13th
of June, five weeks ago, and he is still yet to be replaced. Jacob Davenport,
our only summer signing, has yet to feature despite being on the bench twice. His
fresh legs and set-piece ability could have been useful against Magpies. I’d
say we’ll see him on Sunday against St.Pat’s. Should we beat Pat’s, we would
certainly need reinforcements to strengthen the squad coming into the second half
of the season. The contracts of a number of key players, namely Adam O’Reilly,
Brian Maher, Will Patching, Mark Connolly and Patrick McEleney run out in
November. I’d hope that talks are ongoing in the background, and don’t blame
the players for assessing their options, but it’s concerning that we could lose
our best and most valuable players on free transfers in a few months’ time.
St Patrick’s Athletic:
St Pat’s have had quite the up-and-down season. After
spending big and making some impressive moves in the transfer market prior to
the season beginning, the Inchicore side have failed to nail down a consistent
run of form in the league. Now Dundalk manager Jon Daly was sacked in May and
replaced by Stephen Kenny in one of the biggest managerial appointments in
Irish domestic football history. The man who won six trophies with Derry City in
two spells between 2004 and 2011 made his return to the League of Ireland after
a five-and-a-half year hiatus with the Irish U21s then senior men’s national
team, in a home match against the Candystripes on the 17th of May.
Paul McMullan’s goal gave the visitors all three points that day, as the ‘new
manager bounce’ didn’t quite go to plan for the Pat’s faithful.
Stephen Kenny has only won three matches since taken over in
Richmond Park, beating Shamrock Rovers and Galway United in the league,
alongside a win over Bray Wanderers in the Leinster Senior Cup. St Patrick’s
find themselves seventh in the league, six points above the relegation zone
but, much like Derry City, the sides around them have the advantage of games in
hand. Only Pat’s and Derry have played 25 games this season. Bohemians, who are
one place and two points behind St. Pat’s have played just 22, meaning they
have a three game buffer on the team above them. Finding themselves embroiled
in a relegation scrap at this stage of the season would signal quite the failure
in expectation for Pat’s this season.
The FAI Cup, which Kenny has won three times and been runner
up four times, offers the Dubliner and his side something of a blank canvas to
get their season back on track. After beating Derry on penalties in the
Brandywell in the Third Round last year, St. Pat’s progressed past Finn Harps
and Cork City on their way to sweeping Dublin rivals Bohemians aside in the
final. Last year’s 3-1 final win marked Pat’s’ second FAI Cup win in three
seasons as they beat Bohemians again in 2021. That win in 2021 was their first
FAI Cup triumph since defeating Derry City 2-0 in the 2014 edition of the
final, and that was their first FAI Cup final win since 1961. A win against the
Candystripes in the Second Round this year would be the beginning of what
Stephen Kenny would hope to be a successful FAI Cup campaign but would also
mean that Derry City have failed to progress past the Third Round since winning
the trophy in 2022.
Pat’s three summer signings so far seem to be shrewd
business. Al-Amin Kazeem, the full back who was on loan at Galway United from
Colchester United, saw his contract with the English side expire alongside his
loan deal in Galway. The Tribesmen made it known that they offered Kazeem a
permanent contract which was declined as the player wanted to return to
England. A few days later and the 22 year old was announced as a St Patrick’s
Athletic player on a multi-year contract –ouch if you’re a Galway United fan. Joseph
Anang, the English goalkeeper who spent half a season on-loan at St Pat’s in
2022 before leaving for Derby County, was the Saints’ second summer arrival.
The 24 year old, who was named on the West Ham United bench on numerous
occasions in the Premier League, Europa League and FAI Cup in the past few
seasons in West London put pen to paper on a deal keeping him at Richmond Park
until the end of the 2026 campaign. Anang came straight into the starting
eleven in Pat’s’ last game, a 1-0 loss away to Waterford, ousting fellow
Englishman Danny Rogers who held the fort between the sticks since early March.
On his first start in two years for the Saints, Anang failed to deal with Ben
McCormack’s shot and palmed the ball into his own net for the only goal of the
game, but his performances in 2022 show the makings of a quality goalkeeper. Zack
Elbouzedi, formerly of Waterford and Ireland’s U21 side, signed just last week
and could make his debut on Sunday. The 26 year old winger spent the second
half of last season on-loan at Swindon Town from AIK Stockholm, where he scored
twice in 52 appearances since 2021. Another impressive addition to the squad in
Inchicore.
Former Derry City and Shamrock Rovers midfielder Brandon
Kavanagh, who was signed from the Candystripes for about £25k in January, has
been Pat’s best attacking outlet this year. The 23 year old has scored twice
and assisted seven in the league, seeing him top the assist chart for the
Premier Division. Ruairí Keating, brought in from Cork City, has scored just
four times in 22 appearances this campaign. 16 year old forward Mason Melia is
one to watch though – the Ireland U17 international has scored three times this
season and is reportedly a target of Manchester City, Arsenal and Brighton. St.
Patrick’s Athletic have struggled in front of goal this season though. Their 24
goals scored is the same amount scored by bottom side Drogheda United. Only
three other sides, Dundalk, Bohemians and Galway, have scored less this season.
That isn’t helped when you look at Pat’s’ goals conceded column, which reads 28
– a stat which means they’ve conceded the joint highest number of goals outside
of the two teams in the relegation zone.
When Derry City face St. Patrick’s Athletic on Sunday, the
away side won’t have played a competitive game in more than three weeks as
their FAI Cup final win last year saw them progress straight into the Second
Round of Conference League qualifiers. They’ll face Vaduz, who finished third
in the Liechtenstein Challenge League last season, at home next Thursday before
travelling away the week after. The Inchicore side, therefore, will be fresh
coming into Sunday’s game – something which can’t be said for Derry City, who
are just off the back of more than 270 minutes of football in a week against FC
Bruno’s Magpies.
Round-up:
These two have produced some memorable cup moments over the
years. Pat’s’ win last season marked a week in which Derry City’s cup and
European dreams were ended, both in penalty defeats, in a space of four days.
Higgins and his side will be heart-set on making sure history can’t repeat
itself. Back in 2018, Gerard Doherty saved a penalty with the last kick of the
game to send Derry City to the quarter-finals, whilst Derry City beat Pat’s in
the final in 2012 before the Inchicore side got their own back in 2014. The
2006 final beaten the Candystripes and the Saints has been dubbed the best FAI
Cup final of all time, as Derry won the game in extra-time after going behind
three times to win in the last ever match played in the old Lansdowne Road.
There’s history between these two, but Derry have claimed
the bragging rights in the four occasions these two have met since that penalty
defeat last year, namely beating Pat’s 3-0 on the final day of the 2023
campaign and scoring a 92nd minute winner to win 2-1 back in March. Danny
Mullen has scored three times against the Inchicore side already this season.
With Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk both put out on Friday night, both City and
Pats will fancy their chances to go all the way. Cup football is back for 2024,
as the winners of the last two editions go head-to-head at the first time of
asking this time round. It’s good, old-fashioned Sunday evening football as
both sides look to begin their cup campaigns with a win.
Pól O’Hare – 20th July 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment