No goals but controversy aplenty in league clash

Derry City 0

There were plenty of talking points form Galway United’s rearranged Premier Division clash with Derry City on Monday night, but the main one was that United have now climbed off the foot of the table following an entertaining scoreless draw.

There was a fair smattering of controversy from the game – a stonewall sending off that wasn’t given, the state of the pitch, a high boot to the throat – but the upshot of it all is that United have lost just one of their last 11 competitive games, as Shane Keegan’s side continue to move in the right direction.

That movement is quite slow, mind: they have just one league win all season, but they could have added a second if the officials had done their job properly in the fifth minute of Monday’s game and sent-off Derry City captain and goalkeeper, Ger Doherty.

A ball was played down the right channel for Padraic Cunningham, and as he controlled, Doherty came racing out of his penalty area to confront him. The United man took aim and tried to shoot low to Doherty’s left, but the City ’keeper dived to execute a wonderful save. The problem was he was there yards outside the box.

So, it was a deliberate handball, the first test for a sending off in this instance. He blocked a goal-scoring opportunity with his hand, the second test. And while there was a defender lateral to him, he was not in a line between the goal and the trajectory of Cunningham’s shot, so Doherty was also the last man, the third test.

Yet Clare referee, Rob Hennessy, decided that Doherty had not denied a goal scoring opportunity and so only showed Doherty a yellow card, yet another howler to add to the long list of bad decisions made in the league on an almost weekly basis.

When asked after the game about the decision not to show Doherty a red card, City manager Kenny Shiels replied by slamming the state of what was a very poor playing surface. He had a point – and he also called for action to be taken against clubs over the state of poor pitches – but it was a complete deflection of the question put to him.

He moaned that the state of the pitch forced him to make two substitutions, and suggested that it cost his side the win. The fact of the matter is that Doherty’s continued presence in the game cost United the win, as the goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves in the second-half to ensure a share of the spoils.

City had the better of the first-half exchanges, and Ronan Curtis had a shot take off the line by Lee Grace in the 11th minute; while Conor Winn went full-stretch to deny Barry McNamee midway through the half.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.