The departure of another manager this week is a sign of the mounting tension amongst clubs towards the wrong end of the table and Paul Hegarty will be hoping to make an immediate impact when he takes charge of Derry City for the first time on Friday evening.
At Drogheda United, Mark Kinsella did that much a fortnight ago when he guided his side to victory at the Brandywell, a result that probably played a significant part in Peter Hutton’s departure. But now Kinsella ,the former international, must try to squeeze the results required to secure top-flight safety out of a team facing a particularly tough run-in.
That starts this evening with a trip to Oriel Park. Kinsella’s assertion that “it’s a derby game, anything can happen,” would ring particularly hollow if United hadn’t made life tough enough for the league leaders in the previous two league encounters this season but Dundalk ultimately won both by a goal and a repeat of that would put Stephen Kenny’s side 11 points clear at the top of the table.
“Look, they’re going to win the league by a couple of points, I think that’s clear,” says Kinsella, “and they’re the team setting the standard for everyone else at the moment but for us they’re the next game and I think we can take encouragement from the way we’ve played against them in previous meetings as we go into this one.
“We’ll certainly be looking to get something out of it, that’s for sure.”
The gap without a game since the win in Derry has not, he says, been ideal but the squad has been working hard as they try to focus on extending the six-point gap between themselves and bottom-placed Limerick.
‘Good work’
“We got that win but Limerick matched it and Galway matched in and so we need to keep going. Heading straight into another game off the back of the win would have been better but we’ve done some good work on the training ground and hopefully that will stand to us.”
Limerick’s remarkable run of form is a major concern to all of the teams immediately above them in the table and Vinny Faherty was recognised yesterday for his part in the team’s dramatic improvement during August when he was presented with the Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland/SSE Airtricity Player of the Month Award.
“I can’t really put my finger on why or what exactly happened but it’s been terrific,” says the striker, who scored five goals during the month.
Limerick had gone 17 games, just over half the campaign, without registering a single victory but, says Faherty: “I think our perspective changed once we got that first win. We started to look at everything a bit differently and our confidence got a big boost. Now our point of view going into every game is completely different. We think every game is winnable.”
So, apparently, does new Derry manager Hegarty whose side face Shamrock Rovers this evening. The Dubliners are trying to put distance between themselves and St Patrick’s Athletic in the race for the league’s final spot in Europe for next season and so Pat Fenlon will be looking to improve on the point they picked up on their last visit to the Brandywell.
In the night’s other game Roberto Lopes and Derek Prendergast return from suspension for Bohemians while Conor Powell misses out due to a one-match ban.
