- Chris McNulty
- Sat, Mar 29 2014
Goalkeepers Ger Doherty and Brendan Clarke were the heroes of the night as Derry City and St Patrick's Athletic played out a scoreless draw at the Brandywell on Friday night.
Neither side's season has clicked into gear yet, with Derry not having won this season and St Pat's, the defending champions, now without a victory in their last three competitive games.
Roddy Collins' promise that City would turn their draws into wins has yet to come to pass with three draws now from their first four outings.
For the most part Collins could be encouraged, at least, by the set up of his side, who have the appearance of a team that will be hard to break down this term.
That said, it was Liam Buckley's charges who left the Maiden City cursing a penalty that wasn't in the tenth minute.
A low shot from Chris Forrester was palmed out by Doherty. Christy Fagan was waiting to bounce when he was barged over by the Derry centre-back Ryan McBride.
To the amazement of Buckley, referee Paul McLaughlin waved away the Dubliners' appeals. It was a pivotal moment in the fixture but Derry themselves were left to curse two missed chances late in the evening.
Nine minutes from the end, Mark Stewart pounced on a Pat's lapse and centred for Rory Patterson. From a glorious position the Strabane man couldn't keep his shot down and the chance was gone.
Three and a half minutes into the four minutes of added time at the end, Derry could have sneaked it. Michael Duffy did well to work a chance, but the youngster saw his shot beaten away by Clarke.
Doherty had been the busier of the two netminders on his return between the Derry posts. The Derry ‘keeper missed the one-all draw in Drogheda because of hamstring injury, but he was back to take the place of Ciaran Gallagher for this one.
Collins had found the Derry rumour mill spinning into overdrive when Doherty's name wasn't on the roster in Drogheda after a week that saw Kevin Deery depart the club in controversial circumstances.
"I found myself at the centre of attention in relation to issues in and around our dressing room," Collins wrote in his programme notes. "As manager of Derry City I take my responsibility very seriously and I certainly am prepared to make decisions of the club, be they popular or not."
Derry had their moments with a 27th minute whipped cross-cum-shot by Mark Stewart flashing just wide with Patterson and Duffy both well placed at the far post.
Doherty was called into action when a daisy-cutter from Killian Brennan forced the Derry 'keeper to leap full-stretch and push the ball around the post with his finger tips.
Forrester was proving to be a real threat and, after a surging run from deep, he forced Doherty into another save.
On the hour, Greg Bolger teed up Forrester for another go, but Doherty was again equal to the effort, with the rebound spinning over off Cliff Byrne.
All the while, Pat's were wondering what might have been with their early penalty shout and as they headed back to the capital it was the moment of the night that was foremost in their minds.
Derry City: Ger Doherty; Roddy Collins jnr, Cliff Byrne, Ryan McBride (Aaron Barry 77), Dean Jarvis; Mark Stewart, Danny Ventre, Barry Molloy, Michael Duffy; Patrick McEleney (Enda Curran 58); Rory Patterson.
Subs not used: Ciaran Gallagher, Jon Paul McGovern, Mark Timlin, Ryan Curran, David Elebert.
Booked: P McEleney (23), Collins jnr (56), McBride (67), Ventre (72).
St Patrick's Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Ger O'Brien, Ken Oman (Sean Hoare 29), Kenny Browne, Ian Bermingham; Conan Byrne, Chris Forrester, Greg Bolger, Killian Brennan; Mark Quigley (James Chambers 61), Christy Fagan.
Subs not used: Pat Jennings, Lorcan Fitzgerald, Lee Lynch, Conor McCormick, Daryl Kavanagh.
Booked: C Byrne (44), Hoare (84)
Referee: Paul McLaughlin (Monaghan)
Attendance: 1,500 (estimate)
Extratime Man of the Match: Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic).
