Derry come from be
DERRY CITY SLIGO ROVERS 2 1 SLIGO Rovers’ far flung dreams of clinching a European spot were dashed on Friday night as Derry City came from behind to win 2- 1 at The Brandywell in the penultimate game of the season.
Rovers were leading 1- 0 at the half way mark thanks to Pat McCann’s first goal for the club, but Derry struck back twice in the second half thanks to goals from Aaron McEneff and Barry McNamee.
Rovers were hit heavily with suspensions heading into this game, with Tobi Adebayo- Rowling, Raffaele Cretaro, Jimmy Keohane and Liam Martin all serving bans.
In order to keep the pressure on Shamrock Rovers in fourth, the Bit o’Red needed to win with their Tallaght counterparts losing.
Derry have been one of the season’s success stories, with Kenny Shiels bringing European football back to The Brandywell.
The Candystripes started brightest, with Schubert forcing Nugent into action after just two minutes, the American doing well to keep his clean sheet intact.
Phil Roberts came closest to scoring in the opening stages, with his lob hitting the underside of the crossbar before being cleared by the Derry defence.
Nugent was again called upon after the half hour mark, when Dean Jarvis’ free- kick was just forced away from the target.
Ronan Curtis looked through on goal as half- time approached, but Nugent just got his feet in the way, enough to put off the 20- year- old.
A free- kick on the edge of the Derry box looked inviting for Roberts, but he could not direct the ball past the Derry defence.
But the opener arrived in the 45th minute just as half- time was approaching.
McCann, with his first goal for the club, got on the end of a corner, and managed to loop the ball over everyone, dipping just in time to hit the back of the net, although time seemed to stand still as the ball headed goalwards.
But Derry emerged all guns blazing in the second- half, and one got the impression this was going to be a long 45 minutes for Rovers.
Rory Patterson’s low shot just after the re- start was just inches wide of the post, while Cristian Castells thought he had equalised for Kenny Shiels’ side on 53 minutes, only to see the linesman’s flag raised for offside.
Rovers were forced to spend much of the second- half in their own area, but did put pressure on Derry for spells, with Roberts coming closest to doubling their lead.
Nugent, who has received a huge amount of plaudits for his displays in recent weeks, pulled off a stunning save after 55 minutes to deny Conor McCormack the equaliser.
Kenny Shiels’ side eventually got their just rewards on 64 minutes, when McEneff’s 25 yard strike beat Nugent.
Derry were hungriest in the second half and they battled on to try and find the winner, which would confirm a third place finish with one game left to play.
The hosts then took a well deserved lead with 14 minutes left to play.
Rovers struggled to clear the danger following a goalmouth scramble, and McNamee drilled his shot past the Rovers defence to take a 2- 1 lead, enough to see off Rovers and confirm third place in the table.
Rovers, who were six points behind Shamrock Rovers heading into this game, would have needed Shams to lose their final two games to actually be in with a sniff of a European spot, but it wasn’t to be and Rovers will hope that fifth place is secure, despite St. Patrick’s Athletic playing tonight against a Dundalk side who have already wrapped up the league title.
Rovers face Wexford Youths at The Showgrounds on Friday night in the final game of the season, and they have asked fans to come out in their numbers to show their support for the club, as another season comes to an end.
News of signings is expected to arrive before the season’s end but it remains to be seen who will be staying on and who will be leaving the club.
Derry City: Ger Doherty, Conor McDermott ( Scot Whiteside 79), Cristian Castells, Dean Jarvis, Lukas Schubert ( Nathan Boyle 70), Barry McNamee ( Ben Doherty 79), Conor McCormack, Aaron McEneff, Josh Daniels, Ronan Curtis, Rory Patterson.
Subs not used: Shaun Patton, Keith Ward, Gareth McGlynn, Rory Holden.
Sligo Rovers: Ciaran Nugent, Gary Boylan, Michael Leahy, Gavin Peers, Regan Donelon ( Paul Doyle 84), Pat McCann, Daniel Kearns, Gary Boylan, Craig Roddan, John Russell ( Mikey Place 75), Kieran Sadlier, Phil Roberts.
Subs not used: Micheal Schlingermann, Achille Campion, Jason Hunt, Mark Hannon.
Referee: Ray Matthews