A balmy June evening saw the visit of struggling side Bohemians attempting to beat Derry City for the first time in 5 years on their home patch.
A difficult task for the North Dublin outfit who have been largely better away from home. However, a team that seems to have a knack for conceding early goals continued that run of tradition in the 8th minute.
A beautifully weighted cross from right back Simon Madden picked out Patrick McEleney who curled the ball with precision into the back of the net which left Bohs 'keeper Dean Delany scrambling.
It was the wake up call that Bohemians needed and the away side battled hard for possession. It was still Derry that had the more clear cut of chances. Paddy Kavanagh's shot on 15 minutes produced a straight forward save from Dean Delany.
On the stroke of half time, Bohs' grit and determination paid off. Keith Buckley's cross found Ryan McEvoy and when he turned the ball back into Devanney's feet, he was presented a gift and duly delivered, striking the ball into the roof of the net from four yards out which sent the small but boisterous away fans into raptures.
Gypsies manager Aaron Callaghan would have certainly been delighted with his side's first half performance and set them up accordingly to go on and take the game to Derry who for all of their quality, didn't really take themselves out of first gear.
Declan Devine would certainly have been concerned about his teams lackluster performance however, I'm sure he had a big smile on his face when a beautiful piece of skill from Simon Madden left Michael Barker for dead and striker Michael Rafter coolly slotted home to give the Candystripes a bit of breathing space.
From here on out it was Bohemians who put Derry City to the sword with some excellent wide play from tricky winger Karl Moore who just couldn't pick out any of his team mates due to some resolute defending from the Derry City back line.
Perhaps Bohs' best chance to grab an equaliser came from Dave Scully who robbed possession and, after making good ground running into the box, he squared the ball kindly
for Devanney. His pass however, was over hit and when Devanney turned
across goal, Moore had a second bite of the cherry but the outstretched arm of Doherty kept the score at 2-1.
It stayed that way until the final whistle with many relieved sighs coming from the home fans. It means that Derry City keep pressure on league leaders St. Pats while Bohemians can take many positives from the game as they attempt to stave off fears of relegation.
Derry City: Gerard Doherty; Simon Madden, Shane
McEleney, Stewart Greacen, Barry McNamee; Mark Griffin (Michael Duffy
57), Ruaidhri Higgins (Barry Molloy 68), Patrick McEleney; Patrick
Kavanagh (Sean Houston 71), Michael Rafter.
Subs not used: Ryan McBride, James Gallagher, Ryan Curran, Raymond Foy.
Booked: none
Bohemians: Dean Delaney; Michael Barker, Roberto
Lopes, Luke Byrne, Ciaran Nagle (Chris Lyons 77); Karl Moore, Ryan
McEvoy, Keith Buckley, Kevin Devanney (Andy Mulligan 46); Dave Scully,
Shane Murray (Kevin O'Leary 88).
Subs not used: Daragh Raynor, Michael Scott, Gregg Murray, Santiago Falbo.
Booked: Karl Moore (52), Michael Barker (65).
Referee: Padraigh Sutto
Attendance: 1,300 (estimate)
Man Of The Match: Simon Madden
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Shane Saunders
Twitter - @ShaneSaunders88
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