Declan Devine gutted but won't dwell on Derry City's defeat to Dundalk

It was the toughest of fixtures to kick-start the 100th League of Ireland campaign and, with Devine naming five debutantes in his starting XI, it was always going to be a tall order to topple the champions. As the City boss put it afterwards: “We’ll not be judged on coming away to Dundalk.”

The first time Derry defeated Dundalk at Oriel Park on the opening day of the League of Ireland season the Candy Stripes went on to win the treble but they couldn’t quite conjure up the spirit of the famous 89ers despite the presence of the legendary Jim McLaughlin who was sitting in the stand, not far from his talisman, Liam Coyle who was on co-commentary duties with the BBC.

The champions were 4/9 to kick their title defence off with victory and despite being held by both Bray (2018) and Sligo Rovers (2019) on their last two opening nights at Oriel Park, Derry weren’t expected to cause an early upset given they had failed to defeat Vinny Perth’s men on six occasions last year.

And yet the game was on a knife edge for large periods as Derry’s game-plan of soaking up pressure and hitting Dundalk on the counter attack had their hosts rattled.

It wasn’t until a momentary lapse in concentration at a set-piece on 78 minutes that Dundalk pounced to fire past Peter Cherrie to undo all the solid defensive work up until that point.

Dundalk had almost 65 per cent of possession and looked dangerous at set-pieces throughout with the aerial threat posed by Pat Hoban but Derry had contained them well, led by the excellent Eoin Toal and marshalled superbly by Conor McCormack.

Debutante striker, Tim Nilsen had arguably the best chance of the match on 55 minutes but was denied at close range by a terrific save from Gary Rogers.

Daniel Kelly rattled the City crossbar during a dominant Dundalk spell while Cherrie produced a stunning save to tip new Dundalk signing, Cammy Smith’s long range strike over the bar.

Dundalk, as they so often do, ramped up the pressure during the closing stages and from substitute, Jordan Flores’ out-swinging corner kick, Massey peeled off Danny Lupano and swept home the winner from 12 yards.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Devine but the Creggan man was delighted with the workrate of the players who showed admirable resolve against a Lilywhites team who remain the benchmark.

“We’re absolutely gutted but I want to sit back and reflect over the weekend and we will want to take a lot of positives out of this,” he said. “It’s the first game of the season. There are 35 games to go and we’ve got to make sure every game takes care of itself.

“If we keep getting the same application, the same buy-in and the same desire then we will be alright. We’ll not be judged on coming away to Dundalk.

"We’ve got to make sure we win our next game. Last year we didn’t lose two in the spin and we’ve got to make sure we don’t do it again this year.

“It’s not that long ago every time Dundalk played Derry they were hitting the four or five. Tonight when they came off the pitch they knew they got a right good game. We had a couple of half chances towards the end to sneak an equaliser but I’m delighted with the signings we’ve brought to the club.

“I’m delighted with the bite and application and their willingness to try and get something from the game. There’s a lot of disappointing people in the changing room and that shows how far we’ve come. in such a short period of time.”

Dundalk had a familiar look to their starting line-up with ex-Dundee United forward, Smith being the only new signing handed a full debut. While McCormack, who led Derry out as skipper, Conor Clifford and Walter Figueira all had previous League of Ireland experience, Lupano and Nilsen were handed their first taste of Irish football in a new-look City side.

It will take time for the team to blend together so they can take confidence from taking Dundalk so close on their home patch. On April 10th when Dundalk next visit Brandywell, we should have a better idea about the progress being made in terms of bridging that 29 point gap from last season.

Devine won’t dwell on the result and he’s determined to get off the mark when rivals Finn Harps visit Foyleside next Friday night.

“I’m absolutely gutted because I think our game-plan for a long part of the game was working quite well. We decided we were going to sit off Dundalk and let them try to break us down. They didn’t break us down at all.

“Peter Cherrie has made one good save. We’re coming to a place everyone gets it tough. We’re frustrated but I can’t ask for more. I think for long periods tonight we were quite comfortable.

"We’ve got players on the pitch who could hurt them on the counter attack. I can’t complain one bit. It’s so hard to take. Part of the game is that you have to be happy to defend sometimes and we were happy to defend.

“We’re gutted we lost the game but on the flip side I’m absolutely delighted with the application of the players. I thought there was a lot of really good performances. Eoin Toal, McCormack, Danny Lupano, Tim Nilsen, I could go through them all.

There was a lot of good players on the pitch and we will get back on the training ground on Sunday and make sure we’re ready for next week. We’ve made a mistake and got punished against a very good side.

"We’ve got to make sure we take a lot of credit out of the game ourselves.

“The troops will be grand. The derby game will take care of itself. We will digest this one, They’re a brilliant bunch of lads and the secret is to make sure we don’t lose two games on the spin this year. It’s key in this league. It doesn’t matter who you are playing, you’ve got to make sure if you lose a game you get back on the horse and make sure you don’t lose the next one.”

“I think the fans have seen the layers empty the tank tonight, I think they’ve seen real commitment and desire in that shirt again. It wasn’t so long ago I came down here and done a game and Derry were beat 4-0 and there was absolutely zero commitment. Tonight our players put their bodies on the line, worked themselves to real high levels of intensity and everyone in the changing room is absolutely disgusted that we lost the game.”