Derry City off the top as they lose at Galway United
Shelbourne defeat Dundalk at Oriel Park
Galway United 1
Derry City 0
Derry City’s stay at the top of the Premier Division proved to be brief as they fell to defeat at Galway United.
Patrick Hickey's second half goal decided a tight game at Eamon Deacy Park, the second time this season that John Caulfield's team have beaten the Candystripes.
Shelbourne’s 1-0 win over Dundalk at Oriel Park means that Damien Duff’s side are now three points clear at the top, with a game in hand to come against Bohemians next week.
There was a real bite about the Galway players in the opening stages and it took a smart save from Brian Maher to deny them the opening goal midway through the first half. Edward McCarthy drove strongly from the centre of the park and picked out Jimmy Keohane 20 yards from the Derry goal, but his attempt to place the ball into the bottom corner was read by the Derry goalkeeper who pushed the ball behind for a corner.
It took 37 minutes for Derry City to create their first chance, and it was one they should have taken. Adam O’Reilly’s clever flick sent Paul McMullan racing towards goal, and his low pass into the area met the run of Will Patching, who had a free shot on goal but missed the target completely.
Derry City began the second half with much more purpose and Brendan Clarke produced a brilliant save to deny Will Patching, whose curling effort was headed to the top corner.
From the resulting corner, the visitor came even closer when Mark Connolly’s downward header ricocheted into the path of Pat Hoban, whose snapshot was cleared off the line by Cunningham.
Galway United took the lead on 76 minutes when David Hurley’s free kick into a packed penalty area was spilled by Brian Maher and Hickey fired into the empty net to make it 1-0. The Derry City players surrounded referee Kevin O’Sullivan claiming the goalkeeper had been fouled, but their appeals fell on deaf ears.
Still, the visitors could have equalised within seconds of the restart when McMullan’s dinked cross presented substitute Danny Mullen with a header from close range, but he put it straight into the hands of Clarke.
Ruaidhri Higgins made a number of substitutions to try and spark his team into action, which included the return of captain Patrick McEleney after two months out injured, but it was Galway who came close to a second when Hurley’s brilliant drive just cleared the upright with Maher scrambling.
It took that Galway goal to finally put some urgency into Derry City’s play, but it came too little, too late against a well-organised and stubborn Galway United side and not even five minutes of added time could bring a final chance for the Candystripes to get even a point from this game.
Teams
Galway United: Clarke, Brouder (Slevin 52’), Walsh, Cunningham, Hickey, Borden (Hurley 63’), Keohane, McCormack (Nugent 63’), McCarthy (Burns 88’), Buckley, Esua (Horgan 88’).
Derry City: Maher, Coll (Doherty 82’), S McEleney, Connolly, Wisdom (Boyce 82’), O’Reilly (Whelan 82’), McMullan, Diallo (P McEleney 75’), Duffy, Patching, Hoban (Mullen 75’).
Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan.