Derry City 1 - 1 St. Patrick's Athletic

• Ciaran Duffy
• Wed, Sep 23 2009


Derry City and St Pats Athletic played out a drab 1-1 tonight in the Brandywell in front of a crowd most notable for its’ general absence. Neither side showed much endeavour throughout this Setanta Cup Group 3 opener, par for the course for both sides in a season not abundant with highlights.

Tam McManus was eager and a handful throughout for the visitor’s defence, but this was not a match for the neutral as both teams simply looked to grind out a result. In the opening minutes McManus weaved his way through the St. Pat's defence, a statement of intent for the game to come, but sheer force of numbers in the box brought the move to a halt.

Ten minutes later McManus was at it again, this time lifting a shot across the face of goal. It couldn’t have been far away, but just enough for Brendan Clarke to breathe a huge sigh of relief in the Pat's goal.

St. Pat's really hadn’t shown up by this stage but, just after the half hour, captain Gary Dempsey and Mark Leech combined to show what they were capable of if given the chance. A short throw-in on the right and Dempsey’s neat turn showed Liam Kearney and Ger O’Brien a clean pair of heels. He cut inside on the edge of the Derry box and lifted the ball on to Leech whose snap shot was always rising but should have served as a wake-up call for the hosts.

Shortly before half time, Derry found the opener. From a corner, St. Pat's struggled to manage a clearance while Derry scrambled the ball around looking for a peek at goal. A reckless and probably needless challenge by John Lester brought Liam Kearney down and Thomas Stewart was only too delighted to slot the resultant penalty home into the bottom left corner.

Derry started the second half with a bit of gusto, but chances wasted by Kearney and then McManus would cost them later. Eddie McCallion, always keen to help out in attack, laid on the cross which wasn’t dealt with by Jason Gavin and Kearney, approaching at the back post, should have done better. McManus was also then wasteful with his over ambitious effort in the aftermath.

Brendan Clarke was forced into a finger tip save when Thomas Stewart’s corner swirled and looked like it was on its way in, and a little while later Tam McManus headed onto the cross bar but Derry were unable to find the goal which would surely have won the tie.

St. Pat's came to life then and soon made Derry pay. Alan Cawley on the 50th minute was the first St Pats player to test Gerard Doherty when his free kick from 25 yards got up and over the Derry wall. There was probably just too much dip on the shot, however, and it fell comfortably for the custodian.

Minutes later John Lester showed how it was done, though, when his 25 yard effort lobbed over the stranded Derry keeper and into the back of the net. Some lovely build up play here, with two dummied step-overs from Dempsey and Leech before Lester punished the hosts.

Derry pushed to find the winner and St. Pat's were happy to soak up the pressure with one eye on the counter attack, but the game remained tied at one apiece.

Linfield will have been happy enough with this result watching from the shadows.

Derry City: Doherty, McCallion, Hutton, McEleney, O’Brien, Stewart (Nash), Molloy, Higgins, Kearney, McManus, Farren (Scullion)
Subs unused: Jennings, Harkin, Morrow.

St Pats: Clarke, Gavin, Dempsey, Cawley, Maher, Lester (B. Ryan), D. Ryan, Leech, Haverty, Moran, Dowling.
Subs unused: Friemanis, O’Brien, Rogers.