Derry City 0
Shamrock Rovers 2
Simon Collins reports from the Ryan McBride Brandywell
SHAMROCK Rovers delivered a statement win against title rivals Derry City with a dominant performance at The Brandywell which moved them above the Candystripes and into second spot.
Stephen Bradley’s troops exacted revenge for defeats to Derry in the President’s Cup and at Tallaght in the league earlier this season as they moved two points ahead of the Foylesiders.
Rovers deservedly went ahead on the half hour mark with a sensational team goal finished off with Richie Towell’s sublime volley into the far corner of the net.
:movie_camera: | A magic move to split the sides at the Brandywell!
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) May 1, 2023
Derry City 0-1 Shamrock Rovers pic.twitter.com/iz3xKZpei8
With the last kick of the first half, man of the match Jack Byrne fired into an empty Derry net from 35 yards after Brian Maher’s wayward clearance from wide on the left touchline was intercepted by Gary O’Neill.
It was a long way back for Derry after that setback and they failed to trouble the Rovers goalmouth for much of a disjointed second half display.
The Brandywell outfit were handed a way back into the game with five minutes to go when Dan Cleary brought down substitute Cian Kavanagh inside the penalty area but Ben Doherty’s spot-kick was saved well by Rovers sub keeper Leon Pohls.
That summed up a dismal night for Derry who have now lost three matches at home while Rovers have gone 10 unbeaten in the league and moved to within four points of leaders Bohemians.
Derry made just one change from the team that won against St Pat’s four days previous as Jamie McGonigle replaced Cian Kavanagh as the lone frontman.
There were two changes in the Rovers line-up as Richie Towell and captain Ronan Finn replaced Graham Burke and Neil Farrugia who both dropped to the bench.
Michael Duffy started sharply and came so close to opening the scoring on six minutes when he rose to meet Ryan Graydon’s cross from the right but the winger headed wide of the back post.
Moments later Duffy latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the Rovers penalty area, cut inside on his right but his shot was gathered cleanly by Alan Mannus.
Rovers began to boss the ball and when Jack Byrne fed the ball through to Finn the Hoops skipper crossed low into teh six yard box where Towell flicked it towards the back post but Shane McEleney was well placed to clear it off the line on 15 minutes.
The Dubliners hit the front on the half hour mark with a sublime team goal. Byrne spread the play wide to Clarke on the left who headed into the penalty area towards Towell. The midfielder timed his run to perfection and volleyed delightfully over the head of Maher and into the far corner of the net with his right foot.
Rovers doubled their advantage in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Maher was caught in no-man’s land after clearing the ball from wide on the left. Gary O’Neill got his head to the ball to guide it into the path of Byrne who sent his 35-yard strike into the unguarded net.
That was the last kick of the first half and Derry faced an uphill task to get back into this contest.
Higgins made a double switch on the restart with in-form striker Whelan replacing McGonigle and McEneff was a straight swap for O’Neill.
There was little goalmouth action for the opening 15 minutes of the second half, while a fire alert triggered in the Mark Farren Stand was quickly declared a false alarm before a flare was thrown onto the pitch by the Rovers support in the South End Park stand. It had to be extinguished by a steward.
On the field the action failed to ignite and there was a lengthy stoppage as Rovers keeper Mannus sustained a hand injury and he was eventually replaced by Leon Pohls.
Two Derry subs combined for the first decent chance of the half on 70 minutes as McEneff crossed deep into the penalty area to find the run of Cian Kavanagh but he failed to test Pohls with his attempted volley.
The Candystripes were handed a lifeline on 85 minutes when Cleary upended Cian Kavanagh inside the penalty area and referee Rob Harvey pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Doherty, who scored from the spot against St Pat’s on Friday night, but this time Pohls guessed correctly and saved low to his right hand post to deny him.
That summed up Derry’s night as chants of ‘that’s why we’re champions’ from the Rovers fans rang around the Brandywell venue.
There were nine minutes of added time signalled but Derry failed to muster another chance in front of goal and Rovers saw out the remainder of the contest comfortably.
Derry City: Maher: Boyce, McEleney, McJannet, Doherty; Graydon (B. Kavanagh 84), Diallo (C. Kavanagh 67), O’Reilly, Duffy; O’Neill (McEneff h-t); McGonigle (Whelan h-t): Subs Not Used – Ryan, Coll, Ward, Patton, Mullan.
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus (Pohls 63); Lopes, Grace, Cleary; Clarke (Farrugia 77), Poom, O’Neill, Byrne, Finn (Hoare 77); Towell; Kenny (Greene 67); Subs Not Used – Burke, Power, Nugent, Gaffney, Noonan.
Referee: Robert Harvey (Dublin)
League of Ireland results
Premier Division
- Bohemians 5-0 Cork City
- Derry City 0-2 Shamrock Rovers
- Drogheda 1-1 Shelbourne
- St Patrick’s Athletic 0-1 Sligo Rovers
- UCD 0-2 Dundalk
First Division
- Bray 0-3 Treaty United
- Waterford 0-1 Wexford
- Cobh Ramblers 4-1 Kerry
- Longford Town 1-0 Galway
- Finn Harps 1-4 Athlone Town