Dummigan injury blow for Derry ahead of new season

Tiernan Lynch has suffered a blow ahead of the new season with the loss of Cameron Dummigan due to injury.

It is believed that the midfielder, out of action since last August, picked up a hamstring injury in Monday night’s 1-0 pre-season victory over Cobh Ramblers. Striker Sean Patton scored the only goal of the game, which is part of the club’s training camp in Cork. New signings Shane Ferguson and Liam Boyce also featured, while Ciaron Harkin also wore red and white again following his loan spell at Coleraine.

Dummigan’s injury took the shine off what was otherwise an essential run out for manager Tiernan Lynch and his players ahead of the new season, especially after the disappointment of the cancelled game at Finn Harps due to a frozen pitch just days earlier. It remains to be seen how serious the injury to Dummigan is, but initially it is believed he could miss the first month of the campaign.

It is not the first time that the 28-year-old has suffered with injury, with his Derry City career, now heading into its fourth season, blighted in recent years with injury problems.

Brought to the club by Ruaidhri Higgins three years ago, Dummigan enjoyed a successful first season at the club, making 33 league appearances and 40 overall in all competitions, helping the Candystripes to European qualification playing the whole game as Derry City defeated Shelbourne to lift the FAI Cup at the Aviva Stadium.

However, a knee injury at a pre-season training camp in Spain disrupted his preparations for the start of the 2023 season, during which he started only 12 league games throughout the whole year. The injury meant he missed the first 15 games of the 2023 campaign before appearing as a late substitute against Bohemians at Dalymount Park in May.

Last season, Dummigan’s injury problems continued. Despite starting the first two games of the 2024 campaign, the midfielder suffered another setback, which meant that he only appeared once in the following 14 games. He did enjoy his best run of games in the summer period, when he appeared in 15 games in succession, but his season then ended prematurely when he suffered a hamstring injury against Waterford at the RSC in August. Overall, Dummigan made just 12 league starts again in 2024.

That bad luck from injury has really prevented Dummigan from building on his solid first season at the Brandywell, with knee and hamstring injuries meaning that the title winner with Dundalk has only completed 90 minutes 13 times in City’s last two league campaigns.

Meanwhile, Tiernan Lynch is busily assembling his squad for the new campaign, ahead of the season opener against league champions Shelbourne at Tolka Park on February 14. Having unveiled both Liam Boyce and Gavin Whyte last weekend, the City boss is hoping to add to the new faces at the Brandywell in the coming days.

Robbie Benson, a title winner with Dundalk, is training with the club at the camp in Cork, while Shrewsbury Town captain Carl Winchester is expected to play his last game for the club against Jams McClean’s Wrexham tomorrow night before being unveiled as a Derry City player. That would take the total number of new signings by Lynch to five with the new league season just 29 days away.

The Candystripes will continue their pre-season preparations with a trip to the Sligo Showgrounds next Tuesday. John Russell’s side will welcome City to a ground they have suffered badly at in recent years, although the clubs were involved in a remarkable pre-season game there last January, in which City came from 4-0 down to level before losing 5-4.