Cork City victory gives Derry City belief going into Europa League tie: Kevin Deery

Two goals inside three second half minutes from Walter Figueira and Adam Hammill gave Derry the upper hand in the game after conceding a third minute goal from Arsenal loanee, Joseph Olowu.

Ibramhim Meite, who opened his account last weekend against Shelbourne, struck the post in the first half while substitute Stephen Mallon hit the woodwork in the second period.

And the Candy Stripes needed a magnificent save by Peter Cherrie to deny Cork debutante, Connor Simpson late on before sub, James Akintunde settled the nerves with a 95th minute stoppage time strike to seal three much needed points.

Overall it was a pleasing night for Declan Devine's troops and while Tuesday's Europa League tie remains in the balance due to Lithuania's Covid-19 travel restrictions, City's assistant boss, Deery believes the team is in good shape going into the competition.

"This result will give them belief that they can attack teams and score goals because I felt tonight we could've had five or six" said Deery. "We're delighted with the way we're going."

Considering Derry have let slip 1-0 leads against both Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne in their last two outings, Deery was delighted they showed character and didn't 'crumble' when going behind early.

"I'm delighted for the players because we've taken a couple of knocks," he said. "We were leading at Tolka Park and threw away a goal lead. We've taken that really badly behind the scenes.

"We want to win games and realise it's such a quick season so it's a big three points but that's all it is. We park it now.

"The players deserve credit the way they came out in the second half, not getting flustered and believing there were chances in the game. At the end of the first half I felt Cork were starting to get tired. We were getting on the front foot for long periods in the first half.

"There was no need for panic and we came out, got right after them and thankfully got two quick goals. We were holding on a bit. Subconsciously that's because we were leading against Shamrock Rovers and against Shels and got one point from six in those games.

"Peter (Cherrie) has made a great save and that's lifted us again and we went on to win 3-1.

"It was an excellent response. We conceded a goal and people are probably going, 'right what are Derry made of'. We know this group of players have character.

"They're probably disappointed with losing too many points from winning positions. Now we've come back from a goal down. When we got to 2-1, I think we did get a bit jittery again but that's human nature.

"Leading against Shamrock Rovers and losing the game; leading at Tolka Park and just getting a point - those results crept into it a bit."

There was plenty of promise in the performance but Deery agrees the team must learn to cut out the soft goals they've been conceding lately. After Ryan Brennan headed home an equaliser from a free-kick for Shelbourne at Tolka Park last weekend, another set-piece produced a goal for Cork on Friday night at Brandywell. And it's something the team has been working continuously on.

"We don't want to be giving away goals like that," agreed Deery. "The players know as well as we do. You can be caught in a catch '22 situation. Do you do too much work on it? We trust the players fully but we've got to nullify those poor goals.

"We had a great attacking threat tonight so we can get back into games and go on to win games. We will have a look back at the game and then move on. We've taken a bit of criticism at times but we're doing our best for this club and so are the players.

"We've got to learn quickly from the soft goals we're giving away but we showed enough quality tonight to get all three points so that's really pleasing and positive. We hit the bar twice and we there's real positive signs.

"Myself, Declan and the players know it's a quick season and we've got to accumulate points whenever we feel teams are here for the taking. We've done that tonight, We move onto the next game and go at the same way and that's what will happen over the next 13 weeks,"

While former Cork keeper, Peter Cherrie was at fault for the visitors' opener when failing to deal with Kevin O'Connor's free-kick, he redeemed himself with that spectacular save late on.

"I felt Peter's save at the end was a big lift for us," said Deery. "Peter is a top professional and that's why he's playing at the age he is.

"He's done brilliantly for us and we're delighted to have him here. I wouldn't want him to be too hard on himself - that would be our message.We got the three points and he was a big part of that.

"So tremendous credit to our players. To go one goal down and considering the couple of bumps we've had since we've come back from lockdown, they could've easily crumbled but they were ready to get three points on the board tonight."

When Cork went ahead in the game Derry dropped into a relegation play-off spot but at the final whistle they moved into fourth spot! It was a remarkable turnaround but evidence of how tight this truncated season will continue to be.

Deery claims he isn't looking at the table just yet, taking it 'one game at a time'.

"We just concentrate on three points. I don't look at league positions at the moment. We just concentrate on our opponents; can we beat them? How can we beat them? And we got the three points tonight. We've now got to move on to the next game.

"It's a credit to the players and how professional they've been. They never miss training sessions and we always have big numbers now. The guys are putting themselves forward for games.

"Ally Gilchrist has been very unfortunate because he's been a standout performer for us for a long time. We've big numbers and good players coming off the bench and we actually have a few players sitting in the stands now.

"That's what this club deserves. It deserves competition and it should be up at the top end of the table let's be honest about it.

"So they have to accept that pressure. They did tonight and we move on and look forward to the next game."