Declan Devine curses bad luck as Shamrock Rovers punish Derry City mistakes

Walter Figueira’s opening goal had its own slice of fortune as the winger’s cross sailed past the head of Roberto Lopes and nestled into the corner of the net after 36 minutes to give the home side an unlikely lead.

Shamrock Rovers, who moved six points clear at the top of the table, had bossed possession up until that goal but Derry marshalled the league leaders well with a disciplined display as Devine’s game-plan worked a charm and they looked on course for a first league win over the Tallaght men since August 2017.

That was until their luck deserted them on 78 minutes when Rovers’ substitutes, Rory Gaffney and Dean Williams combined and when the latter’s glancing header rebounded back off the far post it hit the face of the unfortunate Colm Horgan and found its way into the net for the equaliser.

Four minutes later another Rovers sub, Graham Burke crossed low into the six yard area and when the ball bobbled up Lopes pounced to steer it past the helpless Peter Cherrie as the game turned on its head.Cherrie had produced an excellent reaction save at point blank range to deny Williams what looked a certain goal before that and his opposite number Alan Mannus denied Derry a point deep into stoppage time with two outstanding saves from Ciaron Harkin and Eoin Toal.

It was hard to take for Devine and his troops as the team slumped back into seventh spot after a fourth defeat in the opening seven games of the campaign.

However, despite the concession of two ‘crazy’ goals, the City manager felt there were plenty of positives to take from the performance against a Rovers side brimming with talent.

"That’s’ what good teams do to you - they wait for that one mistake,” said Devine. “Unfortunately we made two in quick succession. You can’t underestimate the luck as well. “We didn’t have any luck at all. It came off the post and hit our right back up the face and went into the goal.

"That’s luck! We go up the other end of the pitch, we hit the crossbar and it comes back out and Mannus makes a brilliant save. So there was a bit of luck involved as well but we switched off twice and got punished.

“I think the players deserved a bit more,” added Devine. “I said after the last match at the Brandywell against Sligo Rovers we were disappointed in our individual performances. I thought tonight our performance was very good.

“James Akintunde has been getting pain killers all week. He hasn’t been able to train one second since St Pat’s. He epitomises what that performance was about. He took painkillers before and during the match and now he’s in bad shape there.

"The players worked extremely hard but look, we’ve lost the game and have to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again. Our game plan was excellent, our willingness to go without the ball was very good. But we switched off twice and got punished and we can’t afford that.

“The game changed so quickly. You’re holding on to a 1-0 win and your shape and balance is good and all of a sudden you give away a crazy goal. Your substitutes change and you’re then fighting to pick up a point. It was a difficult night. Ultimately we have a good account of ourselves.

"But they were two crazy goals to give away. One from a corner and one from the first cross they’ve put in all night. So it’s disappointing but it’s more for the players and supporters as we were so close tonight but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

"There’s a lot of football still to be played and if we can get that level of performance I’ve no doubt we can have a successful year.”

Stephen Bradley has an embarrassment of riches in his squad and his ability to bring on the attacking ability of Burke, Neil Farrugia and Gaffney helped turn the game in the Dubliners’ favour.

“I think we brought a lot of quality on as well,” responded Devine. “We brought on people like Stephen Mallon, Ciaron Harkin and Adam Hammill onto the pitch. Yes, we have to get them up on their fitness levels and everything else. Yes, Rovers were good but so were we.

“We were good without the ball. We have to strive to get better but I think the players deserved huge credit. They’ve had a real tough week. “Mentally, losing to Sligo was a big one for us but our performance on Monday and tonight, we’ve got to take the positives and believe in ourselves a bit more.

"If this is the benchmark in Irish football then tonight we weren’t a million miles away.”We showed good character. Peter (Cherrie) made a wonderful save tonight as well but Mannus constantly does that to us here. He saved a penalty here last year. He’s made a wonderful save and we’ve hit the bar.

“We will reflect on the game. I think there’s a lot of positives and the players have put in some energy tonight in difficult conditions against a fantastic team. We’re hurting but we’ve got to make sure we don’t hurt too much."

Last season’s FAI Cup champions are hot-favourites to clinch a first league title since 2011 after Dundalk’s defeat to Bohemians at the weekend but assistant boss, Stephen McPhail isn’t making any bold predictions.

"We just wanted to put this one to bed and look towards next weekend. We just want to try and win every game. There’s no talk of the title yet - that’s the last thing we’ll talk about. “There’s plenty of teams behind us who are very good and we respect all of them . So we won’t be speaking about that. We just look forward to the next game.”

McPhail was delighted to get a tough trip to Brandywell out of the way as they looked towards the meeting with St Pat’s up next.

"We watched Derry against St Pat’s and they put in a great shift down at Inchicore so we knew we would be up against it. Every time we’ve come up here it’s never easy.

“But we dug in and found a way to win which is important and we’re just delighted to come away with the three points.”

While Rovers battle it out with Dundalk and potentially Bohs in the title race, Devine claims he isn’t interested in who lifts the trophy at the end of the season as long as his side closes the gap on the league’s top teams.

"I don’t care,” responded Devine when asked if he felt his side lost to the champions elect. “I really don’t care! Good luck to them and good luck to whoever is going for league titles. “All I’m concerned with is getting us up to that level. Whoever wins it will deserve it. We’ve got to understand they’re a fantastic side and we took them to the death tonight. Ultimately we came up short but the players deserve huge credit.”

On the back of an impressive display in the 2-0 win over St Pat’s last Monday night at Richmond Park, there are certainly plenty of positives to take. Former Barnsley star, Adam Hammill made his first appearance in the Candystripes against Rovers while Darren Cole made his first return in 11 months since recovering from an ACL injury as a second half substitute.

As his squad begins to take shape, Devine will be confident Derry can climb back up the table and into those coveted European spots but he’s got a tough assignment at Tolka Park this Saturday against Shelbourne who sit two points above them in sixth.

"It’s great to have Darren back, what a great addition he will be moving forward as will Adam when he’s fit. A lot of players there tonight expended a lot of energy but there’s a lot of good happening at this football club at the minute.”