Derry City left frustrated despite Ciaran Coll's late equaliser

Derry City 1

Sligo Rovers 1

Ciaran Coll's first goal in four years wasn't enough for Derry City as they were held at home by Sligo Rovers.  

The Candystripes had the opportunity to go nine points clear of Shamrock Rovers, who were held by St. Patrick's Athletic, but didn't do enough to break a stubborn Sligo defence down. 

There was real controversy just 10 minutes in when Jamie McGonigle scored what seemed to be the opening goal, only for referee Adriano Reale to pull the play back for a Derry City free kick rather than giving the striker the advantage. The official was surrounded by furious Derry City players with the home side denied what looked like a perfectly good goal. That decision would come back to haunt the home side. 

The Brandywell was stunned when Sligo took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half. Reece Hutchinson found himself in enough space on the left wing to send a cross deep into the City area, and it was perfect for Max Mata who arrived at the back post to head past Brian Maher for his fifth goal of the season.

Sligo were proving resilient in the second half and Ruaidhri Higgins made two changes on 67 minutes to try and spark something from his team, sending on both Jordan McEneff and Brandon Kavanagh for Will Patching and Ollie O’Neill.

Within seconds, City had their first chance of the second period when Graydon broke into the area from the left and crossed for Ronan Boyce to glance a header just over from close range.

It looked as if it would be one of those nights for Derry, but with just eight minutes remaining they pulled themselves back into the game when Ben Doherty’s corner was brilliantly headed home by Ciaran Coll.

Still, City were lucky not to gall behind again within seconds as Bogdan Vastsuk found himself clean through on goal, but he shot badly wide with just Maher to beat.

Teams

DERRY CITY: Maher, Boyce (Kavanagh 79’), Coll, S McEleney (McLaughlin 87’), Doherty, Diallo, P McEleney, Graydon, Patching (McEneff 67’), O’Neill (Kavanagh 67’), McGonigle.

SLIGO ROVERS: McNicholas, Brannefalk (O’Sullivan 42’) ((Browning 45’)), Mahon (Clancy 45’), Pijnaker, Hutchinson, Hartmann, Morahan (Liivak 74’), Vastsuk (Barlow 83’), Bolger, Fitzgerald, Mata.

REFEREE: Adriano Reale.