League Report: Derry City 1 - 1 Athlone Town

Derry City will be extremely disappointed after being held to a 1-1 draw with Athlone Town at the Brandywell on Friday night. Missed chances came back to hunt the Candystripes. 

The game didn't start extremely exciting however, Athlone had the upper hand after just nine minutes of play. The ball was played over the Derry defence and it seemed pretty harmless but Derek Doyle caught onto it and with the help of the two posts he put his side 1-0 up.

Derry did recover very well and were dominating play and constructed three attempts on goal. First up was a nice cut back into Patrick McEleney by Stephen Dooley but he blasted well over the bar. The closest of the three chances was next when Patterson met a Philip Lowry corner but unfortunately for the Candystripe faithful, it was cleared off the line by Eric Foley. And then finally, a cross from Mark Timlin found Dooley but the winger could only direct it straight at Athlone keeper, Ryan Coulter.

Derry were putting their stamp on the game and were enjoying the majority of the possession. And with half an hour played, their dominance materialised with talisman, Patterson putting his side on level terms. A cross from Dooley was half cleared and fell to Patterson on the edge of the box and the striker fired into the bottom corner on the half volley.

Soon after, Derry should have had their second via McEleney. The midfielder weaved is way through three Athlone players but his eventual shot deflected just wide.

The game didn't see another chance in the opening half and it came to a close with the score at 1-1 with Derry without doubt the better side.

Derry got the second half and after only three minutes, they manufactured their first chance of the second half. Michael Duffy received the ball after the corner and attempted to curl the ball into Coulter's top left corner but to no avail as the keeper collected the ball relatively comfortably. 

The game entered a stale spell with neither side registering another attempt until 70 minutes. The chance fell to Patterson who had two attempts on target in quick concession. The first was saved by Coulter and then the rebound was thumped off the post by the striker. He was very unlucky not to have converted. 

Derry had a further two great chances to grab all the spoils with both coming the way of Duffy. After 83 minutes, Patterson was played in down the left side and his cut back fell to Duffy who skimmed the post with his attempt. 

And then five minutes later, Patterson again played in Duffy who found himself one on one with Coulter but again he couldn't get his shot on side. The youngster definitely should have put away at least one of the chances if not both.  

The game was brought to a close by the referee with it all tied at 1-1. The hosts will be disappointed with the result but Athlone definitely deserve credit for their resilience although the visitors didn't show any danger in an attacking sense apart from their goal. The result doesn't change the league positions for either side with Derry still sitting in 6th and Athlone at the foot of the table. 

Derry City: Ger Doherty; Dean Jarvis, Ryan McBride, Aaron Barry, Mark Timlin; Stephen Dooley (Joshua Tracey 76), Philip Lowry, Barry Molloy (Barry McNamee 76), Michael Duffy; Patrick McEleney. Rory Patterson.
Subs Not Used: Ciaran Gallagher (gk), Shay Dunlop, Sean Houston, Nathan Boyle, Ryan Curran.

Booked: Ryan McBride (17), Mark Timlin (60)

Athlone Town: Ryan Coulter; Brian Shorthall (Ian Sweeney 50), Derek Prendergast, Alan Byrne; Kevin Knight, Dylan Hayes, Mark Hughes, Eric Foley (James O’Brien 65), Kealan Dillon, Derek Doyle (Philip Gorman 76); Sean Brennan.
Subs Not Used: Paul Skinner, Aidan Collins, Stephen Dunne, Dean Ebbe

Booked: Kevin Knight (24), Alan Byrne (62), Mark Hughes (70), Sean Brennan (81)

Referee: Rob Harvey 

Attendance: 

Extratime.ie Man of The Match: Ryan Coulter (Athlone Town)