Dundalk brought back down to earth as Derry City prove too good for Lilywhites

SSE Airtricity League Premier Division

Derry City 3-0 Dundalk

Dundalk FC had their unbeaten SSE Airtricity League run come to an abrupt end on Monday night after losing 3-0 to Derry City at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

Goals from Brandon Kavanagh and Michael Duffy in the second half added to Jordan McEneff’s 19th-minute opener, as The Lilywhites faced a rude awakening on Foyleside.

It was a first half in which Dundalk failed to register a single attempt on or off target, yet Derry’s chances were also limited during what was an uninspiring 45 minutes of football.

The first real attempt came through former Dundalk favourite Duffy, whose rasping shot from outside the box was saved by Nathan Shepperd after 13 minutes of play.

The Candystripes hit the front on 19 minutes, however, with Cian Kavanagh flicking a header on for McEneff, who drilled through Shepperd from a tight, right-hand angle.

Other than Duffy’s free-kick effort which sailed well off target a minute before the interval, there wasn’t much to report on for the remainder of a rather drab opening half.

In the second period, Paul Doyle kept the score at 1-0, as he cleared off the line after Ben Doherty’s corner from the right had been met at the back post by the head of McEneff.

Derry did make it 2-0 right on the hour-mark, with Duffy’s corner cleared only as far as Brandon Kavanagh, who unleashed an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area.

The hosts could have gone even further ahead, with Cian Kavanagh getting in ahead of Archie Davies, who then had goalkeeper Shepperd to thank for sparing his blushes.

Stephen O’Donnell’s side had two glorious opportunities to get themselves back into the game after that, with a mix-up between Doherty and Cameron McJannet affording substitute Cameron Elliott a clear hit on goal, but he somehow spurned the opportunity.

Moments later, another two subs combined; Ryan O’Kane’s cross from the left being headed just wide by Patrick Hoban, and that was as good as things got for Dundalk.

That’s because Derry wrapped up the points on 83 minutes, with O’Reilly getting away from Connor Malley and Wasiri Williams on the right before squaring for Duffy to finish.

Derry City: Brian Maher; Ronan Boyce, Shane McEleney (Ciaran Coll 35), Cameron McJannet, Ben Doherty; Adam O’Reilly, Sadou Diallo (Will Patching 86); Brandon Kavanagh (Ollie O’Neill 70), Jordan McEneff (Cameron Dummigan 70), Michael Duffy; Cian Kavanagh (Ryan Graydon 70)

Subs not used: Tadgh Ryan (gk), Jamie McGonigle, Matt Ward, Sean Patton

Dundalk FC: Nathan Shepperd; Archie Davies, Wasiri Williams, Hayden Muller, Darragh Leahy (Ryan O’Kane 24), Robbie McCourt (Keith Ward 74); Paul Doyle (Daniel Kelly 68); Johannes Yli-Kokko (Patrick Hoban 68), Connor Malley, Alfie Lewis; John Martin (Cameron Elliott 74)

Subs not used: Peter Cherrie (gk), Mark Byrne (gk), Eoin Kenny

Referee: Robert Harvey (Dublin)