United fail to land a blow in defeat to Derry City

Galway United 0

There was to be no repeat of the shock result from Galway United’s last trip to the banks of the Foyle as a pair of second-half goals gave the title-chasing home side a deserved win in the Brandywell Stadium on Friday night.

Stephen Walsh’s goal four minutes from time back at the end of March gave the Tribesmen a stunning 1-0 win over their hosts, only a fifth-ever win at the Ulster venue for the men from the West, but there was not be no repeat on Friday night as the home side dominated from the first whistle to make it back-to-back wins over the two promoted sides in a week.

United had a full week to prepare for the game after their Bank Holiday Monday clash with Shamrock Rovers was postponed, but Derry showed that there is no better preparation than an actual match, and they came into the game on the back of a 3-0 win over Waterford on the Monday.

The visitors had to weather a lot of early pressure from the home side, and were thankful for having a goalkeeper of Brendan Clarke’s quality in their side with the veteran shot-stopper called into action in just the second minute.

A Derry City free-kick was half-cleared, and Ben Doherty returned the ball into the penalty area, where Loughrea native Pat Hoban met it with an overhead kick, but Clarke sorted his feet to launch himself across goal and push away the goal-bound effort.

Pictured: Galway United captain Conor McCormack whose team were out of luck against his former club Derry City in the Premier Division at the Brandywell on Friday night.