Shiels sees silver lining for City in Final clash
A SIX-YEAR wait for silverware for both Kenny Shiels and Derry City could come to an end tomorrow when they face Cobh Ramblers in the EA Sports League Cup final at the Brandywell.
The Derry City boss last lifted silverware with Kilmarnock on 2012, when he led his team to a 1-0 win over Celtic at Hampden Park.
Later that year Derry City, under Declan Devine, won the FAI Cup at the Aviva Stadium when they defeated St Patrick’s Athletic 3-2 in a thrilling encounter.
Since then both parties have gone through significant change, with the Candystripes appointing the Magherafelt man in 2015.
Shiels’ time at Derry City has been one of improvement and progression, overshadowed by the tragic death of team captain Ryan McBride early in 2017.
But the current season has been close to disastrous for Shiels. The only chance for success lies in cup competitions with tomorrow’s cup final quickly followed by an FAI Cup quarter-final at home to Bohemians on Wednesday night.
Hopes are high that City will get at least one trophy on board as they are strong favourites against First Division Cobh and Shiels admitted that the prospect of a cup final at home has been a great boost to his players.
“The excitement is building and it is getting a bit edgy,” he said.
“We want to do well for the city and for the club, but we know it is going to be a difficult game. They know how to shut up shop and close themselves off and they’re good at what they do.
“We need the supporters to be behind is — it would help an awful lot. History tells us that the teams who are most successful in the League of Ireland are those with the most support. Look at Cork and Dundalk who are filling out their stadiums. If we could do that regularly and generate that revenue to bring better players in, we’ll only improve.”
City have not played in over two weeks due to their quarter-final being postponed as a result of international call-ups. Several Derry players represented Northern Ireland and the Republic at U21 level so they have not been idle, but the hosts go into this game in shocking form domestically, having fallen to sixth in the Premier Division.
“Apart from Cork and Dundalk, there hasn’t been a team who hasn’t had an up and down season, especially with the new 10-team league,” said Shiels.
“You’re playing clubs every two months and naturally that produces moments of high momentum and low momentum, and that’s what we’ve seen.”
Despite recent setbacks, Shiels sees a bright future for Derry City, which he hopes will begin with a cup triumph tomorrow.
“The characteristic of the team has been that we are building, building, building but, without trying to be negative, we’ve lost a lot of talent to the likes of Dundalk, Cork and Coleraine,” he said. “You have to expect that there will be a changing of the guard and you have to live with that.
“We’ve just signed two local lads long term in Shane McNamee and Aidy Delap and we have Sam Todd, Niall Logue and Ronan Wilson who will be coming back in January, so it’s a building process.”