Derry City draw at home to Bohemians as title drama rumbles on

Derry had to come from behind to earn a draw and keep themselves in control of their title chase.

This has turned into the league no one wants to win.

Not Shelbourne. Despite being top since March, bar a week or two, they have won just one of their last 10 league games. Yet their recent hesitancy in troubling the engravers have not encouraged their pursuers.

All of them have had their chances and last night Derry had a plethora of them, striking the woodwork twice, having another shot cleared off the line. But when it mattered most, they could not keep their composure.

The result was a poor one. That’s one win in eight league games now. While they still have a game in hand, as well as a superior goal difference, you can hardly call it title winning form.

In contrast, Shamrock Rovers, the defending champions, have finally found their groove. They remain a point ahead of Derry, two adrift of leaders Shels, but the difference is they have history when it comes to sealing the deal.

Derry don’t.

And these things count.

Because this was a game that was there for them to win.

They seized the early initiative and then failed to make it count, surrendering their advantage by marking poorly when Bohs attacked down the left, Derry’s defence leaving Archie Meekison unmarked in the penalty area. Sure enough the Scot scored and the psychological impact of the goal was massive.

Up until then Bohs were playing tentatively and without belief, Derry with a bit of a swagger and the feeling that if they got that opener then the points would be theirs.

And it looked like panning out that way, as Mickey Duffy curled a free kick onto the bar, as Pat Hoban banged a header narrowly wide and as Paul McMullan had a shot cleared off the line.

With all three chances coming inside the opening 20 minutes, it seemed only a matter of time before a goal would arrive.

And sure enough after 21 minutes it did.

Except the scorer was a Bohs player rather than a Derry one as Meekison angled his diagonal run perfectly to get on the end of Dayle Rooney’s cross and sidefoot his subsequent shot beyond Brian Maher.

And everything instantly changed.

The atmosphere, while not raucous, quietened significantly. And that influenced how Derry reacted to their setback because for the remainder of the first half there was no urgency to their play nor much confidence.

Midfield became a battleground they lost, James Clarke’s posting as a false nine stopping Sadou Diallo from getting time on the ball to make things happen.

And that was just the point.

Nothing was happening for Derry, Alan Reynolds’ decision to crowd the midfield and double up on Michael Duffy, stopping the Candystripes from exerting any sort of control in the remainder of the half.

By the break, with Bohs still 1-0 up, two questions arose. First, what tactical switch would Ruaidhri Higgins make to change the tempo of this game, and secondly would his players have the nerve and confidence to implement his plan?

The answer ultimately was yes, Higgins deciding on 57 minutes to replace his injured left back, Ben Doherty with a striker, Danny Mullen.

And within four minutes they had an equaliser, Hoban scoring it, his header from Duffy’s corner whizzing past Kacper Chorazka’s right hand.

The risk had paid off, Ciaran Coll - a regular left back - coming into the action just after the Hoban goal to provide balance to the Derry team again.

Still, they had work to do, a draw being of limited use to them, whereas a win would provide them not just with three points but also the springboard to launch into the final five games of their season with the intention of finishing 2024 with a league and cup double.

And they tried everything to get that win, their performance in the final half hour much better than what we saw up until then.

Their passing became crisper, their movement a little cleverer.

And it should have paid off, especially on 76 minutes when Mullen’s cross from the left was met by McMullan’s first-time shot.

The post intervened, Bohs survived, and the groans from the Brandywell could be heard up in neighbouring Creggan.

Still they battled on. Effort was not their problem. But a lack of composure was. In the final third, they came up against a well organised and resolute defence, this result being a big one for them too as it keeps them four points ahead of Drogheda and a relegation play off.

They should survive at this stage. As for Derry, fate is still in their hands. They still have a chance. The thing is, they need to learn how to take it.

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