Shelbourne 0
Derry City 0
AS THE SIX minutes of second-half injury time drew to a close an exasperated Damien Duff directed a message to one of referee Eoghan O’Shea’s assistants running the line.
“Worse than the game itself,” the Shelbourne manager roared in a damning assessment of the evening’s work.
That gives an indication of what was served up in this stalemate with Derry City, a result that sees the home side extend their lead at the top of the Premier Division to eight points.
There were no glaring referee decisions that had a major impact on the outcome, rather a series of nitty-gritty calls that seemed to really frustrated Duff.
It was that kind of Easter Monday clash, perhaps the effects of Good Friday’s displays partly to blame.
Derry’s need for victory increased after losing at home to Galway United but they failed to register a serious effort on goal, while Shels also toiled as they kept the Candystripes eight points adrift.
Neither side could find a way through in the opening 45 minutes but it wasn’t for the lack of trying.
Quality in the final third was the reason for not being able to find a way through with a combination of poor decision making as well as execution.
Both had their chances and both fluffed their lines.
The most glaring came on 28 minutes when Shels broke sharply on the counter from a Derry corner. Liam Burt picked the ball up in his own half and drove forward with Evan Caffrey to his left and Matty Smith to his right.
It was a three v two situation as Adam O’Reilly and Paul McMullan, two of Derry’s quicker and smaller players, were left back to deal with such a scenario from their own set-piece.
Burt was allowed to carry the ball and, approaching the 18-yard box, had to make his mind up.
Smith seemed to be the most obvious given the direction of the run and the space also opened up for a shot.
Instead he opted for a slight reverse to Caffrey but, by that point, the midfielder had strayed half a yard offside and the assistant referee’s flag was raised as he flashed his shot wide across goal.
There were groans from the crowd – among the home faithful the former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Matters should have been made worse for more of Fagan’s customers five minutes later when Ronan Boyce sliced a wild effort high over the bar after being found unmarked at the back post. Had the defender kept the effort on target the power on the shot would surely have been enough to beat Conor Kearns in goal.
Shels earlier had the anticipation of centre back Paddy Barrett to thank for preventing a goal-bound Michael Duffy effort from causing more problems. A defensive mix up between Evan Caffrey and JJ Lunney on the edge of box gifted the Derry winger the chance but his former Dundalk teammate was alive to the danger and got his body in the way.
Derry made a change at the break as boss Ruaidhri Higgins replaced top scorer Pat Hoban with Danny Mullen.
The 32-year-old didn’t start Friday’s defeat to Galway and his manager explained that injury has hampered him in recent weeks.
There wasn’t as much goal threat after the interval, Mullen flashing a shot on the turn just wide after neat work from 20 yards.
Will Patching’s deflected free kick on 71 minutes had Kearns sprawling to keep it out but, again, there was no way through.
Damien Duff attempted to be proactive with his own bench, introducing Shane Farrell and John Martin for Caffrey and Smith respectively within two minutes of each other just after the hour mark.
The spark so often provided by Will Jarvis was missing, though, and while neither side could be said to look comfortable it did feel as if Derry were more in control.
Higgins was positive for the final quarter by springing the attack-minded and pacy Daniel Kelly from the bench while Duff opted for a double change with nine minutes of normal time remaining.
Striker Sean Boyd replaced Jarvis and Burt was hooked for Kameron Ledwidge. Shels’ shape changed with their original front three now all off the pitch but the stalemate continued until the death.
Shelbourne: Kearns; Gannon, Barrett, Molloy (captain), Wilson; O’Sullivan, Caffrey (Farrell 62), Lunney, Burt (Ledwidge 81), Jarvis (Boyd 81), Smith (Martin 64).
Derry City: Maher; S McEleney, Connolly, Coll; Boyce (Todd 88), O’Reilly, Patching, McMullan (Kelly 76), Duffy, McJannet (captain); Hoban (Mullen HT).
Referee: E O’Shea.
Attendance: 3,932.
