Derry City and St Patrick's Athletic played out a monotonous 1-1 draw at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium to maintain their positions in the middle of the table. Barry McNamee gave his side the lead with a sweeping effort just inside the 18-yard
Derry City and St Patrick's Athletic played out a monotonous 1-1 draw at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium to maintain their positions in the middle of the table. Barry McNamee gave his side the lead with a sweeping effort just inside the 18-yard box until Lee Desmond's admirable effort from distance levelled the scoreline. A less-than entertaining and even game, which saw Derry go four points behind Bohemians in third, leaves the Candystripes without a victory in three games. After a low-key first ten minutes, City broke the deadlock with a pristine move on the counter-attack. Brilliant play on the left-hand side between Greg Sloggett and Ciaran Coll saw the skipper Barry McNamee receive the ball on the edge of the area, and with a great first-time finish, the midfielder's effort went beyond David Webster into the bottom corner. City were good for their lead but they failed to take control of the contest as the visitors harry and hassled Declan Devine's outfit and they paid the price as St Pats went level after half an hour. Lee Desmond, securing his first goal for the club, and what a goal it was. A 30-yard thunderbolt in space into the top corner of Peter Cherrie's net left the former Dundalk and Cork City goalkeeper with no chance. More pressure followed but the Candystripes managed to hold out until half time. The Derry defence struggled to deal with Shaw presence inside the area and the striker almost applied games third goal from close range after the break. In fact, neither side imposed their will in the second period failing to create an adequate chance until the 72nd minute. Ogedi-Uzokwe attempting an ineffective overhead kick following a long throw-in from David Parkhouse. It was a placid display from both teams, in the end, City struggling to get a real foothold on the Lone Moor Road and St Pats settling for a solid point on the west bank of the River Foyle.
