Lynch admits 'huge work' needed after lacklustre Derry defeat

Frustration and disappointment were the key emotions for Derry City boss Tiernan Lynch after another difficult night for the Candystripes, following a comprehensive 1–0 defeat to reigning double champions Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on Friday evening.

It was another night where the Foylesiders were second best despite having already registered a victory over the Hoops in the President’s Cup in late January. An eighty-first minute Dylan Watts penalty proved to be the difference on a night where the visitors failed to register a single shot on target, perhaps the most concerning aspect of their performance.

The Candystripes were without a number of first-choice players, including Carl Winchester, Cameron Dummigan, Darragh Markey, Brandon Fleming and goalkeeper Brian Maher. However, Maher’s replacement, on-loan Welshman Edward Beach, proved to be Derry’s saviour on more than one occasion, and without him the scoreline could have been far worse than just a single goal.

Five games into the new campaign and Lynch’s men have looked unconvincing, to say the least. Last-gasp goals were required to secure wins over Sligo Rovers on the opening night and Waterford last week, while a controversial penalty rescued a point against Dundalk in round two.

Convincing, albeit narrow, 1-0 defeats to Rovers and Bohemians a fortnight earlier have led to growing concern and frustration among Derry supporters, particularly given the lofty expectations on Foyleside following a winter of impressive recruitment. Twelve new faces arrived at the Ryan McBride Brandywell, though those additions have yet to fully deliver on the pitch.

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“It was a disappointing night,” Lynch admitted. “I thought we struggled for long periods and didn’t get a foothold in the game. We didn’t enforce our game on them at all. It’s just a disappointing and frustrating evening.

“We’re disappointed. There are lots of things that we didn’t do, but it wasn’t to be, and we have to move on from it. It’s five games in, and I think there’s a lot of football still to play. There are a lot of players who still have to get into the team and get fit. We’ve got a few players missing at the moment, so there’s a lot of work to be done.”

“There’s a lot of work to be done, and we’re aware of that. It’s important that we are not too critical of our players at this stage. As we keep saying, we’ve brought twelve new players in, and we still have a huge amount of work to do to try and get this right. That’s where we’re at. We’ve got to dust ourselves off and go again.”

Edward Beach came to the rescue throughout the game for the Candystripes, producing a superb performance between the posts. However, just nine minutes away from securing Derry’s first clean sheet of the new league campaign, it was all undone by a Dylan Watts penalty.

Adam Brennan raced in behind Conor Barr on the left wing, and the Derry youngster clipped the heels of the former UCD man inside the box.

Referee Kevin O’Sullivan pointed directly to the spot, and Watts stepped up to send Beach the wrong way, with Lynch having no complaints about the decision.

“I don’t think it was an intentional thing; it looked like a coming together, but we have no complaints. He left the referee with very little choice, and my immediate reaction was that it was a penalty,” Lynch said.

“Football is all about fine margins, and goals change games. Obviously we were beaten by a penalty, but there are no excuses on our part. We take it on the chin and move on.”

With fellow European rivals Shelbourne making the trip north next Friday; Lynch is fully aware that he has little time to right the wrongs of Friday’s showing in Tallaght.

The Belfast native and the Red and White Army will be expecting a significantly improved performance at what is certain to be another bumper crowd at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

“They’re all big games. There are no easy ones in this league,” he said. “We have to take a look back at tonight and ensure we get that right before we look at Shelbourne. We know we need to be better on and off the ball, and we need to know how we can get after teams, and that just wasn’t the case tonight.”