Declan Devine's pride as Derry City respond to 'disrespect' and criticism

And so the City boss was justifiably ‘proud’ of his players who, he felt, deserve credit for the guts shown three days later as they bounced back with a convincing victory over St Patrick’s Athletic at Inchicore.

“We showed character, personal pride from a bunch of players who received a lot of disrespect over the last 48 hours and who had a point to prove,” said a delighted Devine on Monday night.

“I think the players deserve huge credit. Not only was I hurting but they, more importantly, were hurting all weekend.

“We took the criticism which rightly came our way. When you represent this club you have to perform better than what we did on Friday.

“Tonight I think they answered a few critics.”

Friday night’s performance against a previously pointless Sligo side inspired little hope Derry - still missing THREE of its new signings through Covid-19 quarantine rules - could get their season back on the road at Richmond Park.

And yet the Candy Stripes, strengthened by the addition of new signing James Akintunde who lead the line admirably, produced a professional performance full of desire, determination and that little bit of quality when needed.

For those who witnessed Friday’s defeat it was a surprising and an equally impressive turnaround from City but Devine was never in doubt of his team’s capabilities.

And with the imminent additions of Jake Dunwoody, Adam Hammill, Ibrahim Meite and Darren Cole - who made the bench on Friday after 11 months on the sidelines with an ACL - Devine expects more to come from his team in the coming weeks.

“I think there’s more in us,” he said. “It was very good and I think we’ll get better than that as well.

"When we get the new guys back into the squad I think we’ll be even better again.

“Every single player tonight deserves credit from Peter Cherrie right through to Conor Clifford and Ciaron Harkin who came off the bench

“They really dug in and worked hard. When you work hard you tend to get your rewards.

“I think the group will certainly be stronger over the next four or five, maybe six days.”

Former Maidenhead United striker, Akintunde was cleared to play and made a significant difference to Derry’s attacking options against Stephen O’Donnell’s men.

His strength, pace and willingness to get in behind the Saints defence provided the attacking outlet which was so glaringly lacking on Friday night.

Devine’s failure to secure the signing of Georgie Kelly from the grasp of St Pat’s and last season’s top scorer, Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe who opted for Sligo, didn’t go down well with sections of the City support.

And yet two of his most recent additions, Joe Thomson and Akintunde produced hugely encouraging performances against the Saints.

Devine’s message was to have faith in the work of Technical Director, Paddy McCourt and himself who have, on the evidence of Monday, done their due diligence in terms of bringing players to the club.

“James is a good player,” he declared. “Everyone is concerned with one or two players that we’ve missed out on but Akintunde was always a player we wanted to bring to the club.

“We know about him, we know what kind of character he is. We know his strengths and he’s got a lot of strengths,.

“He’s good with his back to goal, he holds it up well and is willing to run in behind and he’s a good finisher. I’m delighted for James.

“And I’m delighted for each and every player who made their way here tonight with a focus and a point to prove. All in all it was a good performance and a good three points.”

Akintunde expertly finished a lovely move from Derry five minutes into the second half as he turned Jack Malone’s pass past Brendan Clarke and into the corner of the net for a debut goal!

City skipper, Conor McCormack, back in his more accustomed central midfield berth, was outstanding as he drove Derry on and hustled and hurried the Pat’s midfield throughout the 94 minutes.

He curled City’s second into the corner of the net - his first goal in four years for the club - to seal a well deserved win after 73 minutes.

Peter Cherrie, largely untroubled during the 90 minutes, needed to be alert as he produced a sensational double save at point blank range deep into stoppage time to deny St Pat’s sub, Martin Rennie and ensure a clean sheet and second league win of the campaign.

It sets the Candy Stripes up nicely for Sunday’s meeting with league leaders, Shamrock Rovers who visit Brandywell.

“I’m really happy but I think we have to keep going and pushing on.

“The games are coming thick and fast and we have Shamrock Rovers at the Brandywell on Sunday which is another huge test for us.”