Deery strike eases financial worries
Credit:
KEVIN Deery wrote the latest chapter of Derry City's European crusade with the winner last night against Skonto Riga at the Brandywell.
The midfielder's fortuitous 54th minute goal, a €90,000 strike for the Candystripes, will help ease the recent financial burdens of the club and the 24-year old admitted afterwards that the City players knew they were playing for their very futures.
Following the loss of two major sponsors lately, Derry were plunged into financial uncertainty, but with advancement in Europe comes an ease of the worries at least.
Derry followed up a fine 1-1 away draw in Riga a week ago with a narrow defeat in Sunday's top-of-the-table clash with Bohemians at Dalymount Park. But Derry fans are doing the 'European Dance' all the way to Bulgaria next week after Deery paved the way before 2,200 fans last night.
He said: "It's like any job if you think you're not going to get paid. You have to give it your all and I think maybe on Sunday (versus Bohemians) we were a bit distracted with going out there to Latvia and getting a positive result. We were a bit flat in Bohs and we should have given a better account if ourselves. Tonight, we were thinking 'this is our livelyhoods, this is our future' so we had to put in a big performance. I think we deserved to go through."
Deery's goal might not be up there with his pair of stunning strikes in 2006 in a 5-1 win over Gretna, but last night's was just as important. After the chance opened up, Deery let fly and it found the bottom corner with goalkeeper Germans Malins left with head in hands, after the stopper, thinking Deery's effort was going wide, let it run.
There was a momentary pause as supporters, and some of the participants took stock of what just happened.
Deery said: "Wee Eddie (McCallion) went on an overlap and took the defender away, so I said to myself 'I'll have a wee pop here'. I caught it cleanly enough, but it didn't rise, it just trickled along.
"The 'keeper must have just thought it was going wide. I knew it was going in, so I turned away, but I don't think anyone else did. I was waiting on someone to celebrate with me, but I was on my own for about ten seconds and Eddie was still getting onto me for not passing! The boys got around me then."
"I scored two crackers against Gretna and they've been well documented, but you take them all. I always say if you don't shoot you don't score in football. If it opens up you have a shot and luckily for me I scored a wee fluky one tonight. I don't mind what way they go in, as long as they go in." Much of the spadework was done out in Riga last week when Tam McManus struck an equaliser just before half-time to cancel out Junior Carvalho's opener.
Deery was one of three players redrafted into the starting eleven from the first leg, but he was quick to praise those who had laid the foundations. He said: "There was a lot of hard work done out there with getting the away goal too. I think we put in a great shift and it was down to the whole squad. The likes of Steven Gray and Ciaran Martyn weren't playing tonight, but they put in a great shift out there. Stephen (Kenny) freshened it up tonight, playing a few other boys. The hard work was done out there and we seen it out tonight. We got behind the ball when we had to and we used the ball well in the second half."
The turnaround to the next round is sharp. In six days' time, Derry will be in action away to CSKA Sofia in the first leg of their third Qualifying Round tie and Deery feels that the Bulgarians will be a step up. But with a packed Brandywell roaring them on, he knows that City are up for the challenge if they can, at least, keep the tie alive before the second leg in Derry. He said: "I would say that they'll be very good technically. Obviously it will be warm out there, but hopefully we can go out and get a positive result to keep the tie alive and bring them back here. If we can get that sort of passionate crowd behind us again, who knows?
"They're only in pre-season so I'm sure we'll be just as fit as them. Obviously we'll be more match-sharp, but they'll be athletes, they'll be strong boys and technically very good. But if we can get after them and put it up to them, I think we can keep it alive, bring it back here and have a go." Derry join St Patrick's Athletic in the next phase as the League of Ireland's representatives on the big stage. But for a stroke of bad fortune for Bohs on Wednesday night, it could have been three out of three for Irish clubs in Europe - a far cry from the dark ages of regular beatings on foreign climbs. "The top four or five - and this is no disrespect to the rest - the likes of ourselves, Cork, Shamrock Rovers, Bohs and Pats's are more than capable of holding their own," said Kevin Deery.
"They'll never get thrashed six and seven. We'll go out there next week and give our all. If we could nick an away goal it would be great, but mainly we're after a positive result."
The midfielder's fortuitous 54th minute goal, a €90,000 strike for the Candystripes, will help ease the recent financial burdens of the club and the 24-year old admitted afterwards that the City players knew they were playing for their very futures.
Following the loss of two major sponsors lately, Derry were plunged into financial uncertainty, but with advancement in Europe comes an ease of the worries at least.
Derry followed up a fine 1-1 away draw in Riga a week ago with a narrow defeat in Sunday's top-of-the-table clash with Bohemians at Dalymount Park. But Derry fans are doing the 'European Dance' all the way to Bulgaria next week after Deery paved the way before 2,200 fans last night.
He said: "It's like any job if you think you're not going to get paid. You have to give it your all and I think maybe on Sunday (versus Bohemians) we were a bit distracted with going out there to Latvia and getting a positive result. We were a bit flat in Bohs and we should have given a better account if ourselves. Tonight, we were thinking 'this is our livelyhoods, this is our future' so we had to put in a big performance. I think we deserved to go through."
Deery's goal might not be up there with his pair of stunning strikes in 2006 in a 5-1 win over Gretna, but last night's was just as important. After the chance opened up, Deery let fly and it found the bottom corner with goalkeeper Germans Malins left with head in hands, after the stopper, thinking Deery's effort was going wide, let it run.
There was a momentary pause as supporters, and some of the participants took stock of what just happened.
Deery said: "Wee Eddie (McCallion) went on an overlap and took the defender away, so I said to myself 'I'll have a wee pop here'. I caught it cleanly enough, but it didn't rise, it just trickled along.
"The 'keeper must have just thought it was going wide. I knew it was going in, so I turned away, but I don't think anyone else did. I was waiting on someone to celebrate with me, but I was on my own for about ten seconds and Eddie was still getting onto me for not passing! The boys got around me then."
"I scored two crackers against Gretna and they've been well documented, but you take them all. I always say if you don't shoot you don't score in football. If it opens up you have a shot and luckily for me I scored a wee fluky one tonight. I don't mind what way they go in, as long as they go in." Much of the spadework was done out in Riga last week when Tam McManus struck an equaliser just before half-time to cancel out Junior Carvalho's opener.
Deery was one of three players redrafted into the starting eleven from the first leg, but he was quick to praise those who had laid the foundations. He said: "There was a lot of hard work done out there with getting the away goal too. I think we put in a great shift and it was down to the whole squad. The likes of Steven Gray and Ciaran Martyn weren't playing tonight, but they put in a great shift out there. Stephen (Kenny) freshened it up tonight, playing a few other boys. The hard work was done out there and we seen it out tonight. We got behind the ball when we had to and we used the ball well in the second half."
The turnaround to the next round is sharp. In six days' time, Derry will be in action away to CSKA Sofia in the first leg of their third Qualifying Round tie and Deery feels that the Bulgarians will be a step up. But with a packed Brandywell roaring them on, he knows that City are up for the challenge if they can, at least, keep the tie alive before the second leg in Derry. He said: "I would say that they'll be very good technically. Obviously it will be warm out there, but hopefully we can go out and get a positive result to keep the tie alive and bring them back here. If we can get that sort of passionate crowd behind us again, who knows?
"They're only in pre-season so I'm sure we'll be just as fit as them. Obviously we'll be more match-sharp, but they'll be athletes, they'll be strong boys and technically very good. But if we can get after them and put it up to them, I think we can keep it alive, bring it back here and have a go." Derry join St Patrick's Athletic in the next phase as the League of Ireland's representatives on the big stage. But for a stroke of bad fortune for Bohs on Wednesday night, it could have been three out of three for Irish clubs in Europe - a far cry from the dark ages of regular beatings on foreign climbs. "The top four or five - and this is no disrespect to the rest - the likes of ourselves, Cork, Shamrock Rovers, Bohs and Pats's are more than capable of holding their own," said Kevin Deery.
"They'll never get thrashed six and seven. We'll go out there next week and give our all. If we could nick an away goal it would be great, but mainly we're after a positive result."
About Chris McNulty
Chris McNulty is one of extratime's Northwest correspondents, covering Finn Harps and Derry City. Has worked as a sports writer with the Donegal News since 2007. View Full Profile