Derry City played out a monotonous 1-1 draw with St Patrick’s Athletic at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium to maintain their positions in the middle of the table.
Derry City 1 St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Report by Shaun Keenan at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.
Barry McNamee gave Derry the lead with a sweeping effort just inside the 18-yard box until Lee Desmond’s admirable, long-range shot from distance levelled the scoreline.
A less-than entertaining and even game, which saw Derry go four points behind Bohemians in third, leaves the Candystripes without a victory in three games.
After a low-key first ten minutes, City broke the deadlock with a pristine move on the counter-attack.
Brilliant play on the left-hand side between Greg Sloggett and Ciaran Coll saw the skipper McNamee receive the ball on the edge of the area, and with a great first-time finish, the midfielder’s effort went beyond David Webster into the bottom corner.
City were good for their lead but they failed to take control of the contest as the visitors harry and hassled Declan Devine’s outfit and they paid the price as St Pats went level after half an hour.
Lee Desmond, securing his first goal for the club, and what a goal it was.
A 30-yard thunderbolt in space into the top corner of Peter Cherrie’s net left the former Dundalk and Cork City goalkeeper with no chance.
More pressure followed but the Candystripes managed to hold out until half time.
A host of chances for St Pats, including a close-range nodded effort from Gary Shaw and a shot on the edge of the penalty area from Chris Forrester weren’t good enough to beat the City stopper.
The Derry defence struggled to deal with Shaw presence inside the area and the striker almost applied the games third goal from close range after the break.
Mikey Drennan’s guided cross found the emerging Shaw in the middle of the box but his sweeping effort travelled beyond the near post.
City’s first chance of the second half fell for Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe after an hour.
Sloggett’s driven delivery across the danger area proved problematic for St Pats but Ogedi-Uzokwe couldn’t divert his effort from 10-yards.
In fact, neither side imposed their will in the second period failing to create an adequate chance until the 72nd minute.
Ogedi-Uzokwe attempting an ineffective overhead kick following a long throw-in from David Parkhouse.
It was a placid display from both sides, in the end, City struggling to get a real foothold on the Lone Moor Road and St Pats settling for a solid point on the west bank of the River Foyle.
Derry City: Peter Cherrie; Darren Cole, Ciaran Coll, Ally Gilchrist (Gerardo Bruna), Eoin Toal; Ciaron Harkin, Jamie McDonagh (Eoghan Stokes HT), Barry McNamee, Greg Sloggett; Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, David Parkhouse (Aidy Delap).
Subs not used: Nathan Gartside, Josh Kerr, Conor McDermott, Shane McNamee
St. Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Ian Bermingham, Ciaran Kelly, Simon Madden, David Webster; Conor Clifford, Lee Desmond, Chris Forrester (Darragh Markey 83), Rhys McCabe (Jamie Lennon 72); Michael Drennan, Gary Shaw (Jake Walker 92′).
Subs not used: Paul Cleary, Cian Coleman, James Doona, Barry Murphy,
