DERRY CITY 7
(Akintunde 8, 62 Glass 24, 27, 39 Connolly 75, McGonigle 87)
OLIVER BOND CELTIC 0
DECLAN GLASS shattered Dublin minnows Oliver Bond Celtic’s FAI Cup dreams with a stunning 15-minute hat-trick at the Brandywell as Derry City cruised into the second round.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder arrived on loan from Dundee United and made an instant impact with an assist and three goals as the ruthless Candystripes put the inner-city Dublin outfit to the sword.
He became the first Derry player to score a hat-trick on his debut since Rory Patterson in the Setanta Cup win over Lisburn Distillery in 2012.
Glass threaded a neat pass through to James Akintunde who opened the scoring after just eight minutes and that set the tone for the evening as the Leinster Senior League club struggled to get out of their own half.
Glass ensured Derry’s place in the hat for the next round with that 15 minutes salvo. The Scotsman scored twice in three minutes, showing great composure when sent through on goal.
When Brandon Kavanagh was brought down inside the box, City skipper Patrick McEleney handed the ball to Glass who finished expertly from the spot to make it 4-0 five minutes before the break.
Akintunde completed his brace just after the hour mark to stretch Derry’s lead and Mark Connolly inflicted more pain on the Dubliners when tapping in from close range.
Substitute Jamie McGonigle then added a seventh for the home side when firing into the roof of the net from close range to end a perfect night for the Foylesiders.
Ruaidhri Higgins handed a debut to former Dundee United defender Connolly who completed his move from the Scottish club on deadline day.
Attacking midfielder Glass also made his first appearance after completing his loan move from Tannadice.
It was a strong-looking Derry bench, which included Michael Duffy who returned from his hip flexor injury and new signing from Waterford Cian Kavanagh.
Derry had the ball in the back of the net after just 40 seconds as Glass threaded a ball through the Dubliner’s defence to set Graydon through one-on-one with the goalkeeper and he fired into the net from 12 yards. The referee assistant was quick to flag for offside and it was ruled out.
Moments later, Kavanagh floated a cross towards the back post and Graydon’s header at full stretch went just wide of the post.
The home support didn’t have long to wait for the opener, however, as Glass once again carved open the Oliver Bond defence on eight minutes with a lovely pass into the feet of Akintunde who made no mistake with a cool finish into the corner.
Glass forced a neat save from Jake Carey as Derry began to pen the visitors into their own half.
It was an impressive debut from Glass who latched onto a clever pass from Patrick McEleney before firing it past the keeper and into the far corner to double Derry’s lead on 24 minutes.
Three minutes later Glass added his second of the evening as Sadou Diallo, making his Brandywell debut, slotted him through on goal and the Dundee United loanee finished confidently with his first-time strike.
Akintunde came close to completing his brace on 37 minutes when he beat the keeper to the ball but his lofted effort struck the top of the crossbar and went behind.
Oliver Bond players were desperate for the half-time whistle as Derry smelt blood. McEleney curled an effort just wide of the far corner before Ciaran Coll headed against the near post from a corner kick.
The ball was bravely cleared off the line as Cameron McJannet tried to get a touch but when Kavanagh dibbled into the penalty area he was brought crashing down by the challenge of an Oliver Bond defender and referee Derek Tomney pointed to the spot.
City skipper McEleney handed the ball to Glass who buried the spot-kick into the corner of the net to complete an impressive hat-trick.
The Leinster Senior League outfit almost got off the mark from Dean Brady’s free-kick, which was misjudged by Brian Maher and it came off the boot of Aaran Fagan and narrowly missed the target.
That was the final action of the half, as Derry were easing into the next round.
Higgins made two changes at the interval with Kavanagh replaced by Duffy and Shane McEleney taking the place of Coll.
It didn’t take long for Duffy to make his presence felt as he won possession before driving towards the opposition goal and his low strike needed to be parried away by Carey.
Duffy was involved in Derry’s fifth goal on 62 minutes as he timed his run perfectly to get in behind the Dubliners’ defence after a beautifully executed lobbed pass from Patrick McEleney. The winger’s volley was saved by Carey but the rebound fell kindly to Akintunde who poked it into the net for his second of the tie.
Carey did brilliantly to deny substitute Jamie McGonigle shortly afterwards as the striker got onto the end of McJannet’s glancing header from a corner but the Oliver Bond ‘keeper tipped it over the bar.
Goal number six arrived on 75 minutes as Glass crossed into the six-yard box following a short free-kick on the edge of the box and when Graydon miscued his header, it fell to Connolly who tapped into the net from close range to mark his debut.
McGonigle then got in on the goalscoring act when sub, Caoimhinn Porter touched the ball into his path and the striker finished into the roof of the net from four yards for his second goal in 13 games.
The attacker had a chance to add a second late in the game when he rounded the keeper who had advanced 30 yards from his goal but his strike failed to find the target.
Derry City: B.Maher: C. Dummigan (C. Porter 62), M. Connolly, C. McJannet, C. Coll (S. McEleney h-t); D. Glass, S. Diallo, B. Kavanagh (M. Duffy h-t), R. Graydon; P. McEleney (J. Thomson 62); J. Akintunde (J. McGonigle 62); Subs Not Used – N. Gartside, D. Lafferty, C. Kavanagh, L. Mullan.
Oliver Bond: J. Carey; C. Byrne (J. O’Neill 66), A. Fagan (D. Quinn 78), C. Bateman, C. Walsh (C. Hudson 78), M. Malone (J. Bundle 78), M. Early, T. Hannon (S Sandford 64), A. Sule, B. Daly, D Brady; Subs Not Used – A. Kenny, B. J. Franchini.
Referee: Derek Tomney
Saturday’s other FAI Cup result: Lucan United 3-0 Killester