RORY PATTERSON’S GOAL was the difference in Tallaght tonight as Derry City beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 to go five points ahead of the Hoops and strengthen their hold on third place.
As has been the case for several games now, Shamrock Rovers lined up in a 3-5-2 formation but they found themselves on the back foot early on as Derry pressed through Ronan Curtis and Lucas Schubert on the flanks.
That pressing continued throughout the opening half, and Brian McEneff had Craig Hyland at full stretch on 13 minutes when his free-kick from the edge of the box forced the Hoops goalkeeper into a good save.
Despite being forced back, however, the home side did create openings, and on two occasions the ball was fizzed across the six-yard box but there was no-one there to turn it in.
Another McEneff free-kick had Hyland worried on the half-hour mark when he spilled the ball into the path of Curtis, but the follow-up was deflected wide, and Hyland again denied McEneff shortly after that, saving brilliantly low to his left.
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Rovers were struggling to handle Derry’s movement at times as they flooded forward, and when Conor McDermott delivered on the overlap from the right he picked out Patterson, who scored for the second time against Shamrock Rovers this season.
His header to the bottom corner left Hyland with little chance, and City ended the half stronger as they looked to take a stranglehold on third place in the league.
The second period began as the first had ended, with City forcing Rovers back through Schubert, Curtis, Patterson and McNamee, but the home side eventually found some rhythm, and when Gary Shaw teed up Brandon Miele, the attacker should have shot rather than try and take a touch.
The latter then returned the favour minutes later when the Hoops broke at pace but Shaw saw his shot deflected just wide of Ger Doherty’s goal.
Rovers also had a claim for a penalty disregarded by the referee as they desperately tried to break down the Derry defence, while the Tallaght side’s discipline was called into question as they picked up seven yellow cards in the space of 32 second-half minutes.
Entering the final five minutes the intensity increased again, and when Dean Clarke smashed the ball to the back post, Trevor Clarke came within inches of levelling the tie.
Hyland proved his worth soon after that, denying Curtis with a superb save, and in the end Derry left Tallaght with a hard-earned three points which give their European hopes a boost.
Shamrock Rovers' Killian Brennan Aaron McEneff of Derry City. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Craig Hyland; David O’Connor, Simon Madden, Rob Cornwall; Brandon Miele, Shane Hanney, Patrick Cregg, Trevor Clarke, Killian Brennan (Gary McCabe, 65); Gary Shaw (Dean Clarke,71), Sean Boyd (Aaron Dobbs, 71)
Patterson strike sinks Hoops in Tallaght and strengthens Derry grip on third spot
Shamrock Rovers 0
Derry City 1
RORY PATTERSON’S GOAL was the difference in Tallaght tonight as Derry City beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 to go five points ahead of the Hoops and strengthen their hold on third place.
As has been the case for several games now, Shamrock Rovers lined up in a 3-5-2 formation but they found themselves on the back foot early on as Derry pressed through Ronan Curtis and Lucas Schubert on the flanks.
That pressing continued throughout the opening half, and Brian McEneff had Craig Hyland at full stretch on 13 minutes when his free-kick from the edge of the box forced the Hoops goalkeeper into a good save.
Despite being forced back, however, the home side did create openings, and on two occasions the ball was fizzed across the six-yard box but there was no-one there to turn it in.
Another McEneff free-kick had Hyland worried on the half-hour mark when he spilled the ball into the path of Curtis, but the follow-up was deflected wide, and Hyland again denied McEneff shortly after that, saving brilliantly low to his left.
Rovers were struggling to handle Derry’s movement at times as they flooded forward, and when Conor McDermott delivered on the overlap from the right he picked out Patterson, who scored for the second time against Shamrock Rovers this season.
His header to the bottom corner left Hyland with little chance, and City ended the half stronger as they looked to take a stranglehold on third place in the league.
The second period began as the first had ended, with City forcing Rovers back through Schubert, Curtis, Patterson and McNamee, but the home side eventually found some rhythm, and when Gary Shaw teed up Brandon Miele, the attacker should have shot rather than try and take a touch.
The latter then returned the favour minutes later when the Hoops broke at pace but Shaw saw his shot deflected just wide of Ger Doherty’s goal.
Rovers also had a claim for a penalty disregarded by the referee as they desperately tried to break down the Derry defence, while the Tallaght side’s discipline was called into question as they picked up seven yellow cards in the space of 32 second-half minutes.
Entering the final five minutes the intensity increased again, and when Dean Clarke smashed the ball to the back post, Trevor Clarke came within inches of levelling the tie.
Hyland proved his worth soon after that, denying Curtis with a superb save, and in the end Derry left Tallaght with a hard-earned three points which give their European hopes a boost.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Craig Hyland; David O’Connor, Simon Madden, Rob Cornwall; Brandon Miele, Shane Hanney, Patrick Cregg, Trevor Clarke, Killian Brennan (Gary McCabe, 65); Gary Shaw (Dean Clarke,71), Sean Boyd (Aaron Dobbs, 71)
DERRY CITY: Gerard Doherty; Aaron McEneff, Patrick McClean, Dean Jarvis, Niclas Vemmelund; Barry McNamee, Conor McDermott, Conor McCormack (Harry Monaghan, 65), Lukas Schubert (Nathan Boyle, 71); Ronan Curtis (Ben Doherty, 88), Rory Patterson.
Referee: Ray Matthews
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SSE Airtricity League Premier Division Derry City League of Ireland pat on the back Rory Patterson Shamrock Rovers