Jamie McGonigle scores winner as Derry City end six years of hurt at Shamrock Rovers

JAMIE McGonigle opened his account for the season to silence a record crowd at Tallaght Stadium as Derry City clinched a first victory at the Dublin ground in six years.

The Dungiven man has developed quite a knack of scoring winning goals against Shamrock Rovers and his second half strike secured a win which took Derry to the top of the table after the opening three games.

Derry twice lead in this thrilling encounter in front of 7,626 supporters including a large band of travelling fans who made the trip from Foyleside to witness a statement win for Ruaidhri Higgins charges who have taken seven points from trips to Richmond Park and Tallaght and a home fixture against Cork City so far.

Ben Doherty scored his second ever goal for the club after 17 minutes as Derry broke and Will Patching found the roving left back with a fine crossfield pass before the former Larne man burst through and found the corner of the net.

Celtic loanee Johnny Kenny got Rovers level nine minutes later with a powerful close range strike as Derry were under sustained pressure.

However, McGonigle pounced nine minutes into the second half to sweep home Ryan Graydon’s cross to hand Derry a significant victory over the champions.

All eyes were on the Rovers teamsheet prior to kick-off as Stephen Bradley was forced to reshuffle his defensive pack in the absence of suspended trio Roberto Lopes, Dan Cleary and Lee Grace.

Sean Gannon and Sean Kavanagh came into the team for the Dubliners and joined Gary O'Neill in a make-shift Rovers back three as the home side attempted to get their first win of the season under their belts in front of a sell-out, record attendance.

Ruaidhri Higgins made just the one change from the team that won 2-0 against Cork City last week with Sadou Diallo returning from suspension to make his first league appearance of the season.

Jordan McEneff, who scored in both league matches so far this season, dropped to the bench to make way for the former Man City youth player.Derry's last win at the Dublin venue came six years ago, back in August 2017 when McEneff's older brother Aaron was on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win, fondly remembered by City fans for Barry McNamee's wonderful strike from the halfway line.

The record books since that win don't make good reading for Derry, however, with just two draws from their following nine visits to Tallaght.

The first big chance of the match arrived on 13 minutes and it began with a stunning reverse pass from Burke who set Neil Farrugia into space on the right wing.

Doherty managed to get a tackle in but both the left back and Shane McEleney couldn't stop the ball from arriving at the feet of Burke 10 yards from goal. Just as the former Ireland international struck with his left foot, Patrick McEleney produced a superbly timed sliding tackle to block the shot. It was a crucial block and it became an even bigger moment in the context of the match as moments later Derry hit the front.

The ball was headed clear from the Derry box and Patching did brilliantly to find the run of Doherty from left back with a superbly struck crossfield pass. Doherty showed pace and composure to race past two Rovers defenders before expertly finding the corner of the net with a fine finish on 17 minutes.

The lead lasted just nine minutes as the referee waved play-on after Diallo fouled O'Neill in the middle of the park. Markus Poom latched onto the loose ball and fed it through to Kenny who took a touch before firing powerfully into the roof of the net for his first goal for the Dubliners.

Brian Maher produced a fantastic double save to first deny Trevor Clarke's left-footed drive from a narrow angle at his near post before making himself big to block Burke's follow up shot with his chest.

Once again, against the run of play Derry took the lead nine minutes into the second half after lovely work from Will Patching who sent Graydon into space and when the winger found McGonigle with a low cross from the right, the striker swept the ball into the corner of the net with his first touch to open his account for the season.

Patrick McEleney tested Alan Mannus with a terrific strike from 25 yards after receiving the ball from his brother Shane but the Rovers keeper was equal to it and produced a smart save on 68 minutes.

Derry were enjoying more control in the middle of the park after Ruaidhri Higgins made a tactical positional change, with O’Reilly taking up a central position alongside Patching with McEleney and Diallo sitting in behind. McGonigle made the switch to the left wing and Derry looked a lot more compact.

Rovers were ramping up the pressure once more and Maher needed to make a big save to stop Clarke’s dangerous cross/cum shot from the left after Byrne played him into space with a neat pass. The rebound fell to Poom on the edge of the box and Shane McEleney did superbly to block the goalbound effort five yards from the line.

Six minutes of added time was signalled and greeted by a huge cheer from the home support but Derry saw out the game superbly to record a stunning win.

Shamrock Rovers: Mannus, Gannon, O'Neill, Kavanagh (Hoare 81); Clarke, Watts (Burt 81), Poom, Byrne (Power 74), Burke, Farrugia; Kenny (Gaffney 74); Subs Not Used - Pohls, Green, Nugent, Towell, Cruise.

Derry City: Maher, Coll, Connolly, S McEleney, Doherty; Diallo (McEneff 76), P McEleney, Patching; O'Neill (B. Kavanagh 81), McGonigle (Boyce 81), Graydon (C. Kavanagh 86): Subs Not Used: Ryan, McLaughlin, Ward, Mullan, McGinty.

Referee: Mr Neil Doyle (Dublin).