League Report: Derry City 3 - 0 Shamrock Rovers

A fast start from Derry City meant the Candystripes went top of the SSE Airtricity Premier Division on Friday Night with a 3-0 win over Shamrock Rovers. 

Kenny Shiels described Ronan Curtis as an ‘apprentice’ of the game a few weeks ago, but the young talent stayed calm after just one minute and gave his side the lead.

The onslaught of attacks didn’t stop there and Derry continued to pile on the pressure against a Rovers defence who were struggling with the tempo set by Derry’s frontline.

After 20 minutes Derry reaped the rewards when a fast paced ball was crossed across the Hoops box was met with a bustling header from Harry Monaghan to make it 2-0.

Pat Fenlon’s team struggled to create any chances in the first half and almost went behind again when Rory Patterson tried a cheeky lob from distance, but goalkeeper Barry Murphy on his 250th competitive appearance for Rovers dealt with it well by tipping it away from goal.

It wasn’t long before Patterson was in behind the Rovers defence again, this time putting the ball in the back of the net, only to be denied by the linesman for offside after 34 minutes.

Shamrock Rovers finally played their first piece of attacking football after 37 minutes, but were closed down quickly when full back Dean Jarvis intercepted the ball to snuff out the chance.

The Hoops changed their backline at half time, bringing on David Webster for David O’Connor, to try and steady the ship at the back.

However, it went from bad to worse for the Dublin side after 56 minutes when substitute Webster brought down Rory Patterson inside the area and the referee was left with no choice but to award the penalty.

Patterson scored from the penalty spot and gave his side their third of the night, and also boosted his impressive record to 66 goals in 100 appearances.

Shiels' side settled for the 3-0 win after 80 minutes and continued to close out the Rovers attack, on what was a very solid performance from Ryan McBride and Aaron Barry once again.

Another win for Derry City makes it five wins in six matches, but Kenny Shiels is adamant his side wont get carried away. “It’s early days, you know? We’re just trying to do things together and see were it takes us and if we go with that attitude, we’ll do okay.”

Derry City: Gerard Doherty; Niclas Vemmelund, Ryan McBride, Aaron Barry (Patrick McClean 90), Dean Jarvis; Aaron McEneff, Harry Monaghan; Ronan Curtis, Barry McNamee (Conor McDermott 88), Keith Ward (Nathan Boyle 81); Rory Patterson.

Subs not used: Shaun Patton (GK), Jordan Allan, Ryan Doherty, Gareth McFadden. 

Booked: Harry Monaghan (85). 

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, David O’Connor (David Webster, 46), Max Blanchard, Gavin Brennan, Patrick Cregg (Trevor Clarke 75); Brandon Miele, Michael Drennan, Gary McCabe, Killian Brennan; Danny North (Gareth McCafferty 64).

Subs not used: Craig Hyland (GK), Rob Cornwall, Stephen McPhail, Richie Purdy.

Yellow Cards: Max Blanchard (28), Killian Brennan (73). 

Referee: David McKeon.

Attendance: 2,000 (estimate)

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Rory Patterson (Derry City)

You can see John-Paul McGinley's pictures from the game by clicking here.