Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BACK OF THE NET
Cameron strikes twice as deadly Stripes claim cup final record
DERRY CITY were both ruthless and relentless in their pursuit of FAI Cup final glory on an historic day at Aviva Stadium.
Jordan Mceneff ’s injury-time penalty was more than just the icing on the cake for the Candystripes who wiped the floor with Shelbourne.
It secured Derry’s place in the history books as the side with the biggest all-time winning margin in the final of this competition.
That Mceneff started the season as a Shelbourne player – on loan from Arsenal – was just another hammer blow for Damien Duff, his players and Shels supporters to stomach.
They suffered repeated punches to the gut throughout a decider that was signed, sealed and delivered by half-time and never in doubt at any point.
This final – in front of 32,412
– was only going one way as the Candystripes strangled the life out of a Shelbourne side left utterly shell-shocked by events.
Cameron Mcjannet was the Candystripes’s two-goal hero while Jamie Mcgonigle got them off to the perfect start inside 18 minutes with his fourth goal in five cup games this year.
Duff ’s men were under the cosh in every department. They rarely had a say in proceedings and failed to register a shot of note on Brian Maher’s goal. Derry, on the other hand, hardly had to break sweat and that will rile Duff and his staff more than anything. It was effortless for the Candystripes, who knew Shels were goosed by half-time after Mcgonigle (inset) and Mcjannet’s first-half goals.
And the warning signs were there for Shels when Mcgonigle squirmed through the cover after only 28 seconds to prod an effort at Brendan Clarke.
Shane Farrell’s fitness was the subject of much debate all week, but the Shels ace was pitched in from the start – but Derry gave him a torrid time. Deployed at left wing-back, he was repeatedly targeted and, from one such move, the Candystripes opened the scoring with the earliest cup final goal since 2013.
Patrick Mceleney picked out Ryan Graydon with a sweeping diagonal ball in the 18th minute, and Graydon’s first-time touch was exquisite.
Farrell was the covering player but didn’t know what happened as Graydon took him out of the equation before teeing up Mcgonigle to beat Brendan Clarke.
Duff reacted by switching Farrell to the right hand side and moving Gavin Molloy onto Graydon, but Derry just switched the focus of their attack.
They peppered that right side for fun with Farrell, JR Wilson and Stephan Negru all feeling the heat as the Candystripes doubled their lead 10 minutes before half-time.
Mcjannet started and finished the move.
Outfoxing Farrell, he played in Michael Duffy who blitzed Negru on the outside before pulling back to the Englishman to finish from 12 yards.
Shels – whose best chance of that half was a Molloy free – were unravelling at pace and Graydon threatened to inflict further punishment but his shot was always rising.
But Shelbourne’s implosion was complete on the hour as Mcjannet bagged his second of the game, while the crossbar spared them more misery a minute later.
Mcjannet didn’t know a great deal about it, but following in on a Duffy corner that clipped off Jack Moylan, he finished off his left thigh at close range.
And Duffy then saw his vicious drive smash off the crossbar within a minute as Derry chased a record Cup final win against floundering opponents.
Shels couldn’t lay a glove on Derry and their misery was compounded when Mceneff won and scored an historic spot kick after Luke Byrne’s foul.
Derry are on an upward trajectory and their historic win here may well be a turning point for the club as they set their sights on Shamrock Rovers next year.
DERRY CITY: Maher; Mcjannet, S Mceleney (Coll
82), Connolly, Boyce, Dummigan, P Mceleney (capt), Patching (Mceneff 90), Duffy (Kavanagh 90), Graydon (Thomson 82), Mcgonigle (Akintunde 75)
SHELBOURNE: Clarke; Wilson, Negru, Byrne (capt), Griffin, Farrell (Mcmanus HT), Molloy (Coyle 71), Lunney, Dervin (Ledwidge 64), Moylan, Boyd
REFEREE: Mr. Damien Macgraith