Lilywhites are cut adrift at the bottom

THE Stephen O’Donnell era ended with a whimper at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on Friday night as Dundalk were easily brushed aside by a Derry City side who never really had to move through the gears to get back to winning ways themselves.

The result, coupled with Drogheda United’s draw at home to league leaders Shelbourne, leaves the Lilywhites four points adrift at the foot of the Premier Division table and, ultimately, proved to be the final nail in the manager’s coffin as his two-anda-half year spell as head coach at Oriel Park came to an end less than 72 hours later.

Without a win now in eight matches, there were similar traits to this performance as we have seen in recent weeks. Dundalk started okay but the concession of a sloppy goal just after the half-hour mark meant that a side who had only scored two goals all season prior to this were always facing an uphill struggle to get back into it.

Whatever hope they had of a second half turnaround was ended by a Will Patching goal just 32 seconds after the restart with further goals from Danny Mullen and Michael Duffy meaning this game was as good as over at 4-0 after 65 minutes.

There was at least some consolation when Ryan O’Kane pulled one back in the closing stages but it was yet another sub-par performance for a side who look bereft of confidence, ideas and even fight.

O’Donnell looked and sounded like a beaten man afterwards. While there have been worse nights than this, it was perhaps the one where even he lost faith in the project and his ability to turn things around.

His exit from the club on Monday means that task will now fall on someone else but whoever takes over the reins from the 38-yearold faces a mammoth task in lifting a group who, on current evidence, look a dead cert for the drop.

There was little in the way of chances in the opening stages of the game with the visitors perhaps fortunate not to be down to 10 men on 28 minutes when the already booked Robbie Benson was very late on Adam O’Reilly only for referee David Dunne to let him off the hook for a challenge that, on its own, certainly warranted a yellow.

Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side had been on a poor run themselves – without a win in three – and it showed in their early endeavours but they were given a major shot in the arm when they hit the front with their first shot on target on 31 minutes. Paul McMullan was allowed get down the right far too easily by Koen Oosenbrink with the Dundalk defence at sixes and sevens trying to deal with his subsequent cross. Mullen was closed down as it broke to him but the loose ball fell invitingly for O’Reilly to fire past Ross Munro, with the aid of an unfortunate deflection off Scott High. The Lilywhites’ best chance of getting back into it after that came six minutes before the break when Mayowa Animasahun had a shot blocked inside the box by a combination of Ronan Boyce and Mark Connolly. The rebound then fell to Oostenbrink at the edge of the area, with his strike taking a nick as it flew over for a corner that, ultimately, came to nothing. The visitors actually kicked-off for the second half but within 32 seconds found themselves 2-0 down when Patching crashed an unstoppable shot past Munro to the top right hand corner from the edge of the box.

The Scottish goalkeeper then made a good save to turn McMullan’s shot around the post but a third did arrive on 58 minutes as the hosts worked the ball all too easily across the box before Duffy slipped Mullen in on the left for a shot that was rifled high to the net.

Duffy then got in on the scoring act himself seven minutes later with a shot that deflected off Daryl Horgan before nestling in the bottom right hand corner.

Having gone close moments earlier, O’Kane did manage to pull one back 15 minutes from the end when he capitalised on a moment of complacency in the Candystripes’ back line to slot past Brian Maher.

Not even it could provide a silver lining on a night to forget for O’Donnell and Dundalk.

The head coach may be gone but the challenge remains enormous. If there were any doubt before, it’s clear Dundalk are in a real battle to avoid the drop. They’ll have to produce a lot better than this going forward to ensure that doesn’t become an inevitability. DERRY CITY: Maher; Boyce, Connolly, McJannet, Coll; O’Reilly, Patching (McEneff 71); Kelly (Dummigan 59), McMullan, Duffy (Doherty 71); Mullen (Patton 84).

DUNDALK: Munro; Mountney (Muller 67), Johnson, Animasahun, Bradshaw; High (Keane 67), Oostenbrink (Doyle 59); Mahon (Durrant 59), Benson (Gullan 51), O’Kane; Horgan.

REFEREE: David Dunne (Dublin).