Tobol Kostanay 1
Derry City 0
DERRY CITY FELL to a slender defeat in the first leg of their Conference League third round qualifier in Kazakhstan this afternoon.
The game was settled with a belligerent strike off the crossbar by left-back Roman Arsankulov, too fierce and too precise for the otherwise outstanding Brian Maher. The Tobol goalkeeper was much less impressive, but Michael Duffy wasted a late chance to punish his dreadful error.
Czech giants Viktoria Plzeň most likely lie in wait in the next round – the final step needed to make the group phase - and while Derry have to play the return leg of this tie in Tallaght next Thursday, they don’t need to renounce their European ambitions just yet. There was enough encouragement in this loss to suggest they can overturn its narrow deficit.
Tobol – currently sixth in the Kazakh Premier League – qualified courtesy of a shock two-legged win over Basel, and they instantly flashed a warning sign, with Brian Maher forced into a first-minute save from Ivorian striker Serge Deble.
Derry settled after that, albeit they were not helped by the length of the grass on the pitch; the ball got caught in and often rolled slowly through a surface that looked like it was being prepared for a second cut of silage.
Michael Duffy got an early sight of goal, but he snapped a volley over the crossbar from just inside the box. The Derry winger on the opposite side, Paul McMullan, looked electric at times, and he drew an early booking from full-back Roman Arsankulov when he skated inside him and was thus pulled down. Will Patching’s subsequent free-kick was right down the throat of goalkeeper Ivan Konovalov, who bafflingly slapped the ball away rather than catching it.
Derry fell deeper as the first-half trundled on, but were rarely threatened aside from one scramble seven minutes before the break. Deble’s penalty-box shot was half-blocked but Derry struggled to clear their lines, not helped by the ball’s disorientating lack of movement on the long grass. Deble then pounced on the ball again, but Maher came off his line to smother the shot.
Maher was called into action again early in the second half. When the Derry centre-halves were caught out of position, winger Islam Chesnokov shirked off Ben Doherty but was then denied brilliantly by Maher as he attempted to round him.
Derry, however, grew as an attacking threat. Adam O’Reilly found space in the Tobol’s box but was denied by goalkeeper Konovalov, while minutes later Duffy cut inside and saw a shot deflected into the goalkeeper’s arms.
It came as a cruel irony that Tobol took the lead during the period of the game at which Derry were at their most confident. Miljan Vukadinovic took the ball toward the byline for just long enough to attract the backtracking McMullan toward him, at which point he pushed the ball backwards for left-back Roman Arsankulov, now freed in space. Arsankulov took a touch from just inside the box and unleashed a gorgeous shot that kissed the crossbar on its way into the top corner.
Ruaidhri Higgins reacted with a double sub that had an attacking emphasis, with Jamie McGonigle introduced and Adam O’Reilly switched for Patrick McEleney. Moments later Sadou Diallo took aim from range, but his shot was parried away by Konovalov. Patching pounced on the rebound and then went down in the box under contact, but was booked for diving by the Austrian referee.
Tobol gave the distinct impression they were happy to take a 1-0 win but their goalkeeper should have cost them their advantage with 11 minutes of normal time remaining. Konovalov had the ball in his arms for a restart but comically threw it directly to a Derry player on the edge of the box, McGonigle, who quickly shifted the ball left to Duffy.
Duffy then jinked inside his man but, one-on-one with Konovalov, lashed the ball into the side-netting. It was a glorious chance, and ultimately Derry’s best.
They must content themselves with the knowledge that this tie is very much alive.
Derry City: Brian Maher; Ronan Boyce, Mark Connolly, Cameron McJannett, Ben Doherty; Adam O’Reilly (Patrick McEleney, 69′) , Sadou Diallo, Will Patching (Jordan McEneff, 82′); Paul McMullan (Brandon Kavanagh, 89′), Cian Kavanagh (Jamie McGonigle, 69′) Michael Duffy
