Adam O'Reilly says 'sensational' new Brandywell is pitch perfect

ADAM O'Reilly insists there can be 'no more excuses' about the Brandywell pitch as Derry City begin life on their 'sensational' new £1.4 million grass hybrid surface when Drogheda United visit Foyleside.

Drogheda were, of course, the last visitors to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium back on March 20th in a 2-2 draw as Derry played their next five 'home' fixtures at Find Insurance Celtic Park less than 400 yards up the road in an historic temporary move to the home of Derry GAA.

The stunning new Brandywell Stadium pitch this week ahead of Friday night's visit of Drogheda.

placeholder image — The stunning new Brandywell Stadium pitch this week ahead of Friday night's visit of Drogheda.

Incredibly just three months later Drogheda returns, and the controversial artificial pitch has been replaced by a state-of-the-art hybrid reinforced surface now considered one of the best in the country.

The Lone Moor Road venue has been transformed in the past couple of seasons thanks to the generous investment from chairman Philip O'Doherty who funded the magnificent £3million North Stand and now the 'world-class' grass pitch with an English Premier League-style sprinkler system which elevates the Council-owned facility to the next level.

Adam O'Reilly of Derry City in action against Cory O'Sullivan of Shamrock Rovers during the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Shamrock Rovers and Derry City at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Adam Russell/Sportsfile

Derry City's first team squad walked around the new pitch on Wednesday morning and had a light training session on Thursday and midfielder O'Reilly certainly gave it his seal of approval.

"I don't think I've seen a pitch as good as that in my life," he enthused. "It gives you a buzz to play on a surface like that.

"There are no more excuses at all now with the pitch because this one is sensational. I'd like to think we can play some exciting football on it."

The unpredictable bounce of the much-maligned 4G and its strong correlation with injuries hindered Derry's success on the pitch and their ability to attract players to the club.

A general view of the newly laid hybrid pitch of The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ahead of the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Derry City and Bohemians at Derry City's temporary home Find Insurance Celtic Park in Derry. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

O'Reilly hopes Derry can now immediately benefit from having a pitch that rivals Tallaght Stadium and the Aviva.

"When we were playing on the astro you never knew where the ball was going to bounce so obviously it will be more consistent on a well watered pitch that's like a carpet. So it's great to be finally on it.

"You saw even when we went down to Tallaght on Monday. When you're on a really good pitch like that you kind of trust yourself more. Whereas on the astro you're more worried about where the ball is going to go.

"When you play on a pitch like this it puts your mind at ease. You can sense where the ball will go.

"It will give us a good boost," he predicted. "It should create a bit more excitement around Derry. Obviously coming into the first game on that pitch. So everyone should be really excited for it.”

Drogheda will be arriving to spoil the party with an away win which would close the gap on sixth place Derry to a single point.

Tiernan Lynch has won just once in seven previous meetings with Drogheda as City boss – a 3-0 victory at Brandywell in June last year.

“They're a tough team to play against but the standard we set against Rovers has to be every game until the end of the season , that's the bear minimum,” said O’Reilly. “When we come up against Drogheda on Friday we need to keep our confidence going and trust ourselves on the ball and take chances. Some sort of luck has to come our way as well. Even like against Rovers, I hit the crossbar. On another day it could’ve went in, so I'm hoping things change in our favour now.”