Derry City mid-term report: Could do better

A week is a long time on football, as Derry City discovered just before the mid-season break. From two points off top spot in second place to nine points off top down in sixth place, reality hit hard at the worst possible time.

So far, the only consistency in Derry City's season has been inconsistency and therein lies the great frustration for supporters and no doubt for City boss Tiernan Lynch.

Currently, Shamrock Rovers deservedly sit top of the table and worryingly for everyone else, manager Stephen Bradley and his squad don’t look like they will be moving out of pole position any time soon. They have been here and done it on multiple occasions, and it will take a huge effort from any of the pretenders to dislodge them now.

Champions Shelbourne currently sit nine points behind the leaders, but so far they have not looked capable of mounting a real defence of their title.

The surprise package this year so far has been Drogheda United, who sit in second place, six points behind Rovers; as Kevin Doherty’s side have used last season’s FAI Cup success as a springboard in 2025.

Bohemians will be hoping to be the team to challenge Rovers, as they, too, are six points adrift of their nearest rivals, but crucially have played a game less. They take on Rovers at Dalymount Park in a few weeks’ time, in a game which the Gypsies will be confident of winning, as they have won their previous two encounters this season.

Another team who has disappointed this term, has been Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic, predicted by many to canter to the league title at the start of the season. The Saints finished the 2024 campaign in amazing fashion winning their last nine league games in a row, but while striker’s Mason Melia and Aidan Keena have been amongst the goals, fellow attack-minded players Zach Elbouzedi and Jake Mulraney have disappointed, and defensively they are conceding too many goals and that will have to change if they have hopes of becoming a title contender.

Galway United, who currently sit in seventh place know a couple of victories could put them into third spot, but experienced boss John Caulfield will be happy that just before the mid-season break his side ended a recent losing streak, which went to four games in a row.

Waterford sacked Keith Long after losing six matches on the bounce and replaced him with John Coleman. They have since improved and will continue to rely on striker Padraig Amond to get the goal needed to stay up.

Cork City also changed managers before the break with Tim Clancy being replaced by Gerard Nash and while they haven’t had the ‘new manager bounce’, just yet, their performances have improved and Nash’s first win doesn’t look that far away.

Bottom side Sligo Rovers have definitely underachieved, and will need a major improvement after the break if they hope to avoid the drop, but in young Owen Elding, they have a real talent, who if he keeps up his current form, is likely to leave the Showgrounds.

At the Brandywell meanwhile, it has been a case of one step forward and two steps back as hopes and raised then dashed in quick succession.

Not helping Derry City has been their horrible disciplinary record, with six red cards and over 50 yellow cards in just 18 games. A run of five wins in six games has been the highlight, but they started the season horribly, and went bottom before getting their act together, and bookended the first half of the campaign with successive defeats to Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians. It would be fair to say that most of the new signings have failed to hit their heights, and that's something that must change of City are to challenge for anything in 2025.

PICTUERED BELOW: Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)

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