Derry City out to spoil title party for Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght

Victory for Stephen Bradley’s troops would take them to 41 points and their vastly superior goal difference would all but ensure their first league trophy since 2011.

Bohemians need to win all three of their final fixtures to reach the 41 points total, starting by taking the scalp of Dundalk at Oriel Park in the early kick-off which would at least delay the inevitable title celebrations in south Dublin.

Declan Devine of course won’t give the title race a second thought as he looks to put his own house in order and follow up from the 2-0 win over Waterford but I’m sure he won’t want to hand Rovers the title on Friday night. Not without a fight anyway!

Derry natives Aaron McEneff and Danny Lafferty are on the verge of winning their first League of Ireland Premier Division championship and it’s just a pity they had to leave their hometown club to get their hands on the ‘Holy Grail’.

McEneff of course won the EA Sports Cup during his time at Brandywell while Lafferty has a League Cup and First Division title on his CV after his spell on Foyleside.

There will, however, be no sentiment afforded going into the game from Derry players, staff or fans as victory would give Derry real hope of gunning down third placed Waterford for the European spot.

To still be contemplating qualification for Europe is remarkable after the dismal run of results which led into the win over Waterford and shows how bizarre and unpredictable the 2020 campaign has been.

Indeed, the Candy Stripes were edging nearer towards the relegation dogfight after a four match winless run and particularly after a disheartening performance against Sligo Rovers where Devine admitted he wasn’t sure if his players had the character to bounce back.

And yet that 2-0 win over the Blues will have galvanised the Derry players who will hope they can put together a run of results which will save their league campaign.

It might not have been considered the best time for an international break for Derry after finally securing that elusive win, but after those tough run of fixtures and the heartbreak of late, late defeats against Bohemians in Dalymount and Sligo at the Showgrounds, the players and staff looked exhausted.

There was much relief after Conor Clifford netted twice from the penalty spot to claim three points and they produced a performance we all knew they were capable of.

Shamrock Rovers are a much different proposition though and go into Friday’s match undefeated in 14 league matches and determined to wrap up the ‘title race’.

No one will argue they haven’t been the best team in the country by far this season and the fact the bookies have Derry at 15/2 outsiders for an unlikely win tells its own story.

Devine will be fully aware of that task at hand but the chance to close within a point of Waterford in fourth is a major incentive for his players.

He must plan without the services of his skipper and ex-Hoops man, Conor McCormack through suspension but they showed in the 2-1 loss at Brandywell earlier this year they can match Rovers when on their game.

With a home fixture against Dundalk coming quickly next Monday night it’s important to take something from Tallaght.

Shelbourne at home and Cork away sandwiched between the FAI Cup quarter-final tie against Sligo at the Showgrounds concludes a strange, truncated Airtricity League campaign for the Candy Stripes.

It could yet be regarded as Devine’s finest achievement at the club if he’s to somehow secure European football against all the odds but he’ll need to come back from Dublin on Friday night with points in the bag.