Shamrock Rovers FC v Derry City FC, League of Ireland Premier Division Round 26, Tallaght Stadium, Sunday 3rd August 2025, kick-off 7pm
Coming out of their two games in hand over Shamrock Rovers
with just one point, Derry City now travel to the league leaders on Sunday. Eight
points behind the Hoops, last week’s draw with Bohemians allowed Rovers to get
one hand on the Premier Division trophy – it’s now up to Tiernan Lynch’s Derry
side to keep pressure on the top and ensure a finish in the European places.
Derry City:
In a match which made the headlines for all the wrong
reasons, Derry City and Bohemians played out an entertaining 1-1 draw last
Friday night. Whilst enjoyable to watch, a point apiece did more for Shamrock
Rovers than for either City or Bohs, who sit eight and seven points behind the
Tallaght side at the summit.
The home side tested keeper Kacper Chorazka twice within the
first fifteen minutes when Dipo Akinyemi, on his home debut for Derry City,
rifled two strikes directly at the Bohs shot-stopper within two minutes of each
other. In an attritional first half, James Clarke came closest for the visitors
when he side footed a Ross Tierney lay-off at Brian Maher on the 45th
minute.
Five minutes were added at the end of the first half after a
flare landed on the pitch (flung from outside the ground) earlier in the half.
It was a stoppage which worked in the favour of the home side, who opened the
scoring in the fifth minute of additional time. After some neat work from
Michael Duffy down the left flank, the winger laid the ball off to debutant
left back Brandon Fleming. The former Hull City man floated a ball into the
box, which was nodded past Chorazka to open the scoring and give Dipo Akinyemi his
first for the club.
That lead didn’t last long into the second half. Just six
and a half minutes after the restart, Ross Tierney had smartly lifted a James
Clarke header over Brian Maher and into the roof of the net. It was a fine
finish from the former Motherwell man, and it made the second half a more
interesting battle.
Derry City were the side applying most of the pressure
throughout the second period. Substitute Robbie Benson came closest to finding the
winner on the 80th minute when he diverted a Michael Duffy cross
just inches past the far post. Three minutes later, Danny Mullen stung the
palms of Chorazka with a fierce effort as City turned the screw. It wasn’t to
be for either side in the end, who both seemed disappointed to settle for a
point each.
As 1-1 draws go, Friday’s encounter was a high-intensity,
enjoyable watch. With both sides knowing that they needed to win to keep
serious pressure on Shamrock Rovers, they had decent chances throughout. As
Gavin Whyte was absent from the squad, Tiernan Lynch handed Brandon Fleming his
debut at left back and started Michael Duffy in attacking midfield. Fleming had
a brilliant first appearance for the club. He was solid defending against Dayle
Rooney and was eager to surge forward down the left flank. For a player who
hasn’t played since May, he lasted the full ninety minutes and attacked
throughout the second half, linking well with Michael Duffy and showing some
good footwork in the box.
Dipo Akinyemi and Alex Bannon both impressed in their first
Brandywell appearances too. Akinyemi was a handful and a physical presence up
front, showing some decent footwork and prowess in the air. His goal was deserved,
and it was refreshing to see him have a few pops from distance. Bannon looked
comfortable on the ball and read the game well too, slotting in for Hayden Cann
who has impressed at the right side of centre back this season. Adding centre
back Jamie Stott from Morecambe, who played 45 times in League Two last season,
the recruitment this window looks to be successful already.
Ben Doherty returned to the bench for the first time
following his injury in Dalymount in June. Gavin Whyte didn’t make the matchday
squad but, despite Cameron Dummigan’s long term lay-off, Tiernan Lynch doesn’t
have anymore concerns going into the Rovers game. With another couple of
signings mooted, and despite the departure of stalwart Ciaron Harkin to Sligo
Rovers, Derry City have a strong squad going into the business end of the
season. Teenager Glenn McCourt also left for Norwich City for an undisclosed
fee.
The big pitch in Tallaght Stadium is the best in the League
of Ireland. It suits technical players who like to keep the ball on the ground
and create things. In that sense, it’ll suit the likes of Michael Duffy, Liam
Boyce and Gavin Whyte. It also suits Shamrock Rovers, which is why they’re so
dominant at home. With some of the best technical players in Ireland on
display, this encounter should broadcast the best that domestic football in
Ireland has to offer. With a draw between the two last time out in Tallaght, a
defeat for City will eliminate them from the title race – if that eight point
gap isn’t already too much. Victory will reignite hope in the City faithful and
cut the gap to five points.
Shamrock Rovers:
Despite ending 2024 emptyhanded in terms of silverware,
Shamrock Rovers came just two points away from winning a fifth league title in
a row and pocketed more than €7m by reaching the knockout rounds of the UEFA
Conference League. If Harry Wood had scored in the 85th minute for
Shelbourne in the Brandywell on the final day, Rovers would have completed a
fifth consecutive title win. With eleven games to go in the 2025 season, the
Tallaght side would need to have a catastrophic end to the campaign to blow their
seven point lead and fail to reclaim the Premier Division title.
Shamrock Rovers have a tendency to start the league campaign
sluggishly, before picking up the pace when some of the early challengers begin
to fall off. It wasn’t until fifteen games had been played before Shamrock
Rovers had knocked Drogheda United off the top of the table. In fact, Rovers
were rock bottom with just one point from the opening three games at the start
of the campaign.
Stephen Bradley’s men went top in early May, level on points
with Derry City in second after fifteen games. Almost three months later, the
Hoops haven’t slipped from their perch. The gap to second is now seven points
and they’re eight clear of Derry in third. Rovers have lost just once in the
league since April, winning nine of the fourteen league games since their
second last loss. The Hoops have lost just four league games in 2025, three of
which have come against rivals Bohemians. Sligo Rovers are the only other team
to have taken all three points in a match against the Tallaght side this year.
Bumped into the second round of UEFA Conference League
qualifying following Drogheda United’s removal, Rovers had the luxury of
bypassing a home and away tie in Europe in mid-July. Hammering St. Joseph’s of
Gibraltar 4-0 over two legs, a side who lost to Shelbourne in 2024 but beat
Belfast’s Cliftonville in extra-time in the first round this year, Rovers would
be fancied to go deep into the qualifying rounds and aim to reach the league
phase for the second time in three years. With the experience the squad has in
Europe, it’d be a shock if they dropped out before the play-off round. Their 4-0
first leg victory against St Joseph’s allowed them to rotate heavily, maintaining
a fit squad for Sunday’s clash.
Shamrock Rovers aren’t strapped when it comes to quality
either. Stephen Bradley has built a reliable core since taking over as manager
in 2016. In the last couple of years, he has added younger talent to blend with
the experience already present in the squad. A defence with the likes of Lee
Grace, Roberto Lopes and Dan Cleary has seen Joshua Honohan and Adam Matthews
added. Honohan has since been called up to an Ireland senior squad and Matthews
is a former Celtic fullback who started in that famous win against Barcelona in
2012. Callum Honohan, the 19 year old brother of Joshua, is a recent signing
after acquiring him from Cork City.
The pedigree in the centre of the park speaks for itself.
Last year’s PFAI Player of the Year Dylan Watts has been restricted to just
sixteen league starts in 2025 following the arrival of Ireland U21
international Matthew Healy from Belgian side Royal Francs Borains. Four capped
Ireland midfielder Jack Byrne has contributed to nine goals in 21 games in the
league. When fit, everyone knows he can flip a game on its head. Sligo Rovers
playmaker Conor Malley has also been added on loan until November. Daniel Mandriou
turned down the likes of Romanian side FCSB to rejoin Rovers from Lincoln City
last summer, but has made just twelve appearances in 2025. Aaron McEneff scored
a late winner off the bench in the Brandywell in the previous meeting between
these two, while the likes of Darragh Nugent and Gary O’Neill add legs and grit
to the midfield. Graham Burke, with seven goals and five assists from attacking
midfield, has once again proven that he’s one of the league’s finest
midfielders.
Forwards Rory Gaffney, Aaron Greene and Michael Noonan each
have bagged six goals in league action in 2025. Gaffney and Greene are both 35,
while Noonan is just 16. The summer signing of 22 year old John McGovern, who
bagged 20 goals in all competitions for Dungannon Swifts as they lifted the
Irish Cup in 2024/25, has added yet more quality and youth to the strike force
in Tallaght. With three goals in recent friendly wins over Glenavon and
Ballymena United under the belt, he’s a player who may lead the line for Rovers
for years to come.
While I’m on the topic of young talent, 16 year old winger
Victor Ozhianvuna is tipped for a move to Arsenal when he turns 18 in 2027.
It’s been reported that the fella will eclipse the €1.9m base fee that Spurs
paid St Pat’s for Mason Melia to break the League of Ireland record. He’s a
tricky winger who bagged his first goal for the club in their 4-0 win over
Wexford in the FAI Cup second round. Should Rovers sell him to Arsenal and get
him back on loan until he can be registered in the UK when he turns 18, they’ll
have a proper player on their hands.
Shamrock Rovers will see victory on Sunday as a result which
would likely all but wrap up a fifth title in six seasons. With a healthy lead
in the title race, Rovers have a large enough squad to balance league, cup and
European football while competing on all fronts. Without winning the FAI Cup
since 2019 though, Rovers will be desperate to complete the domestic double and
pick up a trophy which has been elusive for six years.
Round-up:
With eleven games to go, and eight points clear, Shamrock
Rovers will win the Premier Division in 2025 if they don’t suffer a complete
collapse between now and November. Such a collapse is something which Derry
City are praying for though. The Candystripes don’t have a great recent record
in making up ground when a team above them slips up, but a win on Sunday will
be crucial if Tiernan Lynch’s side are to mount any sort of a title charge in
the final third of the season.
Derry City haven’t beaten Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght since
March 2023, and that was their only win in the last fifteen games away to the
Hoops. The second most recent win came in August 2017, when Barry McNamee
scored from the halfway line. Of the last ten meetings between the two, City
have won just once, with Rovers winning five and the other four being draws.
With such a record against Shamrock Rovers, you wouldn’t
fancy City’s chances on Sunday. Rovers have played in Europe on Thursday
though, alerting Derry to a possible European hangover from their opponent’s
double header against St Joseph’s. With City’s title hopes looking slimmer with
each passing game, victory here is the only thing that can keep us fighting…
Pól O’Hare – 31st July 2025
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