Shelbourne v Derry
City: Match Preview
Shelbourne FC v Derry City FC, League of Ireland
Premier Division, Round 26, Tolka Park, Monday 5th August 2024,
kick-off 7.45pm
After progressing to the next round of the FAI Cup with an
impressive 3-0 win over last year’s winners St. Patrick’s Athletic, Derry City
face Shelbourne in a top of the table clash that could be decisive come the end
of the season. The Candystripes travel to Tolka Park second in the table and
would go top on goal difference should they beat Damien Duff’s side for the
first time since March 2023. Shels have the buffer of a game in hand over Derry
and they would go six clear at the top if they beat City on Monday. With ten
games left after this one, it could be massive come the end of the season.
Last time out – Derry City 3-0 St. Patrick's Athletic:
Derry City bounced back from their disappointing European
exit at the hands of Bruno’s Magpies by putting on a show in the second half of
their FAI Cup bout with St. Pat’s, eliminating the holders from the competition
at the first time of asking. With Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk also knocked out,
the Candystripe faithful will hope for a successful cup journey as Ruaidhrí
Higgins aims for a second cup triumph of his tenure.
There wasn’t much of a buzz around the stadium pre-match.
The away side had a three week rest period, whilst City had lost in extra-time
in the UEFA Conference League just four days prior. There wasn’t much optimism
that Derry would progress, especially knowing that history could repeat itself
and see City knocked out of European and Cup competition twice in four days as
had happened last August.
The away side had the best of the early opportunities, as
Mark Connolly made a goal-denying clearance when he diverted Jake Mulraney’s
looped ball away from the path of Tom Grivosti, who would have had an empty net
to nod into. Twenty minutes in and another dangerous ball from Mulraney saw
Chris Forrester side-foot the ball into the ground, just to be met by the
fingertips of Brian Maher. Pats were fortunate not to concede a penalty when
Axel Sjoberg pulled Michael Duffy to the ground in the box. A spot-kick finally
did come on the stroke of half time when Paul McMullan proved too tricky for
Sjoberg and turned the Swedish full-back, who bundled City’s number twelve to
the ground. Will Patching stepped up but was denied his fourth penalty goal of
the season by Joseph Anang. 0-0 at the break, but the home side were on the
ascendancy.
City found the breakthrough just eight minutes into the second
half, when Michael Duffy rolled back the years by knocking the ball past
Sjoberg and beating him for pace before pulling it back into the box. Duffy’s
cross was converted through the legs of Anang, sending the Brandywell into
raptures – a much needed lift after the heartache of Thursday night. I
originally thought that Danny Mullen flicked it under Anang, but from another
angle it looks like it hit Grivosti last. Either way, 1-0 City.
One became two just six minutes later as Danny Mullen made sure that his name would be on the scoresheet, rising highest in the box to meet a
Ben Doherty corner, grabbing his eighth of the season (I’m giving him that
first goal). Michael Duffy netted one for himself on the seventy minute mark to
send City through to the next round – slotting Adam O’Reilly’s through-ball
under Anang after McMullan won possession from Anto Breslin. A confident second
half performance from the Candystripes and a perfect response to defeat in
Europe. St. Pat’s no longer have ‘cup specialists’ in their X bio, as City have
been drawn away to First Division leaders Cork City in the next round. Pat’s’
recent win over Vaduz of Liechenstein in the Conference League second round was
a brilliant reaction following the amount of negativity after being knocked out
of the cup. They beat Vaduz 5-3 on aggregate to set up a third round bout against
Sabah FK of Azerbaijan.
Derry City:
The Candystripes have quickly forgotten their European exit by winning that cup game against Pat’s. I had flights booked for Copenhagen before we played
Magpies and went to the match in Parken last Thursday. Magpies brought about thirty fans
who were shocked to see their side go 1-0 up before being outclassed by Thomas
Delaney, Mohammed Elyounoussi and co. to lose 5-1. It hurt to see a near empty
away end when we would have likely brought well over 1000. In reality though,
that two week break when Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers both played home and away in
Europe might turn out to be a well needed rest to revitalise going into the
business end of the season.
The transfer window in the League of Ireland has slammed
shut since that game against Pat’s, with Derry City bringing in just one new
player. Jacob Davenport has featured on the bench twice since joining from
Morecambe, but is yet to play, assumedly due to fitness issues. Caoimhin Porter
has left the club to sign for Institute permanently, whilst Ciaron Harkin has
joined Coleraine on loan. I’m surprised that the club didn’t move swiftly to
replace Cameron McJannet, who left in mid-June, but Higgins seems to be going
with Ciaran Coll and Sam Todd as his left-sided defenders now. Coll is a solid
performer and consistent when played, whilst Todd’s performance alongside Mark
Connolly against St. Pat’s was his best in a Derry jersey. The defensive
frailties that we’ve seen recently seemed to have been rectified against Pat’s,
as the City backline kept a clean sheet for the first time since a 2-0 win over
Galway United on June 7th. A trialist played in City’s 1-1 friendly
draw with Linfield last week, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see a free
agent or two come in between now and the end of the month.
Ciaron Harkin has been given a contract extension going into
the 2025 campaign and could play a big part next season if he comes back sharp
from Coleraine. There has been no word on contract extensions for any other
Derry players though, or for Ruaidhrí Higgins for that matter. I’d assume the
club, and players, are waiting to see how the league and cup fights will pan
out come November. Losing the likes of O’Reilly, Patching and Maher would be
huge blows – especially on free transfers. I wouldn’t mind them going to
England or Scotland, but losing some of our best players in recent years to
rivals in Ireland could be disastrous, and I’m sure they won’t be short of
approaches.
Pat Hoban’s twelve league goals still see him top of the scoring
chart for the Premier Division, whilst his three assists means he has
contributed to more goals than any other player in the league. Paul McMullan’s
five assists has him fourth in the assist rankings. Meanwhile, Will Patching
and Michael Duffy’s four assists see them joint fifth. Brian Maher also has had
to make just 1.9 saves per game on average, the ninth lowest in the division –
meaning his defence are doing something right. We seem to be in a good place
going into this Shels game, and with some injured players scheduled to return
to fitness in the coming weeks, it’s time to kick on for silverware on both
league and cup fronts.
Shelbourne:
Shelbourne sit top of the table, three points clear and unbeaten
in domestic action since late May, picking up four wins and a draw in their
last five matches in league and cup competition. After beating Gibraltar side
St. Joseph’s over two legs in the first round of the UEFA Conference League,
and picking up a €21,000 fine when the Gibraltarian side took offence to Shels
fans calling the rock Spanish, Shelbourne faced a tough task when drawn against
Swiss giants FC Zürich. No one really expected the Dublin side to progress past
a team of that magnitude, especially in their first European run in eighteen
years. Zürich triumphed 3-0 in the home leg, before drawing 0-0 in Tolka Park. That draw means that Shelbourne’s unbeaten home run in Europe,
dating back to 2004, will continue into next year. The Shels fans will have had
great craic, but that’s an extra 180 minutes of competitive football more than
Derry City have played over the past two weeks.
Shelbourne progressed to the third round of the FAI Cup
after beating First Division side Bray Wanderers 1-0 two weeks ago. Damien Duff didn’t mince
his words when he expressed his disappointment in the performance and manner of
the win but his side will be gunning to the lift the trophy at the end of the
season. They’ve been drawn at home to Galway United in the next round, not the
easiest draw by any means but not the worst either. It’s difficult to predict
who’ll win the cup this early, but I’d say Derry City and Shelbourne will
likely be fighting deep into the competition.
The Reds’ record of just fifteen goals conceded in twenty
four games is the lowest in the Premier Division, owing to a solid defence and
a goalkeeper in Conor Kearns who has kept 12 clean sheets in the league. Paddy
Barrett has been a rock at the back under Damien Duff but will miss the game
against Derry after being sent off against Drogheda United. Another man who’ll
miss Monday’s game after being sent off against Drogheda was left-back Tyreke
Wilson, who has played in all but one of Shels’ games this season, making three
assists and scoring once. English winger Will Jarvis, on loan from Hull City,
has been Shelbourne’s most exciting attacking outlet this season. His record of
eight scored and four assisted sees him the most productive player in Duff’s
squad. Former Finn Harps and Shamrock Rovers striker Sean Boyd has bagged seven
in the league this season and is a throwback number nine. Only seven other
players have scored for Shelbourne in the league this season, with John
Martin’s tally of four goals seeing him third in their scoring charts. For
comparison, Derry have had 12 different goalscorers in the league and have
scored more than any other team.
Shelbourne’s ‘goals for’ column reads 28 - the same as
bottom side Drogheda United - putting them fifth in the table in terms of goals
scored. They can certainly owe a lot of their title push to the solidity of
their defensive players. Gavin Molloy had been fantastic for Shelbourne over
the past few seasons, earning him a move to Aberdeen who triggered his €75,000
release clause. The 22 year old left-sided centre back went straight into the
starting eleven and has already contributed to assists in wins over Dumbarton
and East Kilbride in the Scottish League Cup. Molloy’s low release clause shows
just how undervalued League of Ireland players are. A young, left-footed
defender of similar quality in England or Scotland would have commanded a much
higher fee.
Molloy was replaced by English defender Sam Bone, who was
signed from Maidstone. Bone was part of the Maidstone side that reached the
fifth round of the FA Cup last year and started in the win over now Premier
League side Ipswich Town and loss against Coventry City. Bone netted on his European
debut for Shelbourne in the second leg of their tie against St. Joseph’s,
equalising the tie on the night and sending his side through on aggregate. His
previous experience in the League of Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, St Pat’s,
Dundalk and Waterford means that he is an astute signing for Duff’s men and is
a real presence at the back. Shelbourne will likely go defensive on Monday as a
draw would still keep them three clear.
Shels had a busy transfer window, bringing in quality across
the park. The additions of Ali Coote from Detroit City and Rayhaan Tulloch from
Shrewsbury Town add to their already long list of wingers. Harry Wood was
impressive on loan from Hull City in the second half of the 2023 campaign, and
rejoined Shelbourne on a permanent deal after finishing last season with
Grimsby Town. Strength in depth seems to be the way that Damien Duff is
approaching the second half of the season. It’ll be interesting to see how that
approach fares out, compared to the approach of Ruaidhrí Higgins who has
brought in just one new addition to date.
Round-up:
After Monday’s game, Derry City will have just ten league games left in 2024. The season has flown in up until this point, with many fixtures stockpiled into the earlier stages of the campaign to avoid disruption and rescheduling as a result of European involvement. It’s verging on the territory of a must-win game for Higgins’ men, who know that a win will put them top thanks to their healthy goal-difference. Even if City win every game from here on out, Shelbourne would win the league by doing the same thanks to their game in hand. It’s a nervy time to be a Derry fan, and Shelbourne hold the advantage at this point, but the Reds’ European involvement and suspensions may see them lacking energy on Monday.
The last five matches between these two have
been draws, three 0-0s and two 1-1s. It’s always a close game, but Shelbourne
haven’t beaten Derry City since April 2022. In fact, March 2012 was the last
time Shelbourne defeated the Candystripes in Tolka Park. City have won six of
their last eight games, whilst Shelbourne haven’t lost domestically since May. The
classic squeaky bum time is upon us, knowing that a Shelbourne win would need
to see them slip up three times between now and November to lose the league.
The last game of the season is the next time these two meet after Monday and
this one could go a long way in determining who’ll lift the title in the
Brandywell on the 1st of November.
Pól O’Hare – 3rd August 2024
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