Tiernan Lynch believes adversity has served to galvanise Derry City

​The Brandywell club has developed a thick skin when dealing with hard knocks and they certainly came out fighting at Dalymount Park to edge a seven goal thriller which will live long in the memory.

Ahead of a match which could have a major bearing on which clubs represents the League of Ireland in Europe next year, Tiernan Lynch wouldn't have had to work too hard in creating a siege mentality following the snub by The Department for Communities.

Whether it's Stormont or the match officials they're having to fight against, this Derry team showed their mettle with yet another character building performance which moved them above Bohs and into second spot.

On their last visit to Dalymount last May referee Rob Hennessy took centre stage when awarding a controversial penalty after just 30 seconds as 10 man Derry City lost 1-0.

It looked like a case of history repeating when the same Dublin official awarded another contentious spotkick to Bohemians less than 10 minutes into Friday's match.

Derry were once again facing an early deficit when Douglas James-Taylor tucked it away but this latest injustice only served to galvanise Lynch's troops who have developed an 'us-against-them' mentality and a natural defiance the Belfast man believes is key to their recent success.

After another low blow the heads could easily have bowed but this Derry team are simply not in the habit of letting up.

In their two previous fixtures they fought back from 1-0 down with 10 men to earn a 2-1 win away to Galway United and clawed back from a 2-0 deficit against St Pat's at Brandywell to clinch a precious point.

And so it shouldn't have been a surprise to see them rallying once again with 10 men in Dalymount in a classic encounter at the home of Irish football. But this comeback win, where they came out on top despite twice being pegged back, felt like a turning point for Lynch's team who have come under fire in the second half of the season.

Michael Duffy loves a goal against Bohs and he fired Derry level with a brilliant finish into the corner to make it 1-1 on 20 minutes. Lynch felt his team were also denied a 'stone-wall' penalty for a handball which thankfully didn't prove a decisive moment in the game and would've likely put the game to bed and denied us what was a real treat served up by both teams.

Adam O'Reilly netted a brace and Dipo Akinyemi headed home the eventual winner on 74 minutes - four minutes after James-Taylor equalised for Bohs for a second time in the match.

It was Brian Maher's sensational interventions which ensured the Candy Stripes held on in the end as Bohs laid siege to the Derry goal.

It was the type of performance that could signal the start of something special for this group of players and Lynch hopes it has a galvanising effect.

"I think that's what Derry needs to galvanise," said the Derry boss. "I think we, as a club and as a group and a city and fans, need to come together. It has to be us against everyone else.

"We know there's going to be bad days at Brandywell and nights when we won't be on it and that's when we need our fans. The next six games our fans will be a massive, massive part of where we go."

Lynch was 'proud' of his team's never-say-die display and reckons we're starting to see evidence of what he knew his team was capable of.

"Great credit to them. They've been questioned a lot and I think very unfairly. There's no doubt there's games we could've and should've been better in but that's part and parcel of where we are. But the longer we've gone on now we're starting to show what this team is all about.

“I certainly never questioned the character of this team,” he added. “If you listen back to all the post-match interviews for 30 games now, they’ll tell you the same thing, about the amount of work these boys do on a weekly basis. This was always going to be a difficult season for us, with new players and new management, especially from our end, but we haven’t done anything yet. The last three league games we’ve shown great character, but there’s still six games left.

"I honestly couldn't be more proud of this group of players and that staff. I've seen the work all year to everything we do, the attention to detail , the long hours. It's been superb and we've loved every minute of it and I hope we get our rewards at the end of it."

Derry should never expect anyone to make their life easy and they certainly did it the hard way after a week of adversity.

“As I just told the players inside, I’m proud and privileged to be part of that group that did what they did,” he said. “If you’re looking for character or desire of hunger, that’s what you see.

“I can’t talk tactically because I don’t think it was a tactical thing; it was heart and hunger, and character. Every time we went in front and they got back into it, we just showed that character and we went again. That’s not something that you can coach.

“The big thing we look at is Galway away, 1-0 down and winning 2-1, St. Pat’s last week, 2-0 down and then coming back to 2-2, and then tonight with 10 men. Those are the things we want to concentrate on, the character in this team, and the hunger and desire that’s in this team, and hopefully we can go and build on that now.

"It was a difficult day for us yesterday [Thursday] and hopefully we were able to put some smiles back on faces.”