Derry City v Bohemians: Match Preview
(21st February 2025)
Derry City FC v. Bohemian
FC, League of Ireland Premier Division Round 2, Friday 21st February
2025, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 7.45pm kick-off
It was a first game in League of
Ireland management to forget for new Derry City boss Tiernan Lynch, whose side
slipped to a 3-1 defeat away to champions Shelbourne. After going behind,
drawing level and going behind again all within the first fifteen minutes,
Shelbourne’s third goal on the stroke of a 50 minute long half-time sealed the
win for Damien Duff’s side. For City, all focus now turns to their game with
in-form Bohemians next Friday as they aim to make the Ryan McBride Brandywell
Stadium a fortress in 2025.
Derry City:
It seemed like all that could
have gone wrong for Derry City last Friday did. Within eleven minutes, the home
side had broken the deadlock and raced to an early lead. A looped ball from
Harry Wood was blocked by the leg of Sam Todd and fell into the path of Seán
Boyd. Shels’ top scorer last season caught everyone in the City backline out by
curling it neatly past a stranded Brian Maher with a first-time effort. Despite
Shelbourne’s quick start, the scores were levelled three minutes later. An
inch-perfect cross from Dom Thomas towards the back post was cooly nodded into
Conor Kearns’ net by Michael Duffy. City’s two wingers linking up for the first
time to put the Candystripes level.
The scoreline didn’t read 1-1 for
long though, 1 minute and 14 seconds to be precise. Conor Kearns lumped a
dangerous ball forward towards the City box, and it seemed like time stood
still as the ball dropped into the path of Evan Caffrey. The midfielder duly
volleyed into the bottom corner from outside the box to put his side back into
the lead, before celebrating with that weird Donald Trump dance. Two became
three for the hosts on the stroke of half-time, when referee Rob Harvey pointed
to the spot for a supposed foul on Seán Boyd in the box. Boyd stepped up and
despite slipping in the run up and the ball going through the fingers of Brian
Maher, saw his penalty nestle in the corner.
Half-time came and went with a 50
minute delay due to a floodlight failure. Whether that’s an acceptable delay or
not for a lighting issue, I don’t know. I seem to remember a game being
abandoned in Maginn Park after fifteen minutes or so for a floodlight issue but
I’ll say nothing. I was hoping the game would’ve been called off then and
there, with the score restarting at 0-0 at another point in the future, but it
wasn’t to be. If it were the other way around, I’d have been fuming had the
game been called off with my team 3-1 up. City failed to threaten in the second
half and, had Mipo Odubeko showed more composure, Shels could’ve had five by
the end of the game. It was after half ten at night when the final whistle went
to end an awful first away day for City’s travelling support. Onwards and
upwards.
Last Friday night highlighted
Derry’s defensive issues. Despite bringing in marquee signings in midfield and
forward areas, City had failed to recruit in the centre back position. Andre
Wisdom, Shane McEleney and Ciaran Coll all left in the off-season, whilst Conor
Barr and Duncan Idehen moved to Ballymena United on loan. That left only Sam
Todd, who impressed on-loan at Larne in 2024, and Mark Connolly as the club’s
only senior centre backs. The lack of pace in the backline was really brought
to the fore, particularly in the second half, as a combination of Mipo
Odubeko’s pace and Harry Wood’s passing found a quick route past centre’s
centre halves. Hayden Cann was announced just before kick-off on Friday night,
after a few weeks on trial. After spending the first half of last season at
Drogheda United, then getting relegated with Dundalk, he’ll likely provide
cover and not oust Mark Connolly out of a starting position. In truth, the club
haven’t replaced Cameron McJannet since his departure last June. At the time of
writing, there has been no news regarding new defensive additions. Ideally we’d
bring in a quick, left-sided centre halve to challenge Sam Todd for a starting
spot. A back-up right back wouldn’t go amiss either.
Dom Thomas showed his quality
with a beautiful ball in for City’s goal, whilst Michael Duffy found himself
unmarked to finish. Hoban’s hold up play before that goal was impressive too,
but he and Liam Boyce struggled to impact the game. The bobbly Tolka Park pitch
wasn’t helpful in City’s efforts to play slick, passing football but, as
Tiernan Lynch said, both teams had to play on it. It’s one to get out of the
system and move on to Bohemians at home on Friday, with that buzz of a first
home game of the season.
Despite the defeat, Derry City
kept more than 60% of the ball against Shelbourne last week. Of course, this
didn’t translate to goal but forced Conor Kearns into four saves from ten
efforts. On the bigger pitch in the Brandywell, and with no bobbles like the
Tolka surface, City will hope to turn some of that possession into the more
attractive football that we saw at times in preseason. It’ll be important to
get our ball carriers in possession to drive at the Bohemians defence if we’re
to hurt them.
There doesn’t seem to be many new
injury concerns for City going into Friday’s game. Carl Winchester came off
after suffering a dead leg, but aside from the longer term injuries to Cameron
Dummigan and Danny Mullen, Derry’s squad will be strong and gunning for a win.
Michael Duffy has a tendency to score a wondergoal or two against Bohs and, as
the only Derry man with a goal this season, will hope to be the driving force
in attack - he and Dom Thomas will aim to have City’s wings firing this year. They’re
coming up against a Bohemians team who have made some statement signings and are
coming off the back of a huge win against Shamrock Rovers.
Bohemians:
After winning just one of their
last twelve home games in 2024, the campaign petered mostly into nothingness
for Bohemians. They finished 8th, just one spot but eight points
clear of the relegation zone. Throughout the season, they were never really
threatened by the drop, owing mostly to Dundalk’s poor form and Drogheda’s
inconsistency. In saying that, Bohs failed to mount a sustainable charge for
European football, finishing 17 points behind St. Pat’s in third. They won just
four home league games last term, compared to six victories on the road, making
their ten wins from 36 games the lowest outside of the relegation zone. Alan
Reynolds replaced Declan Devine in March, beating Derry City in his first game
in charge, but underwhelming and slightly random signings from across Europe gave
way to a lack of quality in the Bohs side when it really mattered.
With his first pre-season at
Bohemians under his belt, Reynolds has begun to form a side to his own liking.
Their transfer business was impressive to say the least. With fourteen players
leaving the club, namely winger Danny Grant switching to rivals Shamrock Rovers
despite having a tattoo of Dalymount, the Bohs hierarchy set off on their
rebuild soon after the season finished. First announced was 24 year old forward
Colm Whelan, who had left Derry City after a two year spell at the Brandywell
which was scuppered by recurring ACL injuries. With Whelan returning to full
fitness towards the back-end of last season, Bohs have found themselves a
hungry forward who bagged 44 goals in 66 games with UCD prior to his move to
Derry in 2022.
The signings of Niall Morahan and
John Mountney, from Sligo Rovers and Dundalk respectively, showed that Reynolds
was looking for proven players within the league to build his side. Morahan is
a tidy holding midfielder, who captained Sligo in 2024 and played 190 games for
the Bit’O’Red, before penning a long-term deal at Dalymount. John Mountney is a
decorated LOI veteran, who won five league titles and three FAI Cups with
Dundalk, alongside a fourth FAI Cup with St Pat’s in 2021. At 31, he’s an
experienced right-back with a winning mentality and will just as big for
Bohemians inside the dressing room as he will on the pitch. The full back area
was further strengthened by the loan signing of Kian Best from Preston North
End. At 19, he has made 17 appearances for Preston and spent time in the
England youth setups – a promising signing for Reynolds’ side.
Two more signings from England
followed Best to Dalymount – Connor Parsons from Dagenham & Redbridge and
Alex Lacey from Hartlepool United. Parsons spent the last few years at
Waterford, impressing on the left-flank, with the highlight of his time coming
via a curling effort into the top corner in the 2023 play-offs. He played twice
for Dagenham before Bohs brought him back to Ireland for an undisclosed fee.
Alex Lacey is a 31 year old centre back with an experienced career in England,
seeing him line out for the likes of Luton Town, Gillingham, Yeovil Town and
Notts County. He hasn’t played since June of last year but brings an
experienced head to the back-line.
The crown jewel of Bohemians’
transfer business in the off-season was undoubtedly Lys Mousset. I don’t think
I’ve seen so much hype around a trialist in this league in my life. Starting
out at Le Havre in France, he cost Bournemouth £5.4m in 2016. Three years
later, Sheffield United made him their record signing when they dropped £10m on
the then 23 year old. He finished the 2019/20 season as their joint top scorer.
Fast forward six years, and failed moves to Salernitana, Bochum and Nimes,
Mousset finds himself in Phibsborough. It’s not often a player with £15m in
transfer fees rocks up in the League of Ireland. He hasn’t played consistently
in more than a year, so it’s hard to know how he’ll get on, but one thing’s for
sure, ‘Psycho Killer Lys Mousset’ is up there with the best chants in the
league.
Rob Cornwall and Keith Buckley
are two experienced players who came back into the Bohemians fold last Sunday.
Cornwall rejoined Bohemians after two years at Northern Colorado Hailstorm
prior to the 2024 season, but suffered an ACL injury in preseason which ruled
him out of the entrie season. In similar bad luck, club captain Keith Buckley
suffered an ACL and MCL tear against St. Pat’s in October 2023. That injury cut
short his 2023 campaign and ended his 2024 season before it even began. They’re
two players who are highly thought of by the Bohs faithful and will be like two
new signings when fully fit. Cornwall in particular was a rock at the back
against Shamrock Rovers last week. With strength in depth in their team,
Bohemians are a side with a good mix of youth and experience, who have
rotational options off the bench if the going gets tough.
Bohemians had an impressive
preseason. Of five friendlies and two Leinster Senior Cup ties, Bohs lost just
once and scored twenty five goals – not bad at all. It seemed those run outs
have done them well too, as they beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in the Aviva Stadium
on Sunday in front of a record crowd of more than 33,000. It was a great
occasion for the league and showed the demand that’s there for Irish football
at the minute. Rovers, off the back of a surprise 1-0 win away against Molde in
the UEFA Conference League knockouts, struggled to fashion many chances. Bohs,
as the home side, will now only play in Dalymount once in their next five
league games but made the bumper crowd count in the Aviva. Their goal was one
of genuine quality, Mousset dropped deep to flick the ball forward for Conor
Parsons who, after cutting inside and leaving Roberto Lopes on the ground, saw
his effort hit the post. It sat nicely for Ross Tierney in the box, who fired
home to open the scoring. Bohs dug deep to see out the victory, being prepared
to do the dirty work and defend the edge of their box to repel any Rovers
advances. There was an evident yet rare lack of quality in the Rovers frontline
as a well-drilled Bohs defence earned their salt. It was a perfect start to the
seasons for Reynolds’ men, who will be confident travelling to the Ryan McBride
Brandywell Stadium on Friday.
Round-up:
Derry City’s and Bohemian’s first
league games couldn’t have gone much differently. The two big ties of the
round, City were swept aside by the champions who exploited weaknesses in the
Candystripes’ back-line to score three and put the game to bed in the first
half. Bohemians dug deep in one of the most publicised League of Ireland games
ever, scoring early and holding on to clinch victory against their arch-rivals.
They’ll be high on confidence and always bring a strong travelling support to
the Brandywell. City on the other hand want to make the Brandywell a tough
place to come to in 2025 and a win in the first home game is the right way to
start that off. The bigger surface will suit Derry more than the pitch in Tolka
Park did last week, as Tiernan Lynch will wants his wide men on the ball. I’m
expecting an entertaining, end-to-end game on Friday. Bohs have won just twice
in their last ten meetings in all competitions with City but will be out for
revenge after Derry’s 2-0 win in Dalymount last October dumped them out of the
FAI Cup at the semi-final stage. Only one of the last nineteen between these
two has been scoreless – that came in the Brandywell in June 2023. Two months
prior to that was Bohemian’s most recent win on Foyleside. I wouldn’t be
surprised if this game sells out and it’s the first of three home league games
in the Brandywell in the next three weeks. As Pep Guardiola once said, ‘we will
be there’.
Pól O'Hare - 19th February 2025
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