Dean Jarvis saved by the '˜Skinny' of his teeth!

Left-back, Jarvis, claimed he ‘fell asleep’ for Galway United’s goal on 24 minutes and was especially delighted when his teammate came to the rescue when he came off the bench.

Jarvis had allowed winger, Gary Shanahan, in behind him from a throw-in deep in the Derry half. And, when the winger crossed into the danger area, Kevin Devaney smashed the ball home.

So when Boyle netted on 75 minutes and, again, in stoppage time, Jarvis breathed a sigh of relief.

“It was sloppy from me for the goal,” admitted Jarvis. “I fell asleep and the boy threw the ball into the space over my head. I should probably have been a bit deeper.

“To be fair we didn’t let our heads drop and knew we would always get a chance. Thankfully, ‘Skinny’ got me out of trouble in the end,” he smiled.

“Nathan’s been chomping at the bit to get his chance and to see him celebrate was brilliant. For him, being a local lad, I was buzzing for him.”

It was, in fairness, a rare mistake from Jarvis which led to Galway’s goal and he’s formed part of an impressive back five for Derry so far this season.

The Brandywell lad was lauded for his performances last year and he’s certainly started this season where he left off last campaign.

And he feels Derry’s defensive unit have performed well in the last three games and he’s delighted with the character shown by the team to bounce back from the disastrous opening day defeat to Finn Harps.

“In the last three games, through open play, I don’t think Gerard (Doherty) has had any saves to make. I think he had a header late in the game against Cork and a goal against Galway.

“The back four have been playing reasonably well. We just have to brush up on a few things in set plays and we should be fine.

“It was a brilliant three points. We knew with the pitch and that it was going to be a scrappy game. and we just had to battle for everything.

“When we went 1-0 down we didn’t let the heads drop because we knew we would get a few chances. And when Nathan came on I thought he was brilliant getting in behind and he took his goals well.”

Despite the club sitting in third place, level on points with leaders Cork City on nine, Jarvis has called for calm heads as they face successive away games against Wexford and Dundalk.

“After the Finn Harps game there was a bit of doom and gloom but we knew ourselves the pitch was terrible and they just won the battle that day.

“The next three games we’ve been on top. We can’t get carried away with ourselves. We go down to Wexford now for the next match. They haven’t picked up any points and hopefully we can get the three points down there.”