Derry City 2

Galway United 1

Derry City held off a strong Galway United fightback to move into third place in the Premier Division in the final game before the mid-season break at Maginn Park.

Goals from Ronan Curtis and Nathan Boyle in the first ten minutes of the game prove to be enough for the hosts but they were perhaps fortunate to hold out in the end with a goal from Gary Shanahan sparking a comeback from Galway.

City opened the scoring after just five minutes when they won a free kick 20 yards from goal and Curtis drilled the ball over the wall and past Conor Winn into the net just five minutes in.

Derry City were far from content however and they doubled their lead just four minutes later with another devastating attack from the hosts. The move ended with Barry McNamee collecting the ball on the left of the Galway penalty area, and his first time cross was perfect for Nathan Boyle who headed in from close range for his fourth goal of the season.

A frenetic first half took another twist however as Galway grabbed a goal back on 25 minutes. Stephen Folan played an incredible 45-yard pass cross field to pick out Vinny Faherty into the City penalty area. Faherty’s first touch was sublime, as was his chipped pass to Gary Shanahan, who slipped as he took the shot, but still got enough on the ball to beat Gerard Doherty to make it 2-1.

City were struggling to bother Galway in the second half but they should have killed Galway off on 79 minutes when Curtis broke down the left and lofted a superb cross onto the head of Boyle just six yards out. The striker did everything right heading the ball down past Winn, but Lee Grace was there to stop the ball on the line and the chance.

In the end, that first half blitz proved enough.

Teams

Derry City: Gerard Doherty, Conor McDermott, Dean Jarvis, Aaron Barry, Aaron McEneff, Barry McNamee, Harry Monaghan, Ronan Curtis, Joshua Daniels, Rory Holen, Nathan Boyle (Ben Doherty 87’), Aaron Barry.

Galway United: Conor Winn, Colm Horgan, Marc Luden, Lee Grace, Gavan Holohan, David Cawley, Vinny Faherty (Pauric Cunningham 83’), Kevin Devaney (Conor Melody 88’), Gary Shanahan, Ronan Murray, Stephen Folan.

Referee: Robert Harvey.

If you have a story or want to send a photo or video to us please contact the Derry Now editorial team on 028 7129 6600 for Derry City stories Or 028 7774 3970 for County Derry stories. Or you can email gareth@derrynews.net at any time.