"There's a lot for us to work on and that we can improve on" - Lynch

Tiernan Lynch has urged unity and patience after another disappointing showing from his new-look Derry City FC side on Friday evening.

The Brandywell men came off second best on home soil against European rivals Bohemians, with a stunning sixty-fourth-minute free kick from Dawson Devoy ultimately proving decisive. However, the Phibsboro outfit dominated large spells of the contest and could easily have extended their advantage beyond the single-goal margin, with Derry drawing a blank despite fashioning a couple of gilt-edged opportunities.

While it is still only three games into the new campaign, the early signs are troubling for Lynch. Expectations are sky-high on Foyleside following an ambitious off-season recruitment drive that brought in players of proven pedigree. Yet cohesion has proven elusive, and performances have yet to match the optimism that surrounded the club in pre-season.

It marks a third consecutive laboured display from the Candystripes. A last-minute goal was required to overcome Sligo Rovers on opening night, while a controversial injury-time penalty salvaged a draw against newly promoted Dundalk last week. On Friday, there was no late reprieve.

The Belfast native, however, has called for calm, insisting that progress rarely follows a straight line and that his squad must remain united during this transitional period.

“We brought certain people into the club, and the expectation was that we were winning the league and all that goes with it, but that’s not how football works; it doesn’t just go in straight lines like that,” Lynch said. “It’s a thirty-six-game season, and we need to make sure that we stick together here and that we don’t start fighting with each other.”

Lynch acknowledged that a lack of cutting edge in front of goal is the most obvious flaw at present, an issue he believes is correctable, particularly with the gradual return to fitness of powerful striker Dipo Akinyemi.

“We didn’t take our chances, and the game got scrappy, which meant we had to chase it. We lost control of it the longer it went on, and we lost our shape,” he admitted. “You have to win games, and you have to score goals. I thought we created enough chances to put us on the front foot, but we just didn't take any."

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“When you get those opportunities, you have to take them because when you do, it puts you on the front foot as opposed to being on the back foot.

“That’s been our Achilles heel, albeit only three games in. At times we played some really good football, but if you’re not scoring goals, you’re going to get punished, especially at this level."

“The big thing is that we need to start scoring goals. We need to put ourselves on the front foot rather than always putting ourselves on the back foot. Having Dipo on is a big part of that. It’s the second game now where we’ve gotten twenty-five minutes out of him, so hopefully we can start to get him a little bit more involved.”

Next up for Derry is the visit of Waterford to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, with a marked improvement in performance an absolute necessity if they are to quell growing unease amongst the Red and White Army. Meanwhile, Bohemians return to Dalymount Park, where the atmosphere is sure to be electric as they host arch-rivals Shamrock Rovers.

Derry will continue to be without first-choice goalkeeper Brian Maher, who is expected to miss up to eight weeks after suffering a wrist fracture in training. In his absence, young Welshman Edward Beach was drafted in on loan from Kilmarnock as late cover earlier in the week.

The shot stopper acquitted himself well between the posts and could do little about Devoy’s sublime set piece.

“I thought it was a great strike and that Edward got a good hand to it,” Lynch said. “I thought he was very good, and what was asked of him he did very well. There’s a lot for us to work on and that we can improve on, and those are things that we’ll have to address in-house.”