Derry City 2 Gretna 2 (Derry City win 7-3 on agg): Derry City's name will be included in the draw for the first round proper of the Uefa Cup following this deserved result at the Brandywell last night.
Derry may have failed to stretch their winning home run to 13 games but few will be concerned. That sensational 5-1 win in Motherwell set up this result and Derry produced a disciplined and determined performance to record a 7-3 aggregate victory.
With 3,000 passionate supporters watching from their seats, Stephen Kenny's men did what they had to do and after a nervous start got into their stride.
Kenny again used his squad to the full given the hectic domestic fixture backlog. With the skilful Paddy McCourt having tweaked a hamstring in training, Kenny opted not to start with midfielders Ciarán Martyn and Kevin Deery or striker Gary Beckett.
And starting with a 4-3-3 formation, Kenny's tactics were clear and while opening nervously, once they settled into their stride, their first leg advantage was never in jeopardy.
After fluffing a good chance after 10 minutes, Gretna attacker David Graham made up for it seven minutes later when he broke the deadlock.
With the home side having failed to adequately clear their lines, Graham let fly with a low shot from 30 yards which beat Derry goalkeeper David Forde at his far post.
That goal certainly saw the visitors up the tempo but they were brought back to earth when caught out by the pace of Mark Farren in the 37th minute.
Kevin McHugh, operating on the right of that 4-3-3 formation, played the Donegal man in and his angled shot found the net.
After the break Gretna again attempted to force the pace but having weathered that early storm the home side began to stamp their authority.
Darren Kelly crashed a header into the side-netting while Gareth McGlynn brought the best out of Alan Main with a superb shot on the turn in the 61st minute.
The home side made the game safe in the 69th minute when Ken Oman poked the ball home from eight yards after substitutes Deery and Beckett set him up.
Showing their professionalism, the Scottish first division side refused to give up the ghost and their efforts were rewarded in the 77th minute.
A cross from Daniel Grainger was met by Gavin Shelton and while his effort was superbly parried by Forde, substitute Ryan Baldacchino was on hand to divert the loose ball home for the equaliser.
A tough match, as Kenny had predicted, and with the Danish referee failing to produce a yellow card, the result was probably a fair one in the end.
GRETNA: Main; Birch (Baldacchino, 56 mins), Canning, Townsley, Grainger; McGuffie (Jenkins, 73 mins.), Tosh (O'Neil, 53 mins.), Skelton; Grady, Deuchar, Graham. Subs not used: Mathieson, Innes, McGill and Nicholls.
DERRY CITY: Forde; McCallion, Kelly, Oman, Hargan; McGlynn, Molloy, Higgins (58 mins.); Farren, O'Flynn (Beckett, 62 mins.), McHugh (Martyn, 74 mins.) Subs not used: Jennings, Delaney and McCafferty.
Referee: P Rasmussen (Denmark).
