Derry City midfielder O'Reilly setting the standards
Tiernan Lynch paid tribute to Adam, hailing his grit and determination as key factors in Friday night’s win at Cork City
Tiernan Lynch has paid tribute to Adam O’Reilly, hailing the midfielder's grit and determination as key factors in Derry City’s win at Cork City on Friday night.
The 23-year-old played through the pain barrier to help the Candy Stripes claim their third consecutive victory after he colliding with Matthew Kiernan in the closing stages and as City had already used all their substitutes he remained on the pitch, much to boss Tiernan Lynch’s delight.
“He actually went to the hospital after the game, but again he just showed the character of the kid,” insisted the Derry boss.
“It was probably a 70/30 challenge that he wasn’t prepared to pull out of and he got himself in a wee bit of bother with it, but great credit to the kid that he managed to stay on.
“I think if you asked Adam to stay up front, he wouldn’t be able to, because he’s just as honest as the days long. He chases everything, he gets after everything, he puts us on the front foot and I think you saw that even with an injury.”
Lynch praised his squad as they moved into joint top spot alongside Shamrock Rovers, but he was also quick to point out that there is still a long way to go.
“I keep telling the boys if we want to have any kind of success you don’t do it with 11 players, you do it with a squad,” he added.
“It’s no secret the best squads normally win leagues and that’s a world-renowned thing. When you have three-game weeks and you get to change things, or people go out of form, or people are not having a good game you are able to change it and we’ve been able to do that brilliantly over the last number of weeks.
“I keep telling the players that winning can be very contagious but as far as the league thing is concerned, listen we're in May, we’ve had three good games now, but it’s over and we now give the boys a couple of days off and then we’ll go and get ourselves set-up for Drogheda.”
The Derry gaffer praised his players for their performance and was really impressed that they bounced back after Djenairo Daniels’ controversial goal, as they felt the throw-in in the lead up to the equaliser was taken some distance away from where the ball went out of play.
“We were also hugely disappointed with the goal we conceded, because the boys were set-up to defend a throw-in which suddenly was 30 yards higher up the pitch from where it went out of play, we weren’t set-up and they scored,” he explained.
“We were on the back foot at that stage of the game, but credit to the boys, they showed great character and scored from a set-piece to put ourselves back in front.
“To be fair I thought Cork galvanised and came out with a real bit between their teeth and they caused us problems.
“It was tough, as we were under the cosh a little bit, but it’s good for them. I don’t think you’re going to get any league games in this league, with the quality in this league, where at some stage in the game you are not going to be under any pressure, so it’s good that they can experience that and learn from that."
The win means that Derry City have gone from the bottom of the Premier Division to joint top in just a matter of weeks.
“They didn’t feel sorry for themselves when they conceded, they didn’t lick their wounds, they rolled their sleeves up and they dug-in," Lynch continued.
“I thought to a man they were outstanding, they were putting their heads where not many people would and great credit to them for that.
“Cork obviously changed their shape and they threw more numbers forward and as I said we then needed to change our shape, which was forced upon us and wasn’t something we wanted to do and then as I said I think we probably lost our way a little bit, but as I said to the players after the game, it was great credit to them and the character that they showed."