Airtricity League Premier Division: Shamrock Rovers 2 Derry City 0
From Daire Walsh at the Tallaght Stadium
SECOND half goals from Ronan Finn and Dean Kelly proved to be the difference between the teams, as Derry City saw their six-game unbeaten run in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division coming to an end at the Tallaght Stadium last night.
Although games between these two sides are never less than compelling, this particular encounter was given extra spice by the presence of Pat Fenlon in the Shamrock Rovers dug-out for the very first time.
The Dubliner – who had an ill-fated spell at the Brandywell in 2007 – was chosen as the man to bring the 17-time league champions forward in the aftermath of Trevor Croly’s sacking last week.
Candystripes boss Peter Hutton is also in the early stages of his spell at the helm of Derry, but following an indifferent honeymoon period, he had steered them to fourth straight league victories.
They scored an impressive 16 goals during this winning streak, and though the in-form Michael Duffy failed to test netminder Barry Murphy eight minutes in, the Rovers netminder produced a fine finger-tip stop from an audacious Patrick McEleney lob six minutes later.
Thanks to strong work in midfield by McEleney, Barry McNamee and Philip Lowry, they were continuously forcing Rovers on the back-foot, but they almost fell behind following an incisive Hoops move down the right-flank eight minutes before the break.
Finn was the architect for this move, and after linking up superbly with full-back Simon Madden, his powerful delivery was headed marginally off-target by Kelly.
This was the first time that Gerard Doherty’s goalmouth had been troubled, but as half-time neared, Derry were the team who appeared more likely to break the deadlock.
In a six-minute spell, Duffy had three opportunities close to the Rovers goal, but with the hat-trick hero from the recent 6-1 demolition of UCD unable to find his intended target on each occasion, the sides remained on level terms as the action resumed.
After Duffy carved open another set of chances just before the hour mark, Derry looked poised the breach the Rovers rearguard, but it was left to the aforementioned Finn to serve them with a devastating sucker punch.
Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, who had switched wings upon the resumption, produced a dangerous 61st minute delivery on the right-hand side, and after Kelly had flicked the ball back into the danger area, Finn was on hand to nod past the helpless Doherty.
This suddenly left Derry in a position where they had to chase the game, and despite going close through Barry McNamee 25 minutes from the end, Rovers once again displayed a ruthless streak to effectively place the tie beyond reach.
The excellent Finn was again the chief tormentor of his northern opponents, and after setting up the former UCD man’s opener, Kelly doubled his side’s advantage with a neat looping header from the 26-year-old’s cross.
As a result of these goals, Derry’s challenge became severely deflated, and though they continued to search for a way back into the contest during the final-quarter, they ultimately couldn’t deny Fenlon a dream start to his reign in Tallaght.
MATCH STATS
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Murphy; Madden, Kenna, McGuinness, Byrne; Robinson; Waters (Sheppard 66), Brennan, Finn (Bayly 73), McCabe (S O’Connor 86); Kelly.
Subs not used: Hyland, Cornwall, D O’Connor, McPhail.
DERRY CITY: Doherty; Ventre, McBride, Barry, Timlin (Jarvis 80); P McEleney (Curran 75), Lowry, McNamee; Dooley, Patterson (Tracey 86), Duffy.
Subs not used: Gallagher, Kelly, S McEleney, Byrne.
Referee: David McKeon (Dublin).