Dogged Derry dig deep to earn a point at St Pat's
Derry City show determination to grind out a 0-0 draw with St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park.
Irish Premier Division St Patrick's Athletic 0 - 0 Derry City FT Following back-to-back defeats, Derry City showed determination to grind out a 0-0 draw with St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park. Sean Hoare went close in both halves for Pat's and perhaps should have done better with each of his headers. Substitutes James Clarke and Josh Thomas threatened on the break for the Candystripes in the final quarter of an hour.
The in-form hosts almost grabbed all three points in the closing stages but dogged defending from Derry saw them hang on for a share of the spoils and pick up a first clean sheet of the season. Derry grind out goalless draw Derry, to their credit, were much improved in the opening 45 minutes, showing a bit of bite following a couple of limp displays of late. Jamie Stott and Patrick McClean at the heart of City's defence repelled most of the danger that came their way, but St Pat's did threaten on a few occasions.
Hoare had the best chance of the first period in the 17th minute when he rose highest from a corner, but he couldn't keep his header down. Moments later, Barry Baggley tested Derry goalkeeper Eddie Beach from range, and he then had the keeper beaten later in the half, but his left-footed shot from the edge of the box flew the wrong side of the post. After the break, Saints stepped up their pursuit of a goal as a glanced header from Luke Turner had Beach scampering to collect before City's Brandon Fleming threw himself at the ball to block Darragh Nugent's strike.
The hosts might have felt they should have been awarded a penalty after Patrick McClean and Romal Palmer tangled legs but referee Rob Harvey elected to give a free out to Derry instead. With a quarter of the game remaining, Tiernan Lynch made a quadruple change, which initially led to confusion amongst the officiating team with just three City players leaving the field as play was restarted with 12 men on the pitch for the visitors. With the situation eventually resolved, two of the introductions, Thomas and Clarke, began to cause problems in the Saints' backline.