Derry City's Conor Clifford banishes the blues

The 29 year-old Dubliner has experienced a ‘rollercoaster ride’ since joining the Candy Stripes at Christmas, having struggled to hold down a place in Declan Devine’s starting 11 for one reason or another.

Friday’s 2-0 win over Waterford was his first start since July 31st and his first appearance since sustaining a broken nose and suffering concussion in the Europa League defeat to Riteriai in Vilnius at the end of August.

The midfielder was one of five changes made by Declan Devine and he grabbed his opportunity with both hands, producing an impressive display and bagging two goals from the penalty spot.

The first was clinically dispatched for his first goal since joining the club and his second proof of his growing confidence as he fooled goalkeeper, Brian Murphy with a Panenka-style finish.

Birthday boy Clifford was greeted in the dressing room afterwards by a standing ovation from the players and staff and in an emotional interview afterwards the ex-Chelsea youth said it’s been a tough few weeks.

“It’s been tough,” he said. “I broke my nose and had a bad concussion as well so couldn’t do anything. I missed a few days training and started losing a bit of fitness.

“I worked hard and I’ve been biding my time. I’ve been itching to play. I got the nod tonight and I was like a little kid all day.

“I had a few butterflies and I haven’t had that in years. I just couldn’t wait to play. It’s my birthday too, I’m 29, so it was a great birthday present.

“I need a run of games where you can get into a rhythm, where you’re playing and confident and hopefully this can be the start of something now - a good end to the season, not just for me but for all of us.”

Clifford insists the work rate and hunger for the win against the high flying Blues at Brandywell must now be the standard until the end of the campaign.

“It’s just relief. Everyone is buzzing in there. I thought everyone really worked their socks off for the jersey and it’s been a tough couple of days.

“We’ve worked really hard this week and had a few chats with Decky and all the staff and amongst ourselves.

“It hasn’t been good enough. It’s relief but I think we really deserved it. That’s the standard now. Off the ball, everyone to a man worked really hard. It could’ve been a few more but yeah, everyone is delighted. I love it here, the staff have been brilliant and it’s a great group of lads. It’s been a tough couple of weeks but there’s great spirit and hopefully we can just build on it now.”