Tiernan Lynch's Derry City reign starts with defeat in dramatic night at Tolka Dark

A TOLKA Park power cut at half-time plunged the Drumcondra venue into darkness for over an hour and Tiernan Lynch would have been delighted had the lights stayed out!

It was a baptism of fire for the Belfast man and his new look Derry City at the home of the champions as Shelbourne found themselves 3-1 up after an electric opening 45 minutes.

Sean Boyd caught Brian Maher out of position with a first time strike from distance to give Shels the lead after 11 minutes as Derry made an horrendous start.

Michael Duffy quickly got Derry back on level terms three minutes later when guiding his header from debutante Dom Thomas' inswinging cross into the net.

Sean Caffrey restored the Dubliners' lead 90 seconds later in a chaotic opening 15 minutes.

Sam Todd then conceded a penalty when he fouled Boyd and the striker stepped up to fire in the resultant penalty despite Maher getting a hand to it.

It was the first time since October 2018 - a 5-0 loss at Richmond Park - Derry conceded three first half goals and it was a huge ask in the second half.

The second half was delayed for an hour due to that electrical issue as an emergency team at the ESB South Lotts Road were quickly on the scene to restore power.

Derry didn't threaten the Shelbourne goal enough in the second half while Shels striker Ademipo Odubeko should've netted a hat-trick.

As it was, Derry fell to defeat on the opening night of the campaign and will be hoping for an improvement against Bohemians at Brandywell next week.

Lynch was playing his cards close to his chest when asked about team news in his pre-match press and the first team sheet of his Derry City tenure certainly threw up a few surprises.

The Belfast man opted for a traditional 4-4-2 formation with Pat Hoban and new signing from Hearts, Liam Boyce leading the line in a bold move.

Boyce was one of four players making their Derry City debuts from the start alongside Shane Ferguson, Dom Thomas and Carl Winchester.

Ex-Portsmouth winger Gavin Whyte was on the bench alongside former Lincoln City and Dundalk centre back Hayden Cann who was cleared to play after signing on the dotted line this week following a successful trial period at the club. His signing was announced 30 minutes before kick-off by the Brandywell outfit!

The capture of the Englishman was a timely one with Lynch searching for defensive reinforcements with just Sam Todd and Mark Connolly the only recognised central defenders in the squad.

It was a strong starting line-up and with Danny Mullen, Ben Doherty, Robbie Benson and Cameron Dummigan all on the treatment table, there's no questioning the squad's strength in depth.

Mullen and Doherty both took part in rigourous warm-ups prior to kick-off suggesting the pair aren't far from full fitness after their respective injury setbacks.

League champions Shelbourne made one change from their President's Cup win over Drogheda United last week with Evan Caffrey replacing Ali Coote.

New signing Ellis Chapman from Sligo Rovers began the night on the bench while the game came too soon for former Derry winger Daniel Kelly who made the switch from Brandywell to Tolka prior to Christmas.

There was a cracking atmosphere at the home of the champions with a large travelling support making the presence felt behind the goals at the Drumcondra end of the ground.

They didn't have long to wait for the first shot on target and it was dangerman Odubeko who turned shgaroly on the edge of the area before striking low towards goal but Brian Maher gathered comfortably after 14 seconds.

The former West Ham man, last at Fleetwood Town, got the ball to feet from the right side and didn't need another invitation to shoot and this time it was charged down by Connolly and Maher cleaned it up.

It was a frantic start to the game but Shelbourne were on top and they broke the deadlock after just 11 minutes with a goal which came from a Derry attack broken down when Ronan Boyce lost possession deep in the Shelbourne half.

Wood - scorer of the goal which won the league title for Shels at Brandywell last season - played a long ball through the middle which was knocked down by Todd at full stretch. The ball fell to Boyd who caught Maher off his line and from 35 yards it bounced into the Derry net.

It was a horrendous start for Lynch's troops but Derry were back on level terms three minutes after a delicious inswinging ball from Thomas who cut back onto his left foot before finding Duffy unchallenged at the back post and the winger nodded downwards and into the far corner of the net.

It was a chaotic start to the match and within 60 seconds of drawing level Derry were behind once again and it was another defensive error as Derry failed to deal with Conor Kearns' long ball.

It broke eventually to Caffrey on the edge of the box and again it took a deflection and found its way past Maher.

It was end to end stuff and Liam Boyce was unlucky when he received the ball to his feet in space on the edge of the penalty area but his fiercely hit left footed strike was blocked on the six yard box by Barrett.

Wood turned Pat Hoban on the left wing and crossed towards the back post in a crowded box. It fell to McCaffrey who showed neat footwork to make space but his shot was blocked down bravely by the chest of Todd. It fell to Sean Gannon and again Todd threw himself at the ball. And for a third time Todd blocked a goalbound Shelbourne effort - again from Gannon - as Derry survived another scare.

With 90 seconds to go before the interval Todd was harshly penalised when he cleared the ball under pressure from Boyd inside the box. Match referee Mr Harvey was well placed and pointed to the spot.

Up stepped Boyd to take the spotkick and despite getting his left hand to the ball, Maher couldn't keep it out as Shels stretched their lead to two goals.

There was more drama to come as the lights suddenly went out at Tolka Park as the players made their way off the pitch. The news filtered through stating a blown ESB fuse was the issue as the match was thrown into doubt.

The stadium eventually began to light up 50 minutes later and the players emerged from the tunnel as the announcement on the PA system informed the crowd that the players would warm up for 10 minutes before the match would resume at 9.35pm.

The problem was reportedly solved by a supporter in the ground who works for the ESB and identified the issue before calling a team who arrived 10 minutes later to fix it. It was another classic Greatest League in the World moment -

There were no changes to either team as the match eventually got underway an hour after the floodlight failure.

Derry had plenty of the ball upon the restart but the first real chance arrived on 58 minutes as Odubeko beat the offside flag and got in behind the last man but his strike with the outside of his boot beat the advancing Maher and struje the foot of the post before going behind.

It was a lucky break but moments later Wood found the run of the pacy Odubeko again and this time he flashed his shot across goal and wide.

Duffy gave away the ball sloppily on 64 minutes and it was quickly played forward to Odubeko again and the striker fired just wide with a thunderous strike.

That was his third big chance in the space of six minutes with the Derry defence walking a tightrope!

Boyce and Hoban were called ashore on 70 minutes with Gavin Whyte coming on for his debut alongside youngster Sean Patton who had been free-scoring in pre-season.

Todd did brilliantly to deny Odubeko a shot on goal when the striker appeared to have out-muscled the defender 12 yards from the Derry net but the Carndonagh man threw his body on the line to charge down what appeared a certain goal.

Derry huffed and puffed at the other end but couldn't find another goal to put the pressure on as Shels took top spot.

Shelbourne: C. Kearns; S. Gannon, S. Bone. P. Barrett, K. Ledwidge; H. Wood (R. Tulloch 88), K. McInroy (JJ Lunney 66), M. Coyle, E. Caffrey (R. O'Kane 87); A. Odubeko (J. Martin , S. Boyd (E. Chapman 81).

Derry City: B. Maher; R. Boyce, M. Connolly, S. Todd, S. Ferguson; M. Duffy, C. Winchester (S. Diallo 61), A. O'Reilly, D. Thomas (P. McMullan 78); L. Boyce (S. Patton 70), P. Hoban (G. Whyte 70)

Referee - Rob Harvey (Dublin)