Derry City stunned by last-minute Aaron McEneff goal at the Brandywell

Derry City 1

Shamrock Rovers 2

Shamrock Rovers came from behind to win at the Brandywell, with former Derry City star Aaron McEneff scoring a last-minute winner.  

The midfielder fired home from close range to complete a superb comeback from Rovers, who had fallen behind earlier in the half to Danny Mullen’s fifth goal of the season.

It was a bitter pill for City to swallow, with Tiernan Lynch’s team now falling eight points behind the league leaders, although they have played a game less.

The result extends City's poor run against the Dublin side, who have taken just four points from the last nine league games against Rovers.

Referee Marc Lynch threatened to steal all the attention from this top of the clash as he handed out three yellow cards in the first 15 minutes alone, City’s Carl Winchester and Liam Boyce either side of a caution for Rovers’ Cory O’Sullivan, who was promptly withdrawn from the game by Stephen Bradley.

It took 25 minutes for either team to really threaten and it came from a superb burst into the area from Gavin Whyte, who tried to pull the ball back to Boyce, but the ball was deflected behind just in time by Dan Cleary.

From the resulting corner, the ball travelled all the way to the back post where Shane Ferguson was unmarked, but the defender sent his effort wide and into the side netting.

Rovers threatened for the first time after the half hour mark, when Ferguson lost the ball under pressure near his own penalty area, and Aaron Green set up Graham Burke to shoot straight into the arms of Brian Maher.

Rovers began to take control of the game in the second half with Jack Byrne pulling all the strings, but the best the visitors could muster was a shot from Burke straight at Maher.

Tiernan Lynch made a double change in a bid to regain some control, with Paul McMullan and Danny Mullen replacing Gavin Whyte and Liam Boyce. Immediately the duo injected more energy into the game, with Mullen heading wide from McMullan’s cross. It was a sign of things to come.

With the game crying out for something, the substitutes wasted no time in making an impact as Winchester dispossessed Byrne in midfield, and found McMullan, who immediately played Mullen in on goal. The striker bore down on goal and under mounting pressure from Lopes, he calmly lofted the ball over Ed McGinty and into the net for his fifth goal of the season.

But the City lead lasted just over five minutes as Rovers hit back in spectacular fashion. A shot from Roberto Lopes from distance surprised everyone, especially Brian Maher, who was helpless as the ball dipped and smashed off the crossbar, rebounding perfectly into the path of substitute Michael Noonan, who couldn’t miss as he headed in the equaliser.

Derry might have restored their lead with just nine minutes remaining when Mullen won the ball just outside the Rovers area and played in Duffy, but just when City’s top scorer shaped to shoot, Alan Matthews produced a vital tackle to deny him.

But it was Rovers who struck late on, when Danny Mandriou sent Danny Grant racing into the area, and his pass inside found McEneff, who fired home from close range to complete a superb comeback.

Teams

Derry City: Maher, Cann, Connolly, Holt; Ferguson (Doherty 77’), Winchester, O’Reilly (Benson 84’), Whyte (McMullan 61’), Todd; Duffy (Hoban 84’), Boyce (Mullen 61’).

Shamrock Rovers: McGinty, Cleary, Lopes, O’Sullivan (Honohan 18’); Mathews, Nugent (Mandriou 64’), Healy, Byrne (McEneff 77’), Burke (Watts 64’), Grant; Greene (Noonan 64’).

Referee: Marc Lynch (Dublin).