Derry City boss hails “best performance” despite bitter defeat
Despite dominating possession, the Candystripes’ winless streak extends to three as Brennan’s penalty seals a 1-0 defeat for Drogheda
It was another difficult evening for Tiernan Lynch’s Derry City as the Foylesiders slipped to a 1-0 defeat away to Drogheda United at Sullivan and Lambe Park on Friday night. A second-half penalty from Boynesiders captain Ryan Brennan proved decisive after Jamie Stott fouled Warren Davis inside the area.
The result leaves Derry with just two points from their last three outings following draws against Bohemians and Galway United, while their defensive struggles continue, with the Candystripes managing only three clean sheets in sixteen league matches so far this season.
Despite the disappointment, Lynch remained upbeat about many aspects of his side’s performance. Derry dominated possession for large spells at Sullivan and Lambe Park but failed to seriously test goalkeeper Fynn Talley apart from a Conor Barr double opportunity moments before Brennan’s spot-kick in the fifty-third minute.
Substitute Henry Rylah almost rescued a dramatic equaliser late on when his spectacular 35-yard strike thundered off the crossbar. However, despite being encouraged by his side’s overall display, Lynch once again pointed to Derry’s lack of a killer instinct in the final third.
“It’s a bit bittersweet because I actually thought it was the best we have played, believe it or not,” he admitted. “I thought we were quite dominant in possession, moved the ball really well and had a really good shape about us.
“We just lacked a cutting edge, and we’ve been lacking that cutting edge for a while. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s incredibly difficult to go in and be critical of the players because they did so many things well for long periods tonight.
“It has been a little bit of an ongoing issue for us where we’re getting into really good areas but just lacking in that final third. It has been our Achilles' heel a little bit. It’s definitely something we are working on. I don’t really think Drogheda troubled us very much tonight, but the penalty obviously killed us.”
Derry now face another difficult away assignment next weekend against basement side Waterford United. Relegation-threatened Blues are under new management following the appointment of Graham Coughlan after Jon Daly’s departure. However, the former Boston United boss endured a difficult start to life in the south-east as his side suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic in Inchicore on Friday.
It will be the second meeting between the sides this season, with the reverse fixture at the Ryan McBride Brandywell ending in a dramatic 4-2 victory for the Candystripes in round four. Waterford raced into a two-goal lead through Tommy Lonergan and Jorgen Voilas, only for Michael Duffy to hit a sensational hat-trick before a late Dipo Akinyemi strike sealed a memorable comeback win for Derry.
That victory came at the beginning of a difficult spell of form for Lynch’s men, but the Belfast native was eager to praise his players ahead of the trip to Waterford, particularly with captain Michael Duffy making his first start since mid-March after recovering from a quad tear.
“I don’t want to be critical of the players and jump on the bandwagon because of the result,” Lynch added. “I thought they were very good. The past few weeks we’ve been asking them to get on the ball, be braver in their play and try to get our identity back, which is what they have done. Now we’ve got to focus on scoring more goals and stop conceding them.
“There’s always going to be criticism when you concede and lose 1-0, but I thought there were a lot of positives from tonight’s game. We got sixty minutes into Michael Duffy and another sixty into Kevin Dos Santos. We’ll try to take the positives from it, put it behind us and move on.”