St Patrick's Athletic - 0 Derry City - 1: St Patrick's Athletic reached a season low at Richmond Park last night as Derry City moved out of the bottom three courtesy of 23rd-minute Alan Murphy goal.
That the home side should find themselves fighting it out at the opposite end of the table having been very much the dominant force of the 1990s is perhaps a sign of the times. The gap between themselves and Shelbourne continues to widen at an alarming rate.
St Patrick's didn't need too much motivation here. A win for Derry would have seen St Patrick's slide to second from bottom. That's how it transpired.
They threw everything at Derry in the closing stages but were fighting an uphill battle once Darragh Maguire was sent off on 66 minutes.
As for Derry, things are picking up. Since Peter Hutton took over as caretaker manager from Gavin Dykes, their form has been quite impressive.
And their latest win came courtesy of a Murphy strike midway through the first half. The ball had fallen to the Derry City striker at the edge of the box and he dispatched it with a fine, left-footed volley.
ST PATRICK'S ATH: Adamson; El Khebyr, Maguire, Foley, Byrne; Byrne, Fahy, Osam, Dunne; O'Keefe, Smith. Subs: Casey for Osam (32 mins), Bell for Khebyr (88 mins).
DERRY CITY: Jennings; Brennan; Delaney, McLaughlin, McCallion; McGlynn, Doherty, Martyn, Holt, Murphy, Hargan. Subs: Byrne for Holt, O'Grady for McGlynn (both 83 mins).
Referee: A Buttimer (Cork)
