Dundalk 0
Derry City 0
Niall Newberry reports from Oriel Park
IT WAS STALEMATE at Oriel Park tonight as Dundalk and Derry City played out an entertaining 0-0 draw in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
In setting a new club record of seven straight home matches without conceding a goal, Dundalk closed the gap between themselves and second-from-bottom Drogheda United to two points, while Derry missed the opportunity to capitalise on Shelbourne’s slip-up.
The Candystripes, wearing their change kit, had the game’s first chance inside the opening two minutes when Dundalk goalkeeper Ross Munro had to save at his near post from Adam O’Reilly after the Derry midfielder had been slipped in by Paul McMullan.
Ruaidhri Higgins’ title-chasers continued to threaten, with ex-Lilywhite favourite Michael Duffy’s snapshot from outside the box going straight down the throat of Munro.
Another former Dundalk man, Will Patching, then saw his improvised free-kick attempt pushed around the post by Munro after the Dundalk keeper had been penalised by referee Daniel Murphy for momentarily carrying the ball outside of his penalty area.
Dundalk’s first big chance of the night arrived on 28 minutes when Cameron Elliott’s cross was met by Jamie Gullan, whose close-range attempt bounced off the turf and over.
The Lilywhites had another good chance through Elliott, whose header was tipped over the bar by Maher after the Dundalk forward had got on the end of a Daryl Horgan cross.
The resultant corner, taken by Horgan, was then headed off target by Hayden Muller.
At the other end, McMullan’s cross found Patrick Hoban at the far post and his diving header rippled the side-netting, however the assistant’s flag had been raised in any case.
Jon Daly, in his first home game in charge of Dundalk, saw his team almost take the lead in first-half stoppages when Elliott’s angled effort was kept out by the feet of Maher.
That attack finished with Sam Durrant crossing for Horgan, but the Derry stopper was on hand to save again from his free header as the teams went in at the break scoreless. Early in the second period, Duffy fired over after Dundalk failed to deal with a Derry corner, while at the opposite end, Durrant placed his shot wide of the intended target.
From Horgan’s pass, which was helped on by Paul Doyle, Gullan really should have put Dundalk ahead on the hour-mark, however he blazed over when it looked easier to score.
Dundalk were incensed moments later when from Horgan’s free on the left, Gullan’s header at the back post struck Ciaran Coll, but shouts for handball were not considered.
Maher produced a stunning world-class save 15 minutes from the end to deny Gullan, with the Scotsman’s turn and shot somehow kept out by the astute Derry netminder.
Meanwhile, Duffy and Patching had shots go wide in quick succession for the visitors.
Several supporters thought substitute Ryan O’Kane had given Dundalk the lead when his long-range attempt fizzed just wide of the post – an effort that had Maher at full stretch.
Derry almost nicked all three points when Ronan Boyce’s shot deflected off Dundalk skipper Andy Boyle and onto the post, thus securing a well-earned draw for the hosts.
Dundalk: Ross Munro; Archie Davies, Zak Johnson, Andy Boyle, Zak Bradshaw; Daryl Horgan, Hayden Muller, Paul Doyle, Sam Durrant (Ryan O’Kane 58); Cameron Elliott (Eoin Kenny 78), Jamie Gullan.
Derry City: Brian Maher; Cameron Dummigan (Ronan Boyce 78), Mark Connolly, Shane McEleney, Ciaran Coll (Ben Doherty 78); Adam O’Reilly, Sadou Diallo (Daniel Kelly 78); Paul McMullan (Patrick McEleney 78), Will Patching, Michael Duffy (Danny Mullen 86); Patrick Hoban.
Referee: Daniel Murphy
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