City fall as Derry complete second half turnaround

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Cork City, along with 70 City fans, made the six hour journey up to the Brandywell to face off against Derry in front of their newly opened North Stand. It was the first time City would play in the Brandywell since June 2023, where the home side won 2-0. Tim Clancy’s side were hoping to improve on the performance last time out, where his team managed to pick up a point at home to Drogheda United despite a poor performance.

Clancy was boosted by the return of two of his more important players, with Charlie Lyons and Cathal O’Sullivan both returning to the starting eleven, coming back from suspension and injury respectively. They replaced Freddie Anderson and Harvey Skieters in the side.

Tiernan Lynch also made two changes to his side that drew 0-0 in Tallaght last Friday night, with Liam Boyce and Sean Patton coming in to replace Mark Connolly and Danny Mullen.

City did well to nullify Derry in the early stages of the game, and got their reward for it after fifteen minutes. City worked well down the left wing, with Benny Couto playing a smart one two with Ruairi Keating, with Couto then swinging a ball towards the back post. Brian Maher tried to claim the cross but couldn't reach it, so the cross met the head of Kitt Nelson at the back post, who cushioned his header into the empty net to give the visitors the lead.

City sat back after the goal and invited spells of pressure from the home side. Derry went very close to capitalising on this, just four minutes after the goal. Kevin Holt rose highest to meet a Derry corner, but had his close header parried by Tein Troost. The ball fell to Sean Patton six yards out, who half volleyed it at goal, but Troost was there yet again to make a quick reaction save.

Tein Troost was called into action again in the twenty third minute. Paul McMullan got down the right hand side and drove the ball across the box where it landed at the feet of Sean Patton six yards out. Patton took a touch and dug a shot out of his feet, but Tein Troost got a strong arm to it to preserve his side’s lead.

Derry went close yet again on the stroke of half time. Ronan Boyce drove down the right hand channel before pulling a ball across the box to Sean Patton. Patton laid the ball to the edge of the box, where Kevin Holt ran onto it and struck it first time, with his shot going narrowly wide of the top left corner.

Despite their chances, Derry went into half time a goal down to a City side that seemed to be fairly stable and were dangerous on the counter.

It was the second half where things really shifted in the game, and Derry again went close to levelling the game in the sixty third minute. Dominic Thomas battled brilliantly down the right hand side before pulling it back to Gavin Whyte in the right channel. Whyte played it once more to the centre of the box, where Adam O’Reilly was arriving. O’Reilly drove it low and his shot just whistled by the right post.

Derry’s persistence eventually paid off and they found the leveller two minutes later. A Derry corner into the box caused a bit of head tennis to occur. The ball eventually fell down towards Ronan Boyce in the box, who sent a bicycle kick into the top right corner past Tein Troost to extravagantly equalise.

Derry had found their groove and nine minutes later found what would be the winner. Gavin Whyte picked up the ball in midfield and gained a good bit of ground into the City half before shifting it left to Michael Duffy. Duffy sized Benny Couto up before quickly going outside Couto and firing a low shot through the legs of Tein Troost.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors deep into injury time. Ruairi Keating went down with a visibly serious Achilles injury. Keating becomes the latest victim of a pitch that was deemed “unsuitable for football” by the previous Derry City manager Ruadhri Higgins.

That capped off a disappointing night for the Rebel Army as they headed back down to Cork empty handed. The first half was quite a positive one from City as they were strong and sturdy in their play. Other than a few good saves from Tein Troost, Derry were frustrated by City for the vast majority of that half. It was in the second half that things went south for Tim Clancy’s side. Derry seemed to have sorted out a few issues from the first half and City couldn't keep up with their attack for large portions of the second half. Most importantly though, everyone in TOTAP Towers sends our best wishes to Ruairi Keating in his recovery, hopefully its not as serious as first thought.

As for Derry, it was a victory that they largely deserved, despite their slow start in the first half. The Brandywell was left quite frustrated after the first half as Derry didn't seem equipped to get that killer chance to beat this City side. However, Derry improved and became more threatening in the second half. That, paired with the fall off in City’s performance in the second half, meant that Derry were in control of the game for the whole half of football, with Derry’s lead seeming extremely safe once they had gone a goal to the good.

My Man of the Match goes to Derry City’s Michael Duffy. Duffy was electric going forward for Derry and gave Darragh Crowley a very hard time down that side for the ninety minutes. Aswell as his goal, Duffy was at the focal point of a lot of Derry’s attacks, especially in the second half. 

After that, City will have to regroup and look ahead as they return to the Cross to take on St Pats next Friday at 7.45pm. As for Derry, they will once again be at home, this time hosting Drogheda United at 7.45pm on the same day.