Derry City move closer to top after long-awaited win over Shelbourne
Derry City 2
Shelbourne 0
DERRY CITY MOVED to within two points of leaders St Patrick's Athletic who visit Brandywell on Monday night, after a first victory over champions Shelbourne since March 2022.
The Foylesiders issued a statement of their title intent with an impressive performance with first half goals from Michael Duffy and Liam Boyce sealing the win.
Damien Duff's side returned to the scene of their title celebrations last November but the Dubliners trudged off the pitch at the final whistle as their seven match unbeaten run came to an abrupt end.
Michael Duffy netted his sixth goal of the season and his second against Shelbourne when he fired home from Shane Ferguson's corner kick after 14 minutes.
That goal stunned the visitors who had dominated the ball up until that point but when Liam Boyce charged down Sam Bone's attempted clearance and slotted past Conor Kearns on 31 minutes – the Belfast man's second goal in two matches – it effectively ended Shelbourne's night.
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Derry's Liam Boyce celebrates scoring a goal. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO
It's three wins in four for Derry who leapfrogged the champions into fifth spot.
Tiernan Lynch made four changes from the team that lost in Waterford with the Belfast man opting for a back five.
Liam Boyce, Shane Ferguson, Adam O'Reilly and Hayden Cann were all recalled to the starting line-up as Lynch shuffled his pack for the first of two games in four days.
Shelbourne were returning to the scene of last November's title celebrations and Damien Duff made two changes to the team which drew with Shamrock Rovers last weekend. One of those was enforced as skipper Mark Coyle sat out through suspension but Harry Wood – who scored the winning goal to clinch the title on his last visit to Foyleside – started on the bench. In came Ali Coote and Sean Gannon for the champions.
Derry were chasing shadows during the opening stages as the visitors bossed the ball without creating anything of note.
Against the run of play it was the home side who opened the scoring on 14 minutes when Ferguson's inswinging corner was met by Duffy at the back post as the winger ran into the box unopposed before volleying into the net from close range.
Derry's Michael Duffy celebrates a goal. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO
Ellis Chapman's long ball forward was headed out into the path of Evan Caffrey in space on the edge of the box four minutes later but he screwed his shot wide of the target.
Ronan Boyce volleyed narrowly wide of the far post with a terrific strike when Ferguson's cross from the left was headed into his path by a Shelbourne defender.
Derry doubled their lead on 31 minutes when Liam Boyce charged down Sam Bone's attempted clearance, controlled the ball on his chest, ran through on goal and fired clinically past Conor Kearns.
Just before the break Caffrey brought the ball down with a delicious touch but his arrowed strike towards the bottom corner was turned behind at full stretch by Brian Maher – the keeper's first save of the night.
There wasn't much goalmouth action in either half after the break with Derry doing well to contain the increasingly frustrated Dubliners.
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Shelbourne boss Damien Duff. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO
Derry kept Shelbourne striker Mipo Odubeko quiet until the 80th minute when he forced his way in at the back post but his deflected shot was gathered cleanly by Maher.
The Candystripes impressively saw the game out with a professional display to secure a fifth clean sheet of the season to set up a crunch clash against the new leaders on Monday night.
Derry City: B Maher: R Boyce, M Connolly, K Holt, H Cann, S Ferguson (S Todd 60); G Whyte (R Benson 60), C Winchester, A O'Reilly, M Duffy (P McMullan 67); L Boyce (D Mullen 67).
Shelbourne: C Kearns; E Caffrey (J O'Sullivan 71), S Gannon, S Bone (T Wilson 65), K Ledwidge, J Norris (R O'Kane 71); A Coote (H Wood 65), K Inroy (J Martin 46), JJ Lunney, E Chapman; M Odubeko.
Referee – Rob Hennessy (Dublin)
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