Declan Bogue

BACK IN EARLY MAY, the final whistle blew in the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium and the boos were clearly audible in the capacity crowd.

Shelbourne had come up the road with a plan to frustrate Derry City. It seemed to go well as they left the field at the break 0-0. A Paul McMullan goal on 56 minutes forced Damian Duff to alter things.

One of the subs he made, Sean Boyd, got a touch on a cross to equalise in the 89^th minute. Before that, Shels had barely had a sniff. But now they were staying top of the league, and also nicking two points off the team that was then in third place.

Drill down through the figures however, and you’ll notice that Derry City actually had five yellow cards, while Shelbourne didn’t dirty their bib at all.

More to the point, this was another draw with Shels. A fifth consecutive draw in the head to heads between the two.

Three months later again, the two played out a scoreless draw again on a Tolka Park Monday night. Afterwards, words were exchanged. Duff seemed to have a problem. Both got tetchy towards each other.

Almost instantly, both managers played it down as one of those heat of the moment scenarios. Duff said Higgins was about the only person that could ‘keep him sane’ when they were both in Stephen Kenny’s backroom team.

Higgins insists that when they meet this Saturday in the FAI Cup quarter-final in the Brandywell there will be a pre-match handshake.

But you get the sense he’s fed up of Shels and their sheer stickiness.

“I think the last five games have been draws,” Higgins said during Derry City’s press conference looking ahead to this Cup tie.

“And listen, they are a very good side, we know that. But they are streetwise and they are probably the best team in the league at the Dark Arts and managing games that way.

“Out of the last five times we have played them, we have had three red cards, probably one of them was a red card.

“We have a really experienced group of players and I think we can learn something from them and be a bit more street smart, the way they are.”

Higgins is a clever communicator and delivers it deadpan. He knows that there’s a message in there; for referees, for the opposition, but probably more than most, for his own players.

“I think in those games, they haven’t been malicious games at all. They haven’t been games where there was a lot of nastiness in them,” he points out, before he lowers the blade.

“They are just cuter than us in a lot of ways and influence decisions better than what we do.

“For us to evolve as a team, we have to be a bit more like them.”

Four points behind Shelbourne with an equal number of games played, the league title race is a tense affair.

Although Derry are six points ahead of third-placed Sligo Rovers, the form guide is not title-winning standard, one win in the last five games, with two draws and two losses.

Thankfully for them, Shelbourne aren’t picking up any speed as they head for the final stretch. One win in the last six, although they have only lost once in that run.

After the game in May, both sides were in a similar funk. Higgins declared that night that, ‘This league is a bit of a slog,’ a perfectly apt description.

Reminded of that now, he smiles in recognition and extends the theory.

Ken Sutton / INPHO Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO

“Without doubt, it is a slog and it is tough and it is survival of the fittest,” Higgins says.

“And you hear people talking about the standard of the league and all this nonsense that the standard of the league has dropped.

“To me, it has improved. And that’s why it’s so tough. The standard of coaching at all of the clubs is at a really high level and the standard of player is also at a high level.

“So that’s how I feel about it. It hasn’t changed. You have to be mentally tough and show resolve and the team that does that best will have the most successful season.”

Next Friday, Shamrock Rovers visit the Brandywell. Almost to the year, a Graham Burke penalty on 85 minutes wiped out Cameron McJannett’s goal and with it, Derry’s challenge for a third league title.

The investment in the club is evident with the infrastructure work going on. Higgins has also enjoyed the budget afforded by Chairman Philip O’Doherty.

Last month he brought in Andre Wisdom, a one-time Liverpool and Derby County defender with England U21 honours. Patrick McEleney appeared in Thursday’s press briefing and is inching closer to a return.

The question is, with the benefit of the International break to catch their breath, what more can they throw at this week, one that will shape their entire season?

“Well, we try to keep a balance. If you build one match up…” he tails off.

“I mean, every match between now and the end of the season is of equal importance and if you build one game up bigger than the other, it’s not what we do. We just try to prepare in the best possible manner.

“This game has given us an extra couple of sessions to prepare because we haven’t played in a while and, hopefully, we are well prepared going in.”