Eddie Beach: There's an excitement about these next three games.
EDDIE Beach was one man who walked away from last Friday night's forgettable performance in Tallaght with his head held high after a string of top saves.
The 22 year-old Bournemouth native has experienced mixed fortunes since his deadline day arrival on loan from Kilmarnock to stand-in for injured City No.1 Brian Maher.
He was beaten by a stunning free-kick from Dawson Devoy in the 1-0 loss to Bohemians; an individual error against Waterford could have proven costly had it not been for Michael Duffy's stunning contribution as Derry came from behind to win 4-2.
The former Southampton and Chelsea 'keeper was handed a third consecutive start in the trip to Tallaght to face champions Shamrock Rovers.
He found himself in the thick of the action, denying dangerman Jack Byrne with two smart saves and later producing a superb stop to prevent Graham Burke from opening the scoring.
The Englishman could do nothing about the eventual winning goal as Dylan Watts expertly sent him the wrong way from an 81st minute penalty kick.
Beach admitted he had mixed emotions after the game.
"It was mixed emotions," said the City keeper. "Yes, I've come in and had a good performance, but really we wanted to get three points. I can take positives from myself and the team can work on Friday.”
Beach is settling in well on Foyleside as he approaches three weeks at the club and he’s desperately hoping the team can secure its first clean sheet of the campaign against Shelbourne.
“I'm now two-and-a-half or three weeks here so I know the boys really well and they've helped me settle in really well. Essentially, you've just got a lot more relationships with the back four, things like that which always helps out. So I felt a lot more prepared and it definitely showed [on Friday].
”I'm settling in well. I'm in a player house with Dipo [Akinyemi] I'm really enjoying it. We've made it feel like home.”
With three matches in the space of seven days Beach has big targets.
“We want to get three points on Friday and not just three we want to get nine out of the possible nine.
"There's an eagerness and there's an excitement about these next three games. They come thick and fast so it's important for us to get the results that the fans and ourselves want."