Derry City face final day drama after Shamrock Rovers defeat

DERRY CITY must go to relegated Cork City on Monday night in search of a point which will secure Premier Division safety after defeat to champions Shamrock Rovers in their penultimate game of the season at Tallaght Stadium.

A stunning second half Graham Burke free-kick and a 90th minute strike from substitute, Aaron Greene handed Rovers victory to keep alive their hopes of finishing the season unbeaten ahead of a trip to Shelbourne who will be fighting it out with Derry and Finn Harps to avoid the relegation play-off on the final day of the season.

It was Derry's eighth league defeat of the 2020 campaign which ultimately ended their outside hopes of qualifying for Europe next season through their league position and now they travel to Turner's Cross on a mission to avoid being dragged into trouble.

The Candy Stripes remain in seventh spot going into Monday's final round of fixtures level on 19 points with Shelbourne and two ahead of North West rivals Harps who take on Waterford at Ballybofey hoping to avoid a relegation play-off against Longford Town.

There was so much controversy surrounding this game in south Dublin, originally pencilled in for October 16th but postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Rovers squad.

The Derry camp were then hit with an outbreak of the virus with the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency advising the entire squad to stand down and self-isolate meaning the club couldn't fulfil the rearranged fixture on October 28th.

It took the FAI Disciplinary Committee to rule Derry should go unpunished for their failure to play the fixture and the league quickly rescheduled the fixture for a second time.

It was Derry's first game since their 2-0 home victory over Shelbourne on October 23rd and after that long lay-off it was the first of two away trips in the space of three days to conclude the 2020 campaign.

Declan Devine made just the one change to the team which started in that win over Shels with Darren Cole recovering from injury to reclaim a starting berth at the expense of Colm Horgan.

Horgan was one of several players missing from the squad alongside Ally Gilchrist, Ibrahim Meite and Stephen Mallon.

Rovers, playing their fourth league match in seven days, made four changes from the team held scoreless by St Pat's last Wednesday night.

Ireland international, Jack Byrne returned to the starting line-up alongside Roperto Lopes, former Derry full-back Danny Lafferty and Dean Williams as Aaron Greene, Sean Kavanagh, Rhys Marshall and the suspended Joey O'Brien made way.

City performed a guard of honour for the champions, including ex-Candy Stripes McEneff and Lafferty, before kick-off with the SSE Airtricity Premier Division trophy proudly on display in the centre circle.

Predictably both teams were slow to find any sort of rhythm given Derry's two week lay-off and Rovers' heavy fixture schedule.

However on nine minutes a long ball upfield was deftly diverted into the path of Byrne after a neat first touch from Dean Williams. The talented Byrne raced towards goal and cut back in on his right foot before playing a dangerous ball across the face of the six yard box towards Williams but Cameron McJannett read it superbly and cut out the danger.

Walter Figueira did well after latching onto an excellent pass from Conor Clifford to take it past Lopes on the right wing but there was no one to meet his first time cross into the penalty area and Rovers eventually cleaned up.

Derry were fortunate Rovers couldn't take full advantage of a slip by McCormack just inside the visitors' penalty box as Burke drove towards goal from a tight angle and his attempted pass towards Ronan Finn was cut out crucially by the outstretched leg of Peter Cherrie on 25 minutes.

McEneff then tried his luck moments later after linking up with Lafferty on the left but his shot from 25 yards went wide of the target.

The Hoops were ramping up the pressure and McEneff's shot from the right side of the Derry penalty area was deflected behind for a corner. From the resultant set-piece Lee Grace's looping header sailed wide of the net on the half hour mark.

On 35 minutes Lafferty played a wayward pass back towards his own penalty area which went direct to Jack Malone with Alan Mannus out of position and the Top of the Hill man's shot on the turn was deflected narrowly past the far post as Lopes got a vital touch on it.

Derry had a lucky escape as Rovers upped the ante with five minutes of the half remaining. Burke exchanged passes with McEneff before striking the far post with an excellent shot with the outside of his boot.

The ball bounced back into the path of Byrne who was in acres of space but his shot hit the midriff of Burke inside a crowded penalty area before Cherrie eventually managed to clear the danger.

Derry were camped into their own half with Figueira the only player in the opposition half as the first half drew to a close, neither team able to break the deadlock.

The visitors were forced into a reshuffle at the start of the second half as the injured Cole was replaced by Gerardo Bruna and Malone slotted into the right-back position.

Rovers were first to threaten from a Byrne corner kick on the right 60 seconds into the half and Grace managed to get away from McJannett but couldn't get his header on target.

The champions hit Derry on a quick counter attack and when the ball was spread wide to McEneff the midfielder got past Malone and from a tight angle he tried to place the ball into the far corner but it just shaved the back post and went wide with Cherrie beaten.

Byrne's crossfield pass found the feet of Burke in space on the right side and he cut inside on his left foot before drilling his shot into the side netting on 55 minutes.

Clifford fouled Lafferty on the edge of the Derry penalty box and Burke stepped up to fire a terrific free-kick high into the net past Cherrie at the near post for a deserved lead on 58 minutes.

The Dubliners had two excellent chances to extend their lead in the space of 60 seconds as it threatened to unravel for a jaded Derry side.

Substitutes Sean Kavanagh and Aaron Greene combined with the latter forcing a fine save from Cherrie who got a foot to the ball. Kavanagh was again in the thick of the action as he found McEneff at the near post and the midfielder's effort clipped the top of the bar before going behind.

Greene then secured three thoroughly deserved points for Rovers in stoppage time with a clinical left footed strike into the corner.

Shamrock Rovers: A. Mannus; L. Scales, L. Grace, R. Lopes, D. Lafferty (S. Kavanagh 63); R. Finn (M. Murphy 63), D. Watts (D. Nugent 76), A. McEneff, J. Byrne, D. Williams (T. Oluwa 76), G. Burke (A. Greene 63); Subs Not Used - L. Pohls, R. Marshall.

Derry City: P. Cherrie; D. Cole (G. Bruna h-t), E. Toal, C. McJannett, C. Coll; A. Hammill (J. Akintunde 69), C. Clifford (J. Dunwoody 69), C. McCormack, J. Malone ; J. Thomson (C. Harkin 69); W. Figueira (P. Ferry 80); Subs Not Used - N. Gartside, R. Boyce.

Referee - Damien MacGraith (Mayo).