Bohemians 0 Derry City 1
Ryan Graydon came back to haunt his former club at Dalymount Park on Friday night as his first half goal was enough to give Derry City victory over 10-man Bohemians in the Premier Division.
A product of the Phibsborough outfit’s youth system before leaving for pastures new in 2020, Graydon found the net in the aftermath of Grant Horton’s sending off on 14 minutes. There were some nervy moments for Derry in the second period, but this win moves them up to second in the top-flight table.
Having found themselves in pole position for a number of weeks, Bohs now drop down to third spot in the Premier Division standings courtesy of this result and Shamrock Rovers’ comfortable triumph against UCD.
This was a poignant game for the managers of both teams, who previously had a foot in the opposing camps. Whereas Bohs boss Declan Devine had two stints at the Derry helm (winning the FAI Cup in 2012), Candystripes manager Ruaidhri Higgins claimed the Setanta Sports Cup in his single season as a Gypsies player in 2010.
While they were seeking to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat to defending champions Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght seven days earlier, Bohs suffered a double blow in the early stages of this contest.
After he lost possession deep inside his own half, Gypsies right-back Horton fouled Derry winger Michael Duffy just outside the box and was subsequently issued with a straight red card by referee Paul McLaughlin. Although the hosts dealt with the resulting free-kick, the Candystripes swiftly opened the scoring in the 16th-minute when ex-Bohs attacker Graydon got in front of Patrick Kirk to flick a Duffy cross from the left-flank beyond the reach of opposition netminder James Talbot.
Falling behind to an opening quarter goal wasn’t ideal for them, but being reduced to 10 men was arguably an even bigger issue for the Gypsies in their quest to remain at the top-flight summit.
Nevertheless – despite Derry largely controlling the play for the remainder of the half – the north Dubliners dug deep to keep their deficit at a single goal during the interval.
Candystripes striker Oliver John O’Neill had an early sighting of their goal on the resumption, but Bohs continued to persevere as half-time substitutes Kris Twardek and James Clarke brought plenty of energy in the middle-third of the pitch.
They started to find space inside the Derry half as the action progressed and former Republic of Ireland Under-21 goalkeeper Brian Maher had to be at his best to ensure Jonathan Afolabi didn’t get on the end of a Twardek delivery on 57 minutes.
The Candystripes were struggling to make the most of their numerical advantage at the far end and Maher was forced to claw away an elaborate Jordan Flores free-kick inside the final-quarter. Yet in spite of their endeavours, Bohs lacked a clinical edge in this tie and ultimately fell to their fifth defeat of the campaign.
BOHEMIANS: Talbot; Horton, Nowak, Radkowski, Kirk (Clarke, 46 mins); Flores, Buckley; Coote (Twardek, 46 mins), McDonnell, Connolly (Williams, 70 mins); Afolabi (McDaid, 77 mins).
DERRY CITY: Maher; Coll, McEleney, McJannet, Doherty; Diallo (Boyce, 79 mins), O’Reilly, Patching (McEneff, 70 mins); Graydon (Dummigan, 79 mins), O’Neill (Kavanagh, 64 mins), Duffy.
Referee: P McLaughlin (Monaghan)
UCD 0 Shamrock Rovers 3
Shamrock Rovers stretched their winning streak to five games at Belfield Bowl to go top of the Premier Division.
Rovers had been reduced to two long range efforts earlier on but eventually took the lead on 17 minutes when Trevor Clarke, having taken a return pass off Graham Burke, rolled the ball past the UCD Keeper.
And then on the half-hour, Rovers won a free from a central position but centre half, Robert Lopes, was unable to find the target off Markus Poom’s set piece.
Rovers continued to set the agenda, their intricate play seeing Aaron Greene’s shot deflected away for a corner on 39 minutes before Sean Hoare miscued in front of goal moments later.
The half closed with a wayward shot from Rover’s captain, Ronan Finn, and at that stage UCD, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table, would have been happy to have trailed by just the goal.
But it was short lived with Rovers doubling their advantage 10 minutes after the break after Aaron Greene had converted Poom’s cross from the right.
And UCD’ night went from bad to worse when defender Adam Wells turned Justin Ferizaj’s cross past his keeper on 71 minutes.
UCD: Moore; Gallagher (Dempsey 57), Keaney, Wells, Osam; O’Regan, Higgins (Clarke 60); Norris, Behan, Nolan (Doyle 66), Kinsella-Bishop (Izekor 84).
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Pohls, Cleary, Lopes, Hoare; Finn (Gannon 46), Nugent, Poom, Clarke; G Burke (Noonan 64), Kenny (Gaffney 64), Greene (Ferizaj 70).
Referee: D Dunne (Dublin)
Dundalk 2 Cork City 1
Dundalk came back from the dead with two stoppage time goals to make it four wins from four against nine man Cork City at Oriel Park.
The managerless Rebels, under the guidance of Liam Buckley, looked to be heading towards their first away win of the season when Tunde Owolabi was slipped through by Ruairi Keating on 19 minutes before rounding Nathan Shepperd to slot home.
While Hoban did head off the underside of the crossbar after that, clear cut chances were few and far between for the Louth men before their opponents imploded late on as red cards for Josh Honohan and captain Cian Coleman gave Stephen O’Donnell’s side a lifeline which they grabbed with both hands.
After Honohan was dismissed for a foul on him on 87 minutes, Cameron Elliott popped up with a 94th minute equaliser by acrobatically steering a cross from the right into the bottom left hand corner.
Coleman then picked up a straight red for a foul on Paul Doyle with Dundalk punishing their opponents as Hoban stole in on the left to slip a low shot under Jimmy Corcoran in the 97th minute to send Oriel Park wild.
DUNDALK: Shepperd; Davies, Muller (Elliott 67), Williams, Leahy; Malley (Kelly 76), Lewis (Doyle 76); O’Kane, Ward (Yli-Kokko 67), Tulloch (Martin 49); Hoban.
CORK CITY: Corcoran; Honohan, Coleman, Custovic; Crowley, Coffey, Healy, O’Brien Whitmarsh (Bolger 76), Varian (O’Donovan 68); Keating, Owolabi (Murphy 84).
Referee: Damien MacGraith (Mayo)
St Patrick’s Athletic 3 Drogheda United 0
Chris Forrester scored twice in the dying embers of a frantic game by the Camac as St Patrick’s Athletic gave interim manager Jon Daly back-to-back wins.
Jay McClelland was sprang from the bunch to head St Patrick’s in front on 82 minutes, following up after a Tom Grivosti header from Jake Mulraney’s corner came back off a post.
Skipper Forrester then provided the gloss with his brace, all the harsher on a gallant Drogheda, missing six defenders through injury or suspension, who were always well in this game until late on.
Forrester got his first sight on 90 minutes, producing sublime skill on the edge of the area before volleying to the bottom corner.
His second arrived two minutes into stoppage time when pouncing on a mistake by Ryan Brennan to take the ball around goalkeeper Colin McCabe and drive it to the net.
McCabe had redeemed an early mistake to thwart Forrester in the only real chance of a poor first half before the game sparked to life in the second half when superb goalkeeping prevented Drogheda from taking the lead on 53 minutes.
Conor Keeley’s initial header from Dayle Rooney’s free kick bounced up nicely for the centre back whose volley was brilliantly saved by Dean Lyness.
Two minutes later an incisive move by the visitors carved St Patrick’s open. Gary Deegan, Freddie Draper and Dylan Grimes worked the ball to Rooney on the left. But the winger took a heavy touch before slicing wide.
St Patrick’s introduced 15-year-old striker Mason Melia for this league debut, creating a little history by becoming the club’s youngest ever senior player.
McClelland was then denied by a terrific save by McCabe before he finally broke the deadlock.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Lyness; Lennon, Curtis, McGarth, Breslin; Kreida (Grivosti, h-t), Forrester; Mulraney, Murphy (McCormack, 83), M. Doyle (McClelland, 64); Carty (Melia, 68).
DROGHEDA UNITED: McCabe; Heeney, Keeley, Topcu, McNally; Deegan, Brennan; Grimes (Leddy, 85), Markey, Rooney; Draper (Foley, 70).
Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford)
