Riga FC 2 Derry City 0 (Riga win 4-0 on agg)
Riga FC recorded a second 2-0 victory over Derry City in the Skonto Arena on Thursday night, with their talented Brazilian, Gabriel Ramos, adding another two goals to his strike at the Brandywell last week.
Goals on either side of the half-time interval confirmed Derry’s dismissal from this season’s European Conference League, the main damage having been completed on Foyleside last week.
Having kept a clean sheet at the Brandywell, Riga FC successfully built on that lead and team boss Ruaidhrí Higgins will have no complaints.
On the plus side, Derry will be delighted with the return to active service by star player Michael Duffy, who played 10 minutes as a substitute following a lengthy injury lay-off with a fractured leg.
Higgins drafted in Danny Lafferty at the expense of the injured Ronan Boyce and selected James Akintunde to lead the line with Jamie McGonigle relegated to the bench.
And both Lafferty and Akintunde made their intentions known during the opening 15 minutes, with both players threatening the Riga goal with chances.
Lafferty drove a shot into the side netting from an acute angle after Will Patching had set him up before Akintunde squandered a massive chance minutes later.
Brandon Kavanagh found the strike in space and as Akintunde burst into a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Toms Nils Purins, the Derry striker dragged his shot agonisingly wide of the upright in the 16th minute.
Despite their sterling efforts to keep the tie alive, Derry suffered a sucker punch in the 33rd minute when conceding the opening goal.
Indeed, it was Riga’s first serious attack with full back Ngonda pulling the ball back from the bye-line as Ramos raced in to drive it high into the net from 16 yards to signal the end of Derry’s involvement in Europe this season.
With Riga beginning to dominate the ball, Derry were unfortunate not to level matters in the 55th minute.
Lafferty gained possession on the left and he squared the ball to the well placed Patching, whose left-foot shot crashed off the crossbar with goalkeeper Purins beaten.
Derry’s dismissal was finally confirmed in the 76th minute when Riga’s top scorer Ramos netted a wonder strike.
The Brazilian was sent scampering up the left flank following a pass from Douglas Aurelio and he produced a sensational right foot shot from 25 yards which screamed into the Derry net.
DERRY CITY: Maher; S McEleney (Duffy, 71 mins), Toal (Coll, 85 mins), McJannet; Thomson, Dummigan, P. McEleney; Patching, Lafferty (McLaughlin, 60 mins); Kavanagh (Kavanagh, 73 mins), Akintunde (Akintunde, 59 mins).
RIGA FC: Purins; Raivis, Korotkovs, Ngonda; Vakulko, Kendysh; Ramos (Petersons, 80 mins), Bergqvist, Aurelio, Soisalo, Filippov (Yurchenko, h-t).
Referee: J Machalek (Czech Republic).
