League Report: Shamrock Rovers 1 - 1 Derry City

THE football may not have been as stylish as Candystripes boss Roddy Collins but it was honours even as Shamrock Rovers and Derry City played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Tallaght Stadium on Sunday evening.

Supporters of both sides were eager to see their new look sides in action as the SSE Airtricity League got underway for the two teams. The first half did little to impress supporters as nearly all creativity was stifled by a congested midfield as Derry duo Danny Ventre and Shane McEleney did their utmost to break up any fledgling Rovers’ attacks.

This left Trevor Croly’s men restricted to playing the long ball game, hoofing aimless passes which more often than not were gobbled up by Ger Doherty or cleared by the Candystripes defence.

Both goalkeepers were left untested for the most post part as Rovers wide players were starved of the ball and the Derry front-line namely Enda Curran was unable to capitalize on the shakiness of the Hoop’s inexperienced defence with David O’Connor making an almost fatal error when he failed to clear the ball after nine minutes.

The intensity kept up by the Derry midfield meant they found it hard to keep the ball on the deck and pass it around. With so little space to be found it was almost impossible for either side to carve open a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Roddy Collins Jnr. and Cliff Byrne both picked up knocks to the head as they felt the full effects of the physical aspects of the first half.

In the last ten minutes of the first period both teams began to knit together some nice spells of passing, Collins Jnr. whipped a great cross into the box but Barry Murphy got there just ahead of Michael Duffy to punch it clear. Mark Stewart, Ventre and Collins Jnr. were all momentarily on the same wavelength but couldn’t test Murphy in the Rovers’ goal.

The hosts finished the second half in the ascendency the lively Kieran “Marty” Waters whipped a great ball to the near post but Ryan McBride got there just before Eamon Zayed to put it behind for a corner.

Derry hit the ground running in the second half as Stewart’s “cross” was caught by the wind and looped over the hapless Murphy. 1-0 to the visitors.

Rovers’ nearly struck back quickly as Ryan Brennan stung the palms of Ger Doherty, the Derry stopper then pulled off another save after Gary McCabe’s shot was struck with some venom.

The Hoops’ then lost debutant David O’Connor to injury after he landed awkwardly on his ankle and was stretchered off after lengthy treatment.

Rovers really had most of the ball in the closing stages and were pressing for an equalizer for much of the last 15 minutes but Rory Patterson almost made the hosts pay a couple of times on the counter attack

The equalizer finally came in the 94th minute when a Brennan cross was floated into the box and Ciaran Kilduff’s header snuck past Doherty into the bottom corner of the Derry goal.

The game was given a lift after the introduction of Stephen McPhail and Rory Patterson but it was obvious that both sides still have a lot more to offer us as the season progresses and in my opinion a draw was the fair result.