Late Graham Burke penalty denies Derry City huge win in title race

Derry City 1

Shamrock Rovers 1

Derry City were left frustrated as Graham Burkes' penalty, just six minutes from time, earned Shamrock Rovers a draw at the Brandywell. 

The Candystripes, leading 1-0 through a Cameron McJannet header, saw their world collapse late on, when Shane McEleney was red carded for fouling the Rovers man, who picked himself up to score from the spot.

It means that Rovers retain their four-point advantage over City at the top of the table, with just six league games remaining.

The first real chance for either team came towards the half hour mark from Rovers’ first corner of the game. Towell’s delivery caused a goalmouth scramble, with the ball bouncing around dangerously, with Rory Gaffney having two chances to shoot, the second of which was blocked on the line crucially by Cameron McJannet.

Derry responded with a chance of their own from a corner, when Will Patching’s cross found Diallo unmarked and the midfielder’s shot was goal-bound, but blocked by a combination of a Rovers defender and Danny Mullen.

The moment the Brandywell was waiting for came on 61 minutes and it was a simple set-piece which broke through Rovers, with Will Patching’s corner met with a bullet header from captain Cameron McJannet, who smashed the ball past Alan Mannus for his first goal of the season.

It should have been 2-0 just a minute later when Patching set O’Reilly away on a 3-on-1 counter attack, but instead of squaring the ball to Mullen or McMullan, the midfielder went for glory himself and shot wide of goal.

It was now Rovers struggling to deal with Derry corners, and another Patching delivery saw substitute Cian Kavanagh head back across goal, but Ronan Boyce’s effort lacked connection and Mannus was able to gather.

The game turned dramatically just six minutes from time when Rory Gaffney slipped the ball through the Derry defence to pick out the run of Burke, who was challenged from behind by Shane McEleney. Referee Paul McLaughlin pointed to the penalty spot and produced the red card to the Derry City defender and Burke picked himself up to beat Maher from 12 yards to level the game.

Teams

DERRY CITY: Maher, Boyce, Doherty (B Kavanagh 90’), S McEleney, McJannet, Diallo (Dummigan 70’), O'Reilly, Patching (Coll 85’), McMullan (Connolly 85’), Duffy, Mullen (C Kavanagh 70’).

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus, Lopes, Grace, Cleary, Finn (Farugia 45’), Burke, Kavanagh (Clarke 45’), O'Neill, Towell (Burt 68’), Poom (Watts 79’), Gaffney.

REFEREE: Paul McLaughlin