DERRY CITY BOSS Ruaidhrí Higgins struggled to conceal his frustration with the officials after his side were held 1-1 by Shelbourne on Friday night at Tolka Park.
The Premier Division title hopefuls’ hopes of victory suffered a significant setback when midfielder Adam O’Reilly was harshly sent off in the 80th minute for a late challenge on substitute Kameron Ledwidge.
“Adam slipped into the fella,” Higgins told reporters after the game. “If that’s a red card…aah… I’m sick of it at this stage. Really sick of it at this stage. I’m not going to say any more because I’ll get in trouble.”
It was not the only decision the manager took issue with — Higgins felt his team were hard done by on a couple of occasions.
“We had a stonewall penalty turned down — Cian Kavanagh. Plus that was a second booking for Andrew Quinn. So we should have had a penalty and them get a red card.”
Asked whether he would consider appealing the O’Reilly dismissal, the Candystripes boss replied: “I find the appeal system absolutely pointless. Cian Coleman got sent off at Oriel Park for winning the ball. Not even a foul, never mind a yellow card. And he gets a red card. If you can’t win an appeal for that, what’s the point of having an appeal system?”
Mindful of a potential ban, Higgins was trying not to elaborate too much on his frustration, but he is not the only League of Ireland manager to be vocal in his dissatisfaction with officials this season – Colin Healy and Damien Duff are among those to have expressed their unhappiness with the situation previously.
“You’re goading me,” he said in the midst of persistent questioning, adding: “It’s not a dirty league. Both benches would tell you that there wasn’t a dirty tackle in the game really. It’s a wet night. It’s a slippy night.
“Adam O’Reilly has lost his footing. His momentum has carried him on to the player. If that’s a red card, then scrap it, forget about it. And then the appeals system — don’t have an appeals system, it’s pointless.
“If Cian Coleman can’t win his appeal for his red card in Oriel Park then there shouldn’t be an appeal system, it’s flawed.”
Notwithstanding the debatable refereeing decisions, Derry struggled to create chances and break down their opponents’ stubborn rearguard for much of the 90 minutes, as injured creative stars like Michael Duffy and Patrick McEleney were sorely missed.
However, Higgins is hopeful a couple of players will make a timely run-in ahead of the title run-in and the beginning of their Europa Conference League campaign, as they travel to face Faroe Islands outfit HB Torshavn on 13 July.
“The players deserve huge credit for going to the well in all the games. It’s the same bodies. But hopefully, we see a freshness to the squad next week.
“We’ve Paul McMullan available, and we might have one or two more knocking on the door as well.
“So we’re getting there. We’re still in touching distance. That’s where we want to be. We’ve gained a point on the top spot. From that end, it’s a positive. We set our stall out to win the game. In the circumstances, a point is probably not a bad result.”
With Damien Duff serving a one-game touchline suspension, Joey O’Brien was on media duties and unsurprisingly, the Shels assistant also felt the officials got it wrong, albeit for different reasons.
“I think their goal is a free out on Paddy [Barrett] and, looking back at it, I don’t think their lad makes an effort to win the ball, takes Paddy out and falls to [Ben] Doherty and it’s a hell of a finish.
“It goes to 10 men then and we’re looking to drive it home and win the game, but probably didn’t kill them off or create enough in the end.”
