Derry City secured another three points with a hard fought 2-1 win against St. Patrick’s Athletic at The Brandywell. Aaron McEneff’s double secured Derry City yet another home win, but Keith Buckley will be deeply frustrated at his side for not comi
Derry City secured another three points with a hard fought 2-1 win against St. Patrick’s Athletic at The Brandywell. Aaron McEneff’s double secured Derry City yet another home win, but Keith Buckley will be deeply frustrated at his side for not coming away with at least a point. Both sides started brightly in the opening minutes, but it was Buckley’s outfit that almost took the lead after seven minutes. Dean Clarke’s strength was proved against Darren Cole and his low cross almost found Ryan Brennan at the back post. However, perfect defensive prowess from Rory Hale intercepted the ball and stopped what surely would have been an early lead for Pats’. Brilliant from Hale, who raced back to help his defence, and two minutes later City found themselves in the lead. A collection of errors inside Barry Murphy’s penalty box was completed when Kevin Toner failed to clear his lines and Aaron McEneff, who charged Toner down, collected the ball inside the area and with a superb strike gave the Candy Stripes the advantage after 10 minutes. After 23 minutes, Keegan's header was good enough to beat Doherty, but the referee’s assistant ruled for a controversial foul on Gerard Doherty. The home support wouldn’t have been encouraged by City’s performance in the opening period of the second half with Eoin Toal having to clear an effort from Doherty’s line after he struggled to get the ball from under his feet, which almost resulted in an own goal. With 15 minutes left, somehow Derry City found themselves two goals in front. Buckley’s side were left ruing a bundle of missed opportunities and McEneff made them pay the price for the second time in the fixture, with a superb strike on the edge of the box. Dean Clarke pulled one back for Pats’ with ten minutes to go to and on the last minute of injury time Darren Cole cleared a last ditched effort from James Doona off the line.
