Dublin City 1 Derry City 0With 22 points from 27 on their trips to Dublin and its environs last season, you might say that Derry City's extended interest in the title race was based on their success in the capital.
On the face of it, last night's visit to Dalymount to play newly promoted Dublin City offered what looked a fine opportunity to continue the trend. But perhaps their status as last year's surprise package is already beginning to catch up on them, for Dermot Keely's side produced a cautious but highly effective performance over 90 bitterly cold minutes at the end of which they had taken all three points thanks to a second-half own goal from Ruairdhi Higgins.
Derry can have little complaint about the outcome for they controlled long stretches of the game early on without anything to show for it. And they might, despite being second best in the second half, have stolen a point if only Killian Brennan could have produced a half-decent finish when presented with an open target from 10 metres towards the end of injury time.
On balance, the locals simply scrapped harder for the points and, having come home from Cork last week feeling hard done by, they deserved them.
Little about the first half had been pretty. The conditions may have been less than ideal, but both managers must have been deeply frustrated by the succession of mistakes.
Derry dominated early on, but for all their possession and wind-assisted territorial advantage they produced almost nothing to seriously test Gary Rogers, whose only save of the first period came from a close-range Stephen O'Flynn header to which the goalkeeper reacted swiftly.
The locals must have expected worse, but as the half wore on they seemed to grow in confidence, starting to take the game to their opponents. More than once they broke well from defence, but there always was a pass or two too many before a shot on goal, and in almost every instance Derry's back four recovered to smother the danger.
The home side's one real chance before the break, though, came not from swift attacking play but rather a careless pass by a Derry defender that Ben Whelehan latched on to smartly before forcing a fine save from David Forde.
At the time the solitary shot seemed insignificant, but as the home side began to gather momentum late in the half Derry's superiority evaporated. Within four minutes of the restart Keely's side might well have been in front when David Freeman was put clean through on Forde, but chose a hurried header while unbalanced when there was plenty of time for something more composed.
Derry continued to falter and with 25 minutes remaining their opponents finally did take advantage. Damien Brennan, newly arrived during the close season from the Brandywell, floated in a throw from the left, and as Whelehan lurked Higgins reacted rashly while under little pressure, slicing at the ball and finding, with unfortunate perfection, the gap between his goalkeeper and the near post.
With a growing sense of urgency, the visitors rallied, and their most notable opportunity came four minutes from time when Mark Farren broke clear and looked set to go one-on-one with Rogers. A slight loss of stride, though, gave Alan Keely the chance to make a wonderful challenge from behind just as the striker reached the edge of the box. On a good night for the newly promoted outfit, it was another reason for the old man to feel proud.
DUBLIN CITY: Rogers; Pender, Malcolm, Kelly, Brennan; McGill, Crowley, Freeman, Whelehan; McCarthy (Collins, 76 mins), Rooney (Rooney, 83 mins).
DERRY CITY: Forde; McCallion, Hutton, Oman (Deery, 79 mins), Hargan; Cash, Martyn (Brennan, 71 mins), Higgins, O'Flynn; Beckett, Farren.
Referee: I Stokes (Dublin).
