Derry City v Shamrock Rovers: Match Preview (20th September 2024)

 

Match Preview: Derry City v Shamrock Rovers

 

Derry City FC v. Shamrock Rovers FC, League of Ireland Premier Division, Round 30, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, Friday 20^th September 2024, kick-of 7.45pm

After a fantastic 2-0 win over league leaders Shelbourne in the FAI Cup quarter-final last Saturday, City welcome the reigning champions to the Brandywell in a mammoth tie at the business end of the Premier Division table. Shamrock Rovers are coming off the back of a 4-0 drubbing of Sligo Rovers and a late win away to Galway United as they gear up to begin their journey in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League next week. Derry City, on the other hand, played their title rivals off the park last weekend and will be confident going into Friday’s tie.

Last time out – Derry City 2-0 Shelbourne:

Billed as a cup tie for the ages, Derry City’s quarter-final bout with fellow double hopefuls Shelbourne provided the Candystripes faithful with their finest performance of the campaign to date. The two hadn’t faced in cup action since City’s record breaking 4-0 final win two years ago, with five of the following six meetings yielding draws. You had to look back to March 2023 to find the last game between Derry and Shels where the spoils weren’t shared, that was a 1-0 win in Tolka Park courtesy of a Ryan Graydon winner for Ruaidhrí Higgins’ men.

Knowing that three of the four other quarter-finals had already been contested, producing a whopping 14 goals, it seemed that the RTÉ cameras had come up North for the right game. The consistent rain throughout the day left the pitch slick, and there was action pretty much from the get-go. Within 70 seconds, Derry set the tone for the evening as Paul McMullan’s pressure won possession from Kameron Ledwidge in the Shelbourne half. McMullan fed it through to Will Patching who fired the first opportunity of the game over the crossbar. Five minutes later and Patching’s midfield partner Sadou Diallo came painfully close for the second time in as many games as he watched a low driven effort fly low and past the post. It wasn’t long past the twenty minute mark before the deadlock was broken and I’m not going to beat around the bush, I absolutely love this goal. Adam O’Reilly’s relentless energy in the midfield saw him win possession from Harry Wood in the centre circle, before a deft feint to the left took the onrushing Matt Smith out of the equation. O’Reilly’s driven ball into the middle of the pitch was expertly dummied by Danny Mullen, taking Mark Coyle and Shane Griffin out of the game. Will Patching found space to collect the O’Reilly pass before laying the ball off for Michael Duffy. The winger jinked into the box, feigning to cut in on his right before shaping up to hit it on his left – leaving Tyreke Wilson helpless. Duffy’s low shot nestled past Kearns to give City a well deserved 1-0 lead with a genuine goal of the season contender. Beautiful football, cheers Derry City.

Shelbourne just about kept the scoreline at 1-0 five minutes before the break, when another sumptuous Derry move saw a Paul McMullen ball take everyone by surprise when Danny Mullen latched onto it before rounding Conor Kearns in the Shels goal. From a tight angle, the Scotsman saw his effort blocked right on the goal-line by Shane Griffin. So close to a dream first half for the Candystripes. Just minutes after the hour-mark, and Derry had that dream goal. After Mark Coyle nipped the ball away from Will Patching, he was stopped in his tracks by the ever-present Adam O’Reilly. The Corkman found Patching, who spun round his marker before playing a one-two with Paul McMullan. The former Man City man drove into the box and squared it across the six yard box to find Danny Mullen, who slotted in for his tenth of the season. Two assists for Patching, and a brilliant two goal lead for Derry City. The connection between the forward line and midfield proving a joy to watch once again. After winning the ball back high-up the pitch once again ten minutes later, Paul McMullan’s driven cross was flicked by the heel of substitute Pat Hoban – the veteran forward’s effort leaving Kearns stranded and narrowly missing the far post. For the following twenty minutes, Shelbourne never really threatened and the home side took complete control. The absolute best performance of the season for Ruaidhrí Higgins and his men to progress to the last four of the FAI Cup.

Derry City:

Saturday’s performance was exactly what we want to see from this Derry City team. Everyone to a man was phenomenal and we played the league leaders off the park. The forward players were fantastic, Patching was a joy to watch given that much freedom in the midfield and O’Reilly covered every single blade of (plastic) grass. Mark Connolly dominated everything coming his way, whilst Andre Wisdom moved seamlessly from right back to centre back. Brian Maher, making his 52^nd consecutive appearance in the starting eleven, faced very little threat from the Shels forwards. The energy and high press throughout the game was brilliant and I’d love to see it every week. Sometimes City tend to sit a bit more compact when the opposition have possession, but with the energy in forward lines, Shelbourne weren’t allowed a minute’s peace throughout the ninety.

The only negative from Saturday’s performance was the injury suffered by Ben Doherty. The Premier Division’s highest assister last term struggled in the first half after seemingly over-stretching and was replaced by Ronan Boyce. That meant that Ciaran Coll moved to left back and Wisdom partnered Connolly for the second half. It was good to see Patrick McEleney come back into the team, and he looked really up for it. His efforts from outside the box, and free kick driven keeper’s side, hint that the captain is confident and coming back to his best. I have to say too, that long sleeve jersey he was wearing was cracker. Jacob Davenport played his first minutes since early August, whilst Pat Hoban came on for the last half hour – twelve years to the day since scoring for Mervue United against Derry in the Brandywell.

It's an away trip to Bohemians on the 4^th of October in the semi-finals, probably the toughest draw City could’ve got. After needing penalties to beat Kerry FC, Bohs hammered UCD 4-0 in the quarters to set up a mouthwatering battle for the final in Dalymount. There’s a lot of football to be played before then though, with City due to host Shamrock Rovers and travel to Drogheda United. There’s also a game against Sligo Rovers which will be postponed until a later date. Derry were phenomenal against Shelbourne and, with a maximum of nine matches to go until the end of the campaign, we need performances like that nearly every week between now and November. Big, big six weeks ahead.

Shamrock Rovers:

Four-in-a-row champions Shamrock Rovers have reignited a glimmer of a title hope to push for their fifth league glory since 2020 after winning their two games in hand. The Hoops find themselves in 3rd place, eight points behind Shelbourne at the top of the table and four points behind Derry in second. They’re now as close to us as we are to Shelbourne. Stephen Bradley’s men have shown a clinical side in the past few years and, despite their anti-climactic domestic campaign in 2024, Derry City know all too well the quality possessed in the Rovers squad. A 3-1 win in the Brandywell and a 1-0 win in Tallaght earlier in the campaign show that the Tallaght side know how to get the job done over the Candystripes.

Shamrock Rovers usually have a knack of kicking on and beating everyone in their sight towards the end of the season, after taking a while to get going in the early stages. Rovers have won each of the last four seasons by at least seven points, with the biggest margin being a sixteen point gap of St. Pat’s in 2021. In 2024, they haven’t quite hit those heights. Bradley’s men won back to back league games for the first time since mid-April with recent wins over Galway and Sligo, but were knocked out of the FAI Cup at the first time of asking by rivals Bohemians. The highlight of their season has undoubtedly been their involvement in Europe, qualifying for the European competition proper for the third time. That’ll net them least €3m, whilst a draw will bag around €150,000 and a win €450,000, serious dough. Despite a 6-0 loss to PAOK of Greece in the Europa League play-offs, Rovers bagged wins in both the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers – showing just how important winning the league is in getting a shot at European groups. The Hoops don’t have the worst league phase ties either, with home ties coming against APOEL Nicosia, Welsh side The New Saints (home to Derry men Josh Daniels and Rory Holden) and FK Borac Banja Luka of Bosnia. Those are games that Rovers could pick up points from, with an away tie against NIFL winners Larne looking like another possible three points. A glamour tie against Chelsea in December, and a tough trip to Rapid Wien of Austria, might not be so fruitful.

The squad depth and quality in the Shamrock Rovers squad is frightening to be honest. Celtic loanee Johnny Kenny tops the goalscoring charts in the Hoops’ ranks with twelve goals, level with Pat Hoban and Pádraig Amond at the summit of the league goalscoring table. Aaron Greene is on eight, with two coming against Derry in May. Darragh Burns, the pacey forward on loan from MK Dons, has scored five and assisted another four as he has displayed his talent on the wing this term. Dylan Watts tops the assist charts with six as he’s filled the gap by the injured Jack Byrne. Former Ireland international Byrne has had a stop-start season, making just 14 appearances. The 28 year old bagged a hat-trick of assists in their win over Sligo Rovers at the weekend, having previously assisted just once all season. Daniel Mandroiu is a major coup after signing from Lincoln City in August, staving off interest from Steaua Bucharest of Romania to seal his signature. 21 year old Conan Noonan has made four assists in something of a breakthrough campaign for him, whilst Darragh Nugent’s energy has seen him made 23 league appearances. The experience of Pico Lopes, Dan Cleary, Sean Hoare (who bagged a brace against Sligo) and Lee Grace build a solid defence, whilst Josh Honohan is proving to be a bargain signing from Cork City.  German goalkeeper Leon Pöhls, entrusted with the number 1 shirt following Alan Mannus’ retirement, has kept 9 clean sheets in 28 league games, but his mistakes have been highlighted this term. They better stay away from Brian Maher though.

Round-up:

Rovers hammered Sligo Rovers last weekend, and needed a fluke of an own-goal to beat Galway United on Monday night. Galway now host Shelbourne on Friday, and could do Derry a favour if the Candystripes get one over Stephen Bradley’s men. History is, unfortunately, not on the side of the team in red and white though. It’s been 18 months since Derry City last beat Shamrock Rovers, but then again it was 18 months since they last beat Shelbourne before last Saturday too. Of the six games since that win in March 2023, Rovers have won four – including two of the previous three in 2024. The President’s Cup win in 2023 was City’s last home win over Rovers, and it was the FAI Cup quarter final in 2022 before that. This fixture earlier in the season saw Derry swept to the side by Bradley’s men, as an Aaron Greene put City to the sword in a 3-1 win for the Hoops. Greene’s two goals both came from beating Derry’s centre backs for pace with a long ball over the top – that was the best we’ve been beaten in a long time. A win could be huge on Friday and with that four point gap still giving Shelbourne control in the title race, a win is almost more of a need than a want. This game is never quiet though and there will be more twists and turns in the last seven games, but Ruaidhrí Higgins will hope that Derry City fans will be given something to remember on the twentieth night of September…

 

Pól O’Hare – 18^th September 2024