Derry City 0 Bohemian 1
Bohemians reaffirmed their claim to the summit of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division after grinding out a 1-0 win over Derry City at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on Monday night.
The decisive moment came in the 63rd minute, when Bohs’ winger Kris Twardek reached a crossed ball in the Derry penalty area first, before going to ground under ungainly defensive pressure. The contact from Derry’s Ollie O’Neill gave Bohs a penalty.
Staggering his run-up, Dean Williams broke the deadlock from the spot, although Derry goalkeeper Brian Maher was unlucky after getting a hand to the shot, only to send it the ball into the roof of his net. Williams proceeded to conduct unsolicited celebrations in front of a baying Derry City home crowd.
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Derry had seen penalty claims of their own turned down only moments before thatfollowing a challenge on Ben Doherty.
Bohs manager Declan Devine, a proud son of Derry, changed his attacking approach slightly for the Easter Monday fixture, dropping Jonathan Afolabi in favour of Dean Williams. But it was Derry who produced most of the attacking phases in the first period.
After six minutes, Will Patching slipped a ball into the six-yard box while falling away, but frontman Jamie McGonigle couldn’t stretch to meet it. The latter launched forward again to make amends in another attack moments later, but a deflection sent his shotinto the side-net.
Patching continued to ask questions of Bohemians, pulling balls from midfield and moving to the wings. Young Fulham loanee O’Neill was alive to his teammate’s eagerness to play off him, darting into the box on a number of occasions.
Despite Derry’s undoubted dominance in the first half, James Talbot was seldom flustered in the Bohemians’ goal.
Bohs were by no means anonymous in the first period: Keith Buckley continued to prove his worth during his second spell at the club, and Twardek responded positively to being handed a rare start by his manager.
Derry changed personnel after falling behind – with Patching and O’Neill replaced – and that gave them fresh impetus. But they struggled to muster anything of substance.
Brandon Kavanagh came closest, his powerful shot forcing a fine save from Talbot as full-time approached. The goalkeeper reliably collected the resulting corner to avert further danger.
A series of dicey corners in injury time made Bohs work for the win.
After a reality-checking defeat to rivals Shamrock Rovers on Friday, Bohemians returned to the capital again with a bristling confidence. Clear from the crowd, they sit atop the league on 21 points.
Derry’s slump continues, this defeat compounding Friday’s loss to Drogheda and leaving them six points behind tonight’s visitors and one point above Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.
Derry: Maher; Boyce (B Kavanagh 84), Coll, S McEleney, Doherty; Graydon, P McEleney (Diallo 74), Patching (Kavanagh 74), O’Reilly, O’Neill (McEneff 73); McGonigle.
Bohemians: Talbot; Benn (Baker 59), Horton, Radkowski, Kirk; Twardek, McDonnell, Clarke (Flores 59), Buckley (O’Sullivan 87), Connolly (McDaid 73); Williams (Afolabi 73).
Referee: Neil Doyle.
