Mark Connolly cautious but confident ahead of Derry City's trip to Finland

Mark Connolly has cautioned fans that the job is only half done, as Derry City head to Finland this week hoping to create more European history.

Second half goals from Will Patching and Cian Kavanagh saw the Candystripes come from behind to win 2-1 in Thursday’s Europa Conference League Second Round Qualifier, giving them a real opportunity of progressing to the third round of any European competition for the first time since 2009.

“We’re delighted. It’s a big win,” Connolly said afterwards. “They are a good team. They have international players and they are tactically very good and technically very good. But I think the character, especially in the second half was great.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the players. We have a young squad; there’s myself and a few others who are a wee bit older, but in general we have a very young team. Probably, that getting through the first round for the first time in nine years the manager had said, that was a weight off our shoulders. I thought we were brilliant. They are a very, very good team and I thought all the boys, even the players who came on, and the fans, everyone was outstanding.”

The hopes of the entire League of Ireland could well be on Derry City after a poor set of results last week, with Shamrock Rovers all but eliminated after losing their first leg against Ferencváros 4-0, while Dundalk are in a precarious position, having lost 3-1 away KA Akureyri.  

“For the co-efficient, we want to see other teams do well,” Connolly agreed. “It’s great that we got the win, but it’s only the first half done. It’s going to be difficult next week, away from home, but we are going there with a goal lead and we’ll not be going over there to sit back and try and get a draw, we’re be going to try and get a result again.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t have a few more goals, but winning 2-1 at home is incredible. To be honest, the fans were unbelievable; genuinely, in that second half, the fans backed us; we need that. We need that in every home game.

“I know it’s difficult and I know it’s expensive coming to games, but we need the backing of the fans. Honestly, everyone was talking about how much they got us over the line, be it throw-ins, corners, free kicks, you name it, the roar from the fans was immense and that’s what we need. Honestly, they were outstanding.”

‘Getting to grips’

Derry City started slowly on Thursday night before really coming into the game to dominate for long spells, and having seen the level of performance that the players are capable of on this level, Connolly is left in no doubt that Derry City can create more European history in Kuopio this coming Thursday.

“In the first 10 minutes, you’re getting to grips with these teams. You watch footage of them and the way they move and do things, but once it becomes live in the game, you have to get to grips with them,” he reflected.

“In the first 10 minutes we were kind of sussing them out, but once we got to grips with that, we were comfortable. They get the penalty and score, but in the second half I thought we ran all over them.

“As the game wore on, I thought you could see the fitness level of the boys. We were pushing at them every chance we got and we are probably disappointed we didn’t get more than two goals, but to come from behind against a very good team shows the character and the quality we have. People can say we’re hard-working and this and that, but we have some serious football players in our team. We take confidence from it but next week is going to be extremely tough, and we just need to be ready for it.”