Two out of three ain't bad.......

There is little to take away from the disappointment of losing a game in the matter of Friday night’s defeat. Take nothing away from Sligo, they created a number of decent chances on the night and are right to savour their first victory at the Brandywell in a decade.
City were up and down on the night, although the attacking threat seemed to wane when Sligo doubled up on Sammy Morrow. It also appeared as if City lost some of their threat when Farren came on to push up to form the 4-3-3 as moving Tommy Stewart out to the wing seemed to dissipate some of the threat. Myself and Colin both commented on the fact on Friday’s iCandy and it was only the introduction of McLean, late in the game, which seemed to restore the impetus down the flanks for City.
Mr Hancock proved himself another talking point, with three penalty shouts all turned down on the night. Given the same ref was responsible for the “penalty that never was” at Tallaght a few weeks before, he won’t be forgotten by City fans in a hurry.
Sligo impressed me, as much for their workrate as anything else. Where St Pats were slow and ponderous, Sligo were snapping all round the park at City players, preventing the home side from establishing any rhythm for most of the game. Whilst City might have bossed the ball, Sligo work hard to ensure that they weren’t completely overwhelmed.
Once again questions will be asked about City’s ability to mount a title challenge if we are unable to win home games. Last year was the case in point when City were superb on the road, whilst stuttering at the Brandywell. Several reasons have been proposed for this difference in form
Attitude of the opposition: Very few teams come to the Brandywell looking to win the game, and set themselves up to take a point from the game. This leads to massed banks of defenders in their own half. City are unable to truly use the late breaking runs of Ciaran Martyn, as there is little or no room for the midfielder to gallop forward. It requires a difference set up, a different mindset and it also requires patience from the crowd.
Atmosphere at the game: In my view, the atmosphere in the Brandywell has fallen away in recent years in correlation with the increased expectation. When SK arrived for his first spell, people were used to the drudgery of the Dykes and Keely era when creating chances, never mind scoring, was a cause for celebrating. It was a bit like when Northern Ireland went for the huge spell of being unable to score. The atmosphere at Windsor got more festive with every game, as people went for a party and convinced that this would be the game that they saw the goal. It was a bit like this at the Brandywell, as we had been struggling for several years. We nearly went down in 2003 and 2004 and people used to sing for the 90 minutes home or away, whatever the score. I can remember getting tanked 4-0 away to Dundalk and the City fans singing for the entire game, and it seemed to get louder everytime we conceded a goal.
That is not to say that everything was rosy. Crowds were very poor and the standard of football was terrible. However when we started to win games under SK it was still on the hard core in attendance and people had something to celebrate. The title challenge was a blur in 2005, where we just kept winning games. From the victory in Drogheda on the first day, right through to a wonderful victory in Bray prior to the denouement in Cork on the final day. There were no expectation, people never expected us to challenge and yet we just kept winning. We began to really get a reputation for a vocal support.
Going back to Friday and it seemed as if there was an element in the Brandywell just waiting for Derry to fail. Every stray pass is picked upon and rubbished. The reality is that if we are going to play a team who is only interested in stopping us playing, then they will be hard to break down. This calls for a bit of vision, to try something a bit different that the opposition may not expect. The problem then is that there is a higher likelihood that this may go wrong. I honestly believe that there are a number of players who don’t enjoy playing at the Brandywell due to the reaction of the crowd. SK touched on it in relation to the treatment of Stephen Gray, but I don’t think it is limited to him. Players curve their creativity and also look for the simple ball in order to ensure that they are not harangued for the stands. The problem seems to be that they are also criticised for just playing this simple ball, so they lose out either way.
Those who travel have been lucky enough to see some decent performances, such as the win away to Rovers and the demolition of St Pats. There is no doubt that those who travel are less likely to turn on one of their own. Stephen Gray was the recipient of very obvious support at Inchicore from those that made the trip and the whole team responded to produce a magnificent performance. Meanwhile back in the Brandywell, the team were playing very well on Friday night. A chant of “Stand Up for the Candystripes” emanates from Block J and yet only a smattering of the rest of the stand can be bothered to stand. If City fans want the team to win the League then they must try and contribute in whatever way is possible. People may laugh off the effect of the support from the stands but it should not be completely dismissed. I was chatting to Richard Sadlier about it a few weeks ago and he said that as a player, with a supportive crowd behind you then you are more likely to run that extra yard, chase down the lost cause, make that tackle. The flip side is that if you haven’t got that then you will do your job, but you won’t put anything extra in.
The season is far from over and there is still time to change this. We can once again make the Brandywell the cauldron of noise we have had in the past. It won’t be easy, but if we want the League title back in the Brandywell then we must do everything possible to make that happened. That is at all facets of the club from the team on the pitch, to the rest of it off the pitch. From fundraising to match day atmosphere, these are the areas in which ordinary supporters can influence.
After the disappointment of Friday night, I was at Judges Road on Saturday to see the young City of Derry side keep their promotion hopes alive with a bonus point win over Monivea. The COD side is a very young one and despite the crowd being a fraction of that at the Brandywell, it was overwhelmingly positive towards the home side. They were playing were real pressure as they needed to score five tries to keep the promotion hopes alive and as they tried to force the game, mistakes happened. However those at the game didn’t berate the players, they just urge them to up the effort and try again. They roll on to play Cashel this weekend in what truly is a win or bust game in relation to promotion.
Sunday saw us in the car and on the way to Maghera for the final round of the GAA NFL, Derry v Donegal. The game was in Watty Graham’s ground and entrance was a tenner. I had no problem paying it, but given the amount of crying people do about the price of League of Ireland games, it was certainly expensive given the lack of facilities. However I didn’t hear one person complaining at the gates.
An experimental Derry side were comfortable enough victors over our near neighbours and with news filtering through of a Kerry win over Galway, Derry were heading for a repeat of the 2008 final. I am not sure Damien Cassidy was looking to qualify for the final, as he may have been happy enough to end the League on a winning note. However with Monaghan in great form in Division 2 and the sides due to meet in Celtic Park on the 24th of May, the more games the better in my view.

The first 15 come Championship time will be interesting, as one would assume that players like Niall McCusker, Paddy Bradley, Fergal Doherty and others will be restored to the starting line up. After the euphoria of the League win last year was tempered by the failure in the summer, fans will be hoping that this year isn’t shaping up for a carbon copy.

Roll on Bray. I’ll be commentating, so check out www.blogtalkradio.com/icandy from 7.30pm on Friday night.

Inchicore Calling

I'll be in the hotseat from 7.30pm tonight for live commentary of the Pats game.

Pats is never the best for an internet connection, but we'll do our best.

www.blogtalkradio.com/icandy

For Club and Country

It’s not been that long since the last update but plenty has happened. The first trip to Tallaght, international duty for a week, and then Galway last Friday. So where do we stand? City top the League, Ireland sit second in the group. However that hardly tells the story.

The trip to Tallaght was great for a number of reasons. I’d had the car broken into the night before in Inchicore and needed a lift(metaphorically and physically), and the game certainly provided it. The ground and the entire setup feels light years away from grounds such as United Park or Ballybofey. You’d love to bottle it and show people so that they could see what the League of Ireland is like.

You’ve probably read enough about the game at this stage but it truly was a smash and grab raid. First we give away a penalty, then down to ten men. Half time saw the talk turn to how we could hold on and that a point would be a good result. The second half saw the breakthrough for the home side and at that stage it should have been game over. Indeed Rovers had the chances to kill the game off. Whilst one can never discount a City side led by Stephen Kenny, even this looked beyond the realms of their possibilities.

Undoubtedly the introduction of Molloy and Morrow was instrumental. Molloy stopped the flow of the ball through the middle, and Morrow was able to hold the ball up when it went forward. Check out the MNS website www.rte.ie/mns website for all the highlights. The celebrations between supporters and players after the game were special and although I was in the press box, the emotion was obvious. To be the first team to take three points from Tallaght was a particular sweet fact to take from the game.

We were in Croker the following night and then onto Bari. A brief stop to watch the Boat Race in London on the Sunday, but that is another story for another blog. Whilst the Bulgaria game wasn’t anything to write home about, we had a great night before and afterwards. Kev Mullen, Mick McCourt, James O’Toole were out before and after the game. In between amusing anecdotes of taxi driving actors and ultrasounding your alloys we had a cracking night. We ended up in the Hill 16 pub in Gardiner St(scene of many a Dublin SC meeting) and between Rovers fans, singsongs and general craic it was a superb night. So good a night in fact that between the hour changing and me having to pack at 3.30am I managed to sleep in a nearly miss the flight to London.

Bari was a great trip, we ended up in the same hotel as the team(and the Italian Tupperware convention) which was good craic. Some people weren’t particularly enamoured with Bari, but I thought that the old city was a gem and the people were superb. I am lucky enough to “parlo un po d’italiano” and we had great nights with the locals. I’ve been to Italy a number of times and every time I go back I remember once again why I love the country. Great people, great food, great lifestyle. Sitting in the Old Square on the Thursday morning, reading the Gazzetta Dello Sport and drinking a “doppio” as it hit 25C, we remarked how tough a station it was.

Like City, Ireland pounced with a late goal and cue pandemonium in the stands. I remembered landing heavily on my back during part of the celebrations and was rewarded with the appropriate bruises the following day. We certainly deserved the point and indeed could have stolen it at the ended. The goal reminded me of the finish by Pizza in the 95 Cup final as it seemed to hit the net in slow motion. Matt and Richie Q randomly turned up in Bari and we ended up sitting beside them at the game. There was also a random meeting with Alan Kerins the Sligo fan in the middle of it all. Late goals have a particular quality about them and the fans stayed in the stadium for half an hour afterwards celebrating. It reminded me of being in Kashima stadium when Keane equalised against the Germans in 2002.

It was back to business on Friday and I had to be in work(they do make me come in the odd day) so there was no Brandywell for me. The consensus is that Derry were very good in the first half and should have had the game won. Without throwing in clichés about the need for a second goal, the inevitable happened and Galway nabbed an equaliser. Still, with Bohs losing at home to Cork it saw City take over sole possession of the top spot. I’d far rather be there in November than now, but for the moment the view isn’t bad.