Derry City must 'keep swinging until somebody falls' says Tiernan Lynch

The City boss reckons the Foylesiders 'don't deserve' to be propping up the league table after five matches but a 1-1 draw against the unbeaten Tribesmen stretched their winless run to three matches.

Galway were on the ropes during the early stages but landed a timely sucker punch on the home side moments before half-time when New Zealand international striker Moses Dyer bundled home from a long throw-in.

Michael Duffy equalised from the penalty spot after Patrick Hickey handled Sadou Diallo's long range strike on 54 minutes to ensure Derry didn't slip to a third successive defeat in the space of seven days.

That would've been a cruel blow for Lynch's troops who earned just one point from a possible nine this week but the Derry boss doesn't believe the league table is a fair reflection of his team's performances so far.

"No, it's definitely not and that's probably the most frustrating part," he reflected afterwards. "If you deserved to be there you take that on the chin. I definitely don't think we deserve to be there.

"We need to change this very quickly. Winning is contagious. Losing can be contagious as well and we're fully aware of that. The situation we're in is hugely frustrating as a group.

"If you're playing bad and deserve to get beat you can probably take that. When you’re as dominant as we've been and drawing games or losing games, that's probably a harder pill to swallow.

"I keep saying to the players, there's too many good players in the changing room who are working too hard for things not to change. Like a boxer in a ring when you've taken a blow, you've got to hold on there and keep swinging until somebody falls.

"Probably the one game we let ourselves and the fans down was Shelbourne in the first game of the season. I thought we were very dominant against Waterford.

"On Monday night [against St Pat's] up until the decisions which went against us I thought we were well in that game. I thought we were very good against Bohs so I haven't seen too many bad performances.

"I've seen bad incidents in the games which has led to the situation we've found ourselves in but we just have to keep working on tidying those up."

Derry failed to defend a missile of a throw-in from Ed McCarthy late in the first half and when it was flicked on by Hickey who peeled away from his marker at the front post, Dyer reacted quickest inside the box to fire home.

It was a 'bitter pill to swallow' for Lynch and his backroom team having worked on that threat in training but it's at the other end the Derry boss knows his players must get right if they're to start winning matches having scored just once from open play in the opening five fixtures!

"The big thing that was missing obviously was the goals. The downside of it was the goal we conceded just before half-time.

"It's hugely frustrating because we looked at it and just didn't deal with it. The players were probably a bit flat at half-time after being so dominant and to concede a stupid goal when we did. But great credit to them. They picked themselves up. I thought they were very dogged. They rolled their sleeves up and we just gotta keep going and keep believing that somewhere along the line this has to drop.

“I think it's probably one of those that we stayed on the front foot and went after the game but didn't create enough clear cut chances. We did talk about it at half-time about getting our numbers into the box and I think we got that. Maybe the final ball into the box at times needs to be looked at. They are things we'll continue to look at.

“With strikers like Liam Boyce and Pat [Hoban] and others, one goal will hopefully lead to two and two will lead to three and we'll not be having these conversations anymore."

Derry created no shortage of chances in their last two home matches but are lacking that killer instinct in front of the posts.

"I think tonight we just had a quick look at the data and we look at the data a lot to see where we're at with this. We were very dominant in possession. I think we were over 60%. Our XG [expected goals] was up at 2.92. I think we had 14 shots albeit only five or six of those were on target.

"So we're doing the right things. I think if we were coming away from games thinking 'what do we do next? Where do we go next?' I'd be hugely worried. I'm more excited than I've ever been with this team because I think this has to turn and hopefully sooner rather than later.

"It's a league, you look at the results tonight, and anybody can beat anybody. Definitely momentum is something that will play a big part. Winning is very contagious and that's something we need to do - start winning and getting ourselves on a run and building momentum and confidence. I wholeheartedly think it's just a matter of time before this turns."