Derry hat trick hero Boyce knows nothing is guaranteed

Liam Boyce admits the pressure is on to keep performing if he wants to keep his place in the Derry City team, despite his recent hat trick heroics.

The 34-year-old scored a 25-minute treble to help the Candystripes past First Division side Treaty United on Friday night, his second hat trick in just three weeks. Those goals have taken him to 11 for the season in all competitions, now out in front as the club’s top scorer. And although Pat Hoban has now left the club, the recent arrival of Dipo Akinyemi, who made his debut at Market’s Field, and another strong options in attack, means that Boyce cannot take his place for granted.

“I know Derry have always had unbelievable strikers, and even now with Danny (Mullen), Dipo, wee Sean (Patton), and Mickey (Duffy) scores loads of goals,” he acknowledged. “People are going to score goals, so you need to keep performing and keep putting the ball in the net of you want to play. First of all, I want to win games and anytime I score goals, it's going to give us a better chance of winning.”

Boyce waited eight games before scoring his first Derry City goal, but he has now scored 10 in 14 appearances since, with those two hat tricks boosting his numbers significantly.

“It's unreal,” he agreed. “Any time you can score one goal it's brilliant and to win the game, but to score a hat trick, personally it's brilliant but it's important that we're through to the next round.

“As a striker, that's the way it always is. You just keep trying to get into those areas. First of all, you try and play well, and it's always the way if you score one goal, they seem to come and they just hit off you.

“I don't know if I've ever scored a header from a corner before, but I scored two tonight. I'm usually the one marking the keeper trying to get a tap in. When you get a good run, you don't even have to think about it, they just fall for you and that's the way it is, and that's why it's important when you're not scoring that you just keep working for the team, and believe that it's going to turn and you're going to score goals.”

Boyce and his team mates now turn their attention to the visit of Bohemians to the Brandywell this weekend, a huge game with just one point separating the teams in second and third place in the Premier Division.

“They beat us down there the last time, and for how close they are to us in the table, they are just above us, so it's going to be a massive game,” Byce acknowledged. “After our performance against Sligo last week, we were all disappointed, so it was important to come here and put on a professional performance and I think we did and obviously to score five goals will give us confidence heading into next week.”

Meanwhile, Boyce’s performances over the past few weeks have left manager Tiernan Lynch feeling justified after some early season criticism of the striker.

“I don’t think there was any ever question of Boyceie’s ability,” he said. “He’s a class act, and he’s quality given the level that he’s played at for as long as he’s played, and he doesn’t have as many international caps as he is, not to be a good player. He probably doesn’t have the same legs as he had before, but his brain doesn’t leave him, and you can see the little areas he picks up, and when he gets into that box, he can be clinical.”

The draw for the FAI Cup 3rd Round will take place tomorrow, and the City boss is hoping to avoid another long away road trip.

“I think you always want to go home,” he said. “This was a tough place to come. It’s a long old day and we had to travel all day (Thursday). It was never going t be easy, but as I said t the players afterwards, they take all the credit. They stuck at it, they believed in themselves, they got the first goal, and they finished the job.”

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“Going into the game, we didn’t talk about performances, it was just about being in the hat. If you can get a performance on top of that, and get goals on top of that, that’s the icing on the cake, but you just want to get in the hat.”