Finn Harps 0

Derry City 2

Derry City hit two late goals to claim the derby bragging rights at the end of a frantic night in Ballybofey.

With little between the sides for most of the game, defender Darren Cole struck with just four minutes remaining to send the travelling City fans into raptures. As Harps pushed forward for an equaliser late on, Derry struck again, deep into added time, Aaron McEneff making sure to take Derry back to third place in the table.

It was Harps who were on top in the early stages, as, roared on by the Ballybofey crowd, they almost caught City short on. A free kick awarded on the right flank was quickly taken by Sean Houston who played the ball through to Caolan McAleer, who went one on one with Gerard Doherty, but failed to beat the Derry captain who saved with his legs.

The game took a controversial turn on just three minutes later when Harps knocked the ball out due to a head injury to the player. But with referee Ray Matthews waving play on, City resumed play and when Josh Daniels cross was not dealt with by the Harps defence, the ball fell out of the sky for Rory Patterson, whose close range volley was beaten away by Gallagher. It was an important stop by the Harps goalkeeper but Patterson really should have scored.

The introduction of BJ Banda gave Harps fresh impetus, and within two minutes of his arrival he could well have given Harps the lead, Coll’s cross eluding both Cole and Toal and the striker had just Doherty to beat, but the goalkeeper was out quickly to somehow block the shot behind for a corner, saving his team for the second time in the game.

The breakthrough finally came just four minutes from time much to the dismay of Harps and the delight of Derry. Ciaran Gallagher misjudged the flight of the ball and conceded a needless corner, and the hosts paid the price. Nicky Low’s inswinger was not dealt with properly and with the ball bouncing around the area, defender Darren Cole pounced to fire the ball in from close range for his first goal for the club.

Harps pushed forward for the equaliser but three minutes of added time saw Derry in complete control and they made sure of the win when Aaron McEneff went through, rounded Ciaran Gallagher and slotted the ball into the net to make sure of the points for the Candy Stripes.

Teams

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher, Damien McNulty, Ciaran Coll, Killian Cantwell, Packie Mailey, Gareth Harkin, Caolan McAleer, Sean Houston, Ethan Boyle, Ibrahim Keita (BJ Banda 66’), Eddie Dsane (Johnny Bonner 78’).

Derry City: Gerard Doherty, Dean Jarvis, Conor McDermott, Eoin Toal, Darren Cole, Lukas Schubert (Nathan Boyle 73’), Josh Daniels (Ben Doherty 78’), Nicky Low, Aaron McEneff, Barry McNamee, Rory Patterson.

Referee: Ray Matthews.

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