Derry City got 'everything they expected and more' from Celtic Park debut

​An incredible 7,104 people flocked through the gates of the stadium which is home to Derry GAA to witness an historic occasion and the Brandywell club hosted a night of entertainment befitting it.

The club certainly hasn't forgotten its past and while it forges ahead with a new £1.4 million grass-hybrid pitch at its traditional home in Brandywell Stadium, there was a nostalgic nod to two of the club's legendary figures at Celtic Park.

Two giant Tifo banners displaying images of former captain Ryan McBride and record goalscorer Mark Farren were draped on the College Field Terrace end of the stadium behind the goals as Derry attempted to make the old ground its own for the night.

The hugely successful Fan Zone consisting of a pop-up merchandise shop, beer truck, face-painting and other activities helped generate a memorable atmosphere ahead of the match. And James Clarke etched his name into the history books after scoring the only goal of the game which ensured Derry City began its new chapter at Celtic Park with a precious victory which took them to within three points of fourth placed Bohemians who them meet on Friday night in Dublin.

Reportedly, only 6,000 Derry fans attended Brandywell when Peter Hutton captained the club to the 1997 Premier Division title after a victory over St Pat's and the club hasn't witnessed crowds like Friday's at a home venue since the late 1980s.

Derry has taken over 20,000 supporters to Dublin for the FAI Cup Final in recent years and Friday night was further proof of the club's potential – something which first attracted Lynch and his brother Seamus to the club.

"One of the biggest reasons I took the job at Derry City was that we knew what this club could be and wanted to try and bring that together," Lynch said afterward.

"We wanted to challenge for league titles, win cups, and achieve all that goes with it. You don't need me to tell you this is a footballing city. When the fans see the commitment those players showed tonight, that's all they want. Great credit to the fans and the players.

"That's what this city is all about. The football club is the heartbeat of this city. It wasn't a great footballing performance, but it had heart, hunger, and desire.

"The fans put their money into the terraces and both sides lived up to their bargain tonight. "This is probably what the [chairman] and the Board were thinking when they brought the games to Celtic Park while the Brandywell was getting done up," added Lynch.

"And I think they got everything they expected and more. As much as I want to congratulate the players and talk about how proud I am of the players tonight, I think the fans deserve the same credit. "They were probably without doubt our 12th man. They kicked every ball with us. They headed every ball, they cleared every ball off the line with us and what a difference it made.

"I can speak on behalf of everyone at the club – all the players and staff. We really appreciate that and are hugely thankful."

After an alarming start to the campaign and an Easter period where pundits, ex-players and the majority of the City support called for a change of leadership in the Brandywell dugout, the mood has suddenly transformed.

Victory at Tolka Park, the exciting move into its temporary home at Celtic Park and of course taking the scalp of the champions have brought a new wave of optimism to the terraces.

The GAA and soccer have traditionally been at loggerheads. Who would have envisioned such a smooth transition into Celtic Park for Derry City who brought a 'foreign sport' to the ground for the first time since 1943 when it was purchased by the GAA for £1,000?

It shows how mutually beneficial and strong the new-formed relationship between Derry GAA and Derry City FC has become after both codes reached across the divide, agreeing first to share Owenbeg's Centre of Excellence and now Celtic Park.

The pitch might not have been perfect for a game of soccer but it perhaps worked in Derry's favour against a Shamrock Rovers team clearly hamstrung by the condition of the surface.

Lynch described the match as 'an old fashioned League of Ireland game' and Derry won the battle of attrition - a stark contrast to their performance against Rovers in Tallaght back in March when the Dubliners dominated their visitors in a 1-0 win.

Derry only trained on the pitch for 40 minutes the previous day but was it a case of the home side adjusting to the new surroundings quickest?

"To be honest I didn't overthink that. What was our choice? You would love to have nights like this at the Brandywell, a new pitch and free-flowing football but I thought tonight was just what we needed to show that other side of us and roll our sleeves up and have to go and win an old fashioned football game. That's what tonight felt like.

"The groundsman keeps telling us it's going to get better as the weather gets better and great credit to Derry GAA, our own board and the groundsmen who worked tirelessly to get the pitch to even that level. So hopefully it will continue to get better in the next couple of games. "It was difficult for both teams but there was no complaining. I think it was just a really good League of Ireland game of football. Probably better than the football; there was blood and thunder and everything a good football game is all about that it got tonight.

"Both teams rolled their sleeves up and started swinging at each other," answered the Derry boss.

"Great credit to them [Rovers], no complaints. They got on with it and the same with our boys. They managed tonight really, really well.

"The biggest thing for me was that hunger and desire and commitment and that will to win. So I'm delighted for them.

"I couldn't be more proud of them tonight. It's not a performance where it was free-flowing and 600 passes with it but it was a performance like what this club and this team is built on which was hard work and endeavour and what it meant to pull that shirt over your head.

"I thought the players and the fans were outstanding. They made it very easy for the players tonight to keep throwing their bodies on the line and keep making those runs, keep winning those headers and winning their duels.

"There hasn't been one game all season apart from Rovers away where we let ourselves down and didn't compete. In every other game we've competed and shown what this club means."

It was the perfect script for Derry's first of five matches at the GAA ground and Lynch hopes it can be a catalyst for climbing the table.

"I just hope and pray we can build on this and we can keep the results coming for them and they can keep getting behind us and we can swing this table."

Back-to-back wins have certainly made Derry's league standing a lot more tolerable for its supporters and the dissenting voices who were calling for Lynch's head appear to have been silenced for now.

"When you put yourself up as a manager you take the criticism. We all want to take the plaudits when it's going well so you have to take the criticism when it's not going so well.

"I was seeing things that maybe fans weren't seeing and they were getting frustrated, and I understood that because it is a results-based industry.

"Results don't always come straight away. We have a long road ahead of us, but hopefully we can build on that."