Ruaidhri Higgins not giving up hope as six minutes of drama keeps Derry City in title race

​Yet in all his time involved in this league he admitted he's never witnessed a more unpredictable campaign than the one currently unfolding after his team's title aspirations were thrown a lifeline following another night of drama in the Premier Division.

On course for a damaging defeat as Sean Boyd's beautifully executed diving header put Shelbourne into a 1-0 lead at Tolka Park on 51 minutes, Derry's fading hopes of challenging Shamrock Rovers looked all but extinguished with an eight or 10 point gap, a very likely scenario by the full-time whistle.

Cue six minutes of nail-biting action in both Drumcondra and Oriel Park which would suddenly revive their title ambitions.

Ben Doherty's thunderous left-footed strike found the top corner of the Shels net on 71 minutes to level the match in north Dublin.

On the 77th minute in Co. Louth Pat Hoban scored Dundalk's second goal in a frenetic three minute spell against the champions which ensured City closed the gap on the leaders to six points.

Derry had to do it the hard way and play the final nine minutes of regular time plus four minutes stoppage time with 10 men after Adam O'Reilly's controversial dismissal but they got the job done.

Suddenly a point at Tolka Park didn't seem too shabby despite surrendering second spot to an in-form St Pat's who have catapulted themselves into the title race.

And Higgins is confident his team are capable of forcing their way back into contention given the topsy-turvy nature of the 'relentless' 2023 season, despite most pundits writing off their chances after last Monday night's defeat in Tallaght.

"Honestly, I've been in the league since the summer of 2004 - nearly 19 years ago when I first started in the league and I don't think I've ever seen it where it's so unpredictable.

"It's so competitive. It's a relentless league and if you come off your standards whatsoever you get done.

"You saw tonight, Sligo have been in a rough patch and of course they win because they have us next week," he laughed. "But they put away Bohs. Dundalk beat Rovers. It's a really unpredictable league at the moment. Pat's are the in-form team at the moment, they're putting points on the board but we know that we're more than capable of stringing a run of wins together and stay in contention and see where it takes us.

"When you're 1-0 down you would take a point particularly when we went down to 10 men."

After two visits to the capital in the space of five days and the fact Derry don't have to visit Tallaght or Tolka Park again this year in the league - two of the toughest venues - Higgins reckons they might look back at this result with a positive slant, particularly as they remained within 'touching distance' of the leaders.

"It's been very, very difficult, it's been taxing," Higgins said of a demanding seven days for his team. "It's well documented and I hate talking about it but we have a long injury list and we've used the same players over and over again in the last three games. The players deserve huge credit for going to the well in all the games, it's the same bodies.

"I can't praise the players enough who have gone Friday, Monday, Friday, the exact same group, to the very end.

"I know we beat Cork 2-0 but we didn't get our second goal until the 92nd minute. We went right to the end of that game. So they deserve credit for that for digging in in difficult circumstances.

"Hopefully we see a freshness to the squad next week. We have a few bodies coming back. We have Paul McMullan available and we might have one or two more knocking on the door as well.

"So we're getting there and we're still within touching distance and that's where we want to be. We've gained a point on top spot so from that end it's a positive but we set our stall out here to come and win the game but in the circumstances a point is probably not a bad result.

"The way the last 15 minutes unfolded I think we might look back on that in a few months down the line and feel like it was a good point.

"We went 1-0 behind, got a brilliant goal to get back into it. We've had a stone-walled penalty turned down, Cian Kavanagh. Plus that was a second booking for Andrew Quinn so he (should've) been sent off. So we should've had a penalty and they should've had a red card."

Rovers, St Pat’s and Bohemians all have to go to Tolka before the end of the season while the Hoops also have to visit Brandywell and Richmond Park during the run-in.

Damien Duff’s well drilled team are more than capable of taking points off any team in the division on their day as Friday night showed and so Higgins knows coming away with a point is far from a ‘disaster’.

"They're stubborn. They're a good side. We've a good record down here to be fair. We've won on our last three visits prior to tonight and we've got a point tonight.

"Shels are a tough nut to crack and I feel they will be pushing for a European spot come the end of the season. It's not a disaster coming here and picking up a point when you've spent the last 15 minutes unfortunately with 10 men.

“We'll have a few back next week for the Sligo game which is great and timely. We are not in a disastrous situation by any stretch,” added the Derry manager.