‘We have to catch them' – Andy Mitchell sets out title challenge after Derry City close the gap on Shamrock Rovers
The in-form Candystripes sent a warning shot to Premier Division leaders
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Derry City first team coach Andy Mitchell declared their goal is to win the Premier Division
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
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Derry are nine points off Stephen Bradley's Shamrock Rovers having played two games fewer
Credit: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
And Brandywell first-team coach Mitchell declared: 'We have got to catch them, it's as simple as that.'
The rout was Derry's biggest league win since a 7-1 drubbing of UCD on Foyleside back in April 2022.
Jamie McGonigle scored a hat-trick on that occasion but on Friday night it was ex-Hearts hitman Liam Boyce who grabbed his first treble for the club to take his season's tally to eight.
Against the Blues, there were five different goalscorers, including
star
man Michael
Duffy
, 30, who has been pivotal to Derry's revival since the mid-season break.
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The ex-Celtic winger was involved in ten of the club's 12 goals during this four-match winning run, including stunning
strikes
against Shelbourne and
Derry
sit second in the Premier Division — nine points adrift of Rovers but with two games in hand — and meet the Hoops twice before the end of the season.
But with Stephen Bradley's men preparing for
Europe
, Mitchell is confident his side can stay in the hunt for a first league title since 1997.
He said: 'We're not looking at teams around us — we're looking at Rovers and we've got to catch them. It's as simple as that.
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'We're not looking to see if Bohs drop points or if Pat's pick up points — or Shels or Drogheda.
'We don't really care. We came here to try and do a job — to try and win this league.
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'We've got to keep looking up and keep looking to catch Rovers.
'We've still got to play them twice so we have to keep this consistency going and hopefully when we play them we're in and around them and we go and take our chance.'
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Derry were written off this season after slipping down to sixth, but Glengormley native Mitchell says their recent form is more reflective of the club's ambitions.
He added: 'We didn't get the consistency, but we've managed to find it the past four games and we're working hard to try and keep this going.'
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