Derry City 0 Drogheda United 1

Another blog, another defeat. However I believe that the non performance of the team has more to do with the defeat than my nonsensical rantings in cyberspace. Thus I’ll persist with it, if even for my own sanity.

Originally I wasn’t even going to bother coming up the road for the game. After the shocking performance in Dundalk the plan was to stay in Dublin and head to watch the cricket and GAA over the weekend. However I got the news that I had passed my exams on Friday morning and was given the nod that I could head on early. Therefore I made a last minute decision to head north and take in the game.

It was all going so well, sun shining and empty roads as I whizzed towards the Brandywell. In fact, it was going perfectly until I hit total gridlock at Magheramason. I’d had my iPod on in the car and hadn’t heard any news, so I was blissfully unaware of the bomb scare which had brought the City to a halt. I should have paid attention to this and just not bothered with the match. However that would be much to rational a decision for me, so I used every bad road and shortcut I knew to get to the Brandywell. The game had been delayed so I only missed the first fifteen minutes or so. OK, so we were back on track.

I grabbed a programme and heard about the manager’s dissatisfaction with a piece in the programme. It wasn’t mine, and to be honest I think that SK got it completely wrong. The piece mentioned lack of commitment but it was a balanced argument and far from a rant. I left the lads and head for commentary duties.

Scrambled my way up into the Old Stand where Greengo and Kev conveyed the news that the internet wasn’t working, so there wouldn’t be an iCandy. So it was just a case of watching the match. Derry weren’t bad in the first half, we created a few chances but the same problems which have been self evident for the last few weeks continue to remain. The unbeaten spell prior to the summer break seem to have papered over the cracks but with two defeats on the spin, the issues can no longer be ignored.

City couldn’t break the deadlock and it was level at the break. I was down to hand out scarves to people who paid me, so I was floating around the shop area at half time. I got a chance to have a look at the new kit up close and to be honest I am not a fan. I can understand the thinking and I appreciate rewarding the people who put their names in the sponsorship draw. However on an aesthetic basis, it can hardly be described as a cult classic.

The second half continued in the same vein, though the away side continued to grow in confidence. As City failed to beat the Drogs down the away side began to look more and more dangerous and seemed to have more creativity going forward than us. Greengo reckoned that the Drogs might nick one, and I said the same to JOT when he phoned me with about fifteen minutes to go. The introduction of Molloy seemed to give us a bit of bite in the middle, but we appear to be very one dimensional going forward. These shortcomings are multiplied when Farren, Morrow and Stewart seem to have lost their scoring touch. Morrow in particular appears to be having a horrible season.

I was down finalising the Man of Match award and missed the Drogs goal. We were trialling the Man of the Match thing for the first time and therefore I had to sort it, which meant I was in the club office when the goal was scored.

I went back up and sat with me da and JMC for the last few minutes but haven’t failed to break down the visitors for 85 minutes, the remainder was little different. I met the Drogs support after the game and it was heartening to see how many youngster their was, so passionate about their team. They outsang the home support for long periods of the game and it reminded me of following Derry through the “wilderness” years. The results mightn’t have been great but the craic was, and the away trip were a blast. Our support has really fallen away in recent times and it has lost “the buzz”.

I headed to the Oak afterward and met up with Chalks, Matt and McCole. It turned into a bit of a venting session and it once again realised how many things annoy me about DCFC at the minute. I have real problems with the deferred income schemes of selling season tickets now amongst other things and I “went off on one” as we’d say in Derry. People are completely busting their balls to raise money yet the players haven’t taken a pay cut. Crowds have fallen off, advertising has collapsed and yet instead of cutting our outgoing we are just asking fans to pay for this early.
I’ll not bore you with the details now but suffice to say it went on for several hours.

I’ll not be in Riga but I fear that on the basis of the last two weeks the tie could be dead and buried before we even get back to the Brandywell. I hope not, but we could get canned by a team that actually play football. I wish all the lads that are going a great trip, and hopefully a great result, and I wish I was amongst them.