DERRY CITY: McNamee nets winner as 10 man City move into third

BARRY McNAMEE's first half strike proved enough for 10 man Derry City to clinch a precious victory at Dalymount Park which saw them move into third.

The Ramelton man pounced on 37 minutes from close range to give the Candy Stripes a richly deserved lead against Bohemians - his ninth of the season!

Kenny Shiels' troops did have the ball in the back of the net 10 minutes before that opening goal when Nathan Boyle flicked Rory Patterson's goalbound effort into the net from an offside position.

During a feisty second half, Bohs pressed for an equaliser as referee, Robert Hennessy struggled to control the game.

And with six minutes to go Aaron Barry was given his marching orders for bringing Bohs substitute, Ismahil Akinade to the ground when the striker got in behind the City defence.

Derry held on during five frantic minutes of additional time to record a welcome win as they bounced back from last week's 2-1 defeat to St Patrick's Athletic.

Conor McDermott and Barry came straight back into the Derry starting XI after recovering from their respective injuries, replacing Ben Doherty and the suspended Harry Monaghan.

It was right back, McDermott's first appearance since the 2-1 defeat to Cork City last month.

Barry, who partnered new signing Darren Cole for the first time, was handed his first start since sustaining a hamstring injury in Derry's Europa League first leg defeat to FC Midtjylland in Denmark.

And the new-look City defence had little to do in the opening half as the visitors dominated the ball without really penetrating the Bohs defence.

McNamee came so close to finding the target on four minutes with a terrific strike from 25 yards but it went narrowly over the crossbar.

Ex-City midfielder, Keith Ward then went on a driving run through the middle but just as he was about to pull the trigger, McDermott stopped him in his tracks with a strong tackle just inside the area.

City striker, Rory Patterson had his head in his hands on 27 minutes as Derry had a goal ruled out for offside. Dean Jarvis delivered towards the back post and Patterson took it down and his scuffed strike was creeping in at the back post.

However, Boyle flicked it into the net from two yards when he was clearly in an offside position and the assistant referee raised his flag.

Aaron McEneff's ambitious free-kick from 35 yards bounced in front of Bohs keeper, Shane Supple who gathered it cleanly as City ramped up the pressure.

And that pressure paid dividends on 37 minutes as the Candy Stripes deservedly fashioned the breakthrough their dominace deserved.

Low found Curtis in behind the Bohs defence with a sublime ball and the City forward chested it down and his powerful volley was parried by Supple. McNamee was first to react and pounced to crash home the opener.

Bohs tried in vain to find a way past Doherty in the closing minutes of the half with Dan Casey coming closest but his miscued header from Ward's inswinging free-kick was saved comfortably by the City skipper.

The referee was kept busy midway through the second half after Akinade clumsily struck Barry in the face with his arm as the pair raced for the ball. The Nigerian born striker was shown a yellow card by the match official.

Boyle and McNamee then both went to ground in separate incidents off the ball while Oscar Brennan was booked for a late tackle on Patterson and was followed quickly into the book by McEneff for dissent.

Bohs almost capitalised from a long punt upfield on 73 minutes as Akinade headed into the path of Dinny Corcoran who got in behind the City defence. However, Cole recovered superbly with a perfectly timed challenge to take it off the striker's toes.

Dan Byrne became the fourth Bohs player to receive a booking for a robust challenge on McEneff just outside the Dubliners' penalty area with eight minutes to go.

From the resultant free-kick McEneff floated the ball into the danger area, it was flicked on by Cole and fell to Patterson at an acute angle at the back post but he blasted into the side netting.

Akinade was sent clean through on goal before being brought crashing down by Barry 20 yards from goal and the City defender was shown a straight red on 84 minutes.

Ward then wasted a glorious chance as he blasted his free-kick straight into the Derry City wall and the chance was lost.

The 10 men of City held on during a frantic end to the game to secure a win which lifted them above both Shamrock Rovers and Bray Wanderers as they look ahead to Monday night's North West derby with Finn Harps.

Bohemians: Shane Supple; Dan Casey (Dylan Hayes 55), Warren O'Hora, Dan Byrne, Ian Morris; Paddy Kavanagh (Ismahil Akinade 60), Fuad Sule, Oscar Brennan, Ciaran O'Connor; Keith Ward; Dinny Corcoran; Subs Not Used - G. Murray, L. Fitzgerald, P. Gannon, K. Dalton, G. Poynton.

Derry City: Gerard Doherty; Conor McDermott, Darren Cole, Aaron Barry, Dean Jarvis; Nathan Boyle (Mark Timlin 79, Lukas Schubert 88), Aaron McEneff, Nicky Low, Ronan Curtis; Barry McNamee; Rory Patterson; Subs Not Used - E. Grimes, E. Toal, J. McIntyre, R. Holden, J. Daniels.

Referee - Robert Hennessy.