MICHAEL DUFFY ROCKED Shelbourne to the core after scoring his 50th league goal for Derry City deep in injury-time.
The Candystripes skipper slotted home James Clarke’s ball and silenced Tolka Park after Eddie Beach had performed heroics against his old club.
Beach started the season as a Derry City player – on loan from Kilmarnock – but made a permanent switch to Shels during the summer. And he pulled off a slew of big saves to keep Shels in the hunt before they mounted a late assault, with two strong penalty appeals waved away late on.
But John Russell’s search for a first domestic win as Reds boss continues. And the crushing nature of the defeat does nothing for their dwindling hopes of European football next season.
This was Derry’s third win at Tolka Park on the trot and they have leapfrogged Shels into fifth in the process.
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Derry were the better side in the opening half but passed up three opportunities to take a grip on proceedings, allowing Shels to stay competitive.
Shels relied on Beach to bail them out of trouble with the big goalkeeper excelling throughout. First, he displayed acrobatic reactions to tip a Tyler Smith header over the bar from a Duffy cross into the box.
Later, the English striker couldn’t get the ball out of his feet to get a shot away in a great position. He teed up Darragh Burns instead, but his shot was deflected over.
Smith’s best chance came eight minutes before the break when he latched onto an undercooked Daniel Kelly backpass. But instead of driving towards goal with conviction, he slowed in possession and Kameron Ledwidge piled on pressure before Beach’s brilliant save.
Kerr McInroy and James Norris worked hard for Shels and the hosts got joy down the left side with Norris’ early shot taking a vital deflection off Jamie Stott.
Duffy with Liam Boyce. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
Odhran Casey headed over from a corner, while Derry ‘keeper Thomas Norcott denied Evan Caffrey at full stretch before Cameron Dummigan blocked Norris’ follow-up. At that stage, Shels were too predictable in their approach, playing direct in the hope of utilising Kelly’s pace alongside Mipo Odubeko, but Derry rarely looked too troubled.
Beach continued to perform heroics into the second-half, keeping out Adam O’Reilly’s first-time shot from 12-yards and, later, a Clarke effort. But with reinforcements off the bench, Shels started to play with more purpose but still lived dangerously with Derry sub Liam Boyce smashing a shot off the bar late on.
Suddenly, we had a game and Shelbourne were screaming for penalties when Boyce appeared to handle a Kelly shot before Rodrigo Freitas was upended soon after. But ref Damien MacGraith wasn’t buying either of them and to compound Shelbourne’s frustration, Duffy won it at the death.
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Michael Duffy goals sees Derry leapfrog Shels into fifth
Shelbourne 0
Derry City 1
Paul O’Hehir reports from Tolka Park.
MICHAEL DUFFY ROCKED Shelbourne to the core after scoring his 50th league goal for Derry City deep in injury-time.
The Candystripes skipper slotted home James Clarke’s ball and silenced Tolka Park after Eddie Beach had performed heroics against his old club.
Beach started the season as a Derry City player – on loan from Kilmarnock – but made a permanent switch to Shels during the summer. And he pulled off a slew of big saves to keep Shels in the hunt before they mounted a late assault, with two strong penalty appeals waved away late on.
But John Russell’s search for a first domestic win as Reds boss continues. And the crushing nature of the defeat does nothing for their dwindling hopes of European football next season.
This was Derry’s third win at Tolka Park on the trot and they have leapfrogged Shels into fifth in the process.
Derry were the better side in the opening half but passed up three opportunities to take a grip on proceedings, allowing Shels to stay competitive.
Shels relied on Beach to bail them out of trouble with the big goalkeeper excelling throughout. First, he displayed acrobatic reactions to tip a Tyler Smith header over the bar from a Duffy cross into the box.
Later, the English striker couldn’t get the ball out of his feet to get a shot away in a great position. He teed up Darragh Burns instead, but his shot was deflected over.
Smith’s best chance came eight minutes before the break when he latched onto an undercooked Daniel Kelly backpass. But instead of driving towards goal with conviction, he slowed in possession and Kameron Ledwidge piled on pressure before Beach’s brilliant save.
Kerr McInroy and James Norris worked hard for Shels and the hosts got joy down the left side with Norris’ early shot taking a vital deflection off Jamie Stott.
Odhran Casey headed over from a corner, while Derry ‘keeper Thomas Norcott denied Evan Caffrey at full stretch before Cameron Dummigan blocked Norris’ follow-up. At that stage, Shels were too predictable in their approach, playing direct in the hope of utilising Kelly’s pace alongside Mipo Odubeko, but Derry rarely looked too troubled.
Beach continued to perform heroics into the second-half, keeping out Adam O’Reilly’s first-time shot from 12-yards and, later, a Clarke effort. But with reinforcements off the bench, Shels started to play with more purpose but still lived dangerously with Derry sub Liam Boyce smashing a shot off the bar late on.
Suddenly, we had a game and Shelbourne were screaming for penalties when Boyce appeared to handle a Kelly shot before Rodrigo Freitas was upended soon after. But ref Damien MacGraith wasn’t buying either of them and to compound Shelbourne’s frustration, Duffy won it at the death.
Shelbourne: Beach; Mbeng (Gannon 83), Casey, Ledwidge, Norris; Lunney (Henry-Francis 57), McInroy; Caffrey (Freitas 76); Coote (Moore 57), Kelly; Odubeko (Boyd 57).
Derry City: Norcott; Dummigan, Stott, P McClean; O’Reilly, Twisk, Chapman (Dos Santos 72) , Fleming; Burns (Clarke 59,), Smith (Boyce 59), Duffy
Referee: D MacGraith (Mayo)
****
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