Ruaidhri Higgins 'proud' of his players but questions 'double standards' of officiating

Ruaidhri Higgins believes his players proved they are up for fight in the league title race after digging in for a draw at Shelbourne.

City played for over 65 minutes with ten men but still looked the more adventurous of the two sides, creating the best chances over the course of the game.

The result leaves the Candystripes three points behind Shelbourne having played a game more, but Higgins remains proud of his players.

“Eleven vs eleven we should have been two or three up,” he reflected. “We were the better team, we were the dominant team and we looked like we were in the ascendency and then you get a man sent off and obviously your plan flips in its head and you have to become more of a counter-attacking threat. But I'm really, really proud of the players to be honest because we showed two sides of us when it was 11-11.

“We played some beautiful football, 11 v 10. We rolled our sleeves up, showed proper commitment, proper desire and thoroughly deserved the point and over the piece. Even over the 95 minutes, we had the better chances in the game.”

Derry City defender Sam Todd was red-carded on 35 minutes and while Higgins had no problem with the decision, he believes that both teams should have ended with 10 men on the pitch.

“I've absolutely no issue with the sending off but it's double standards,” he explained. “What I do have an issue with is John Martin, one of their players; Paul McMullan, did him in a one-on-one going into the final third. It's a promising attack. John Martin brings him down and the punishment's not the same and then subsequently he gets brought off 30 seconds later. That's where my issue lies.”

“I really rate Damien (McGraith), really rate him. But I think, as I said, I have absolutely zero issue with our red card. What I do have the issue with is their player that got brought off then because he should have been sent off. That's the issue that I have. But other than that, I think he's refereed the game well and I think he's a really good referee.”

Asked what he discovered about his team, Higgins was adamant in his response.

“I found out that we're up for it,” he said. “I found out that we're made of the right stuff and let's be honest, there's more than two teams involved in it and anybody that thinks any different is wrong. So it makes it very, very interesting and exciting and I've no doubt after tonight that we're up for the challenge.”

“I’m really proud of the players to a man. They poured their guts out on the pitch. It gives you real pride to be leading the group because they've given absolutely everything to make sure that we left here with a minimum point and to be honest, I felt we deserved three.”