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.