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@bfcdublin A contested sending off went a long way to helping Derry City emerge from Dalymount Park with a victory, Shane Quinn reports.
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Keith Buckley’s dismissal late in the first half by referee Pádraig Sutton, followed immediately by a Derry goal, left Bohemians with an insurmountable task.
An incredible late penalty miss by Killian Brennan extinguished any hopes of a Bohs rally.
Derry have settled effortlessly into the top flight following a year-long absence in the First Division.
As Pat Fenlon continues to do at Dalymount Park, former Bohs boss Stephen Kenny has done an outstanding job at Derry, particularly considering the internal strife the club suffered within the past year. The visitors’ starting line-up consisted of two ex-Gypsies, with Gareth McGlynn and Ruaidhrí Higgins at midfield.
Meanwhile, there was a minute's silence prior to kick-off for former Bohs president Seán Moore who sadly passed away on 23 April.
The glorious spring weather ensured perfect conditions for football. Derry, clad in bright yellow shirts and socks, enjoyed much of the play in the early stages and could have profited from a goalkeeping error. Chris O’Connor came far from his goal to clear, but sloppily kicked directly into Patrick McElaney’s path 40 yards out. The midfielder, seeing O’Connor in no man’s land, composed himself but his strike lacked the height to trouble the retreating keeper who caught easily.
Anto Flood felt hard done by when booked early on and, in the 21st minute, threatened first for the hosts.
Visiting keeper Gerard Doherty made the wrong decision to leave his line following Buckley’s long ball.
Flood raced onto it before Doherty, but the striker’s ensuing lob landed on the roof of the net.
Slowly, the Candystripes’ early control of the opening half started to slip away.
Bohs forced two corners in succession and from the second attempt Owen Heary forced Doherty into a one-handed save, with the ball eventually scrambled clear.
Then disaster struck the home side.
Buckley was harshly punished with a red card when contesting a 50-50 tackle with Daniel Lafferty - the challenge was not of a two-footed nature.
 Bohs boss Fenlon was duly ordered from the dugout for protesting too much to the fourth official, Darren Coombes. The home crowd were enraged, and with seconds to the break, salt was rubbed into raw wounds as Lafferty glanced home a Kevin Deery free-kick.
The game was as good as over on 48 minutes after a beautiful one-two between Eamon Zayed and James McClean carved the Bohs defence apart.
Zayed chested the ball into McClean’s path and he fired beyond O’Connor from close range.
McClean was subsequently booked by Sutton for sarcastically gesturing towards the home support.
With Derry’s 11 men now holding onto the ball at ease, Bohs sat deep in a damage limitation exercise.
This Candystripes outfit are a proper team, perhaps a better side than Sligo Rovers who fell to another defeat at UCD tonight.
That said, both sets of players here were an even match until the sending off swung the pendulum in Derry’s favour.
Bohs kept plugging away but their opponents’ ability in possession and space in which to pass meant it was a hopeless task.
The Gypsies had been handed a glimmer of hope when Sutton adjudged that Shane McEleney barged into Flood in the area six minutes from time.
Brennan took the spot-kick but tried to be too cute.
The ex-Derry player chipped his effort against the former club and the ball cannoned off the bar down to Flood, whose header mirrored Brennan’s by also hitting the bar. It just wasn’t Bohs’ night.
BOHEMIANS: O’Connor; Heary (C), Burns, Price (Feely, 86), O’Brien; Buckley, Bayly, Brennan, Traynor, Cahill (Dixon, 74); Flood.
DERRY CITY: Doherty; McCallion, Greacen, G McEleney, Lafferty; McGlynn, Higgins, Deery (C), McClean (McLaughlin, 89); P McEleney, Zayed.
POSSESSION – Bohs: 42%, Derry: 58%.
ATTEMPTS ON TARGET – Bohs: 5, Derry: 4.
ATTEMPTS OFF TARGET – Bohs: 3, Derry: 1.
CORNERS – Bohs: 5, Derry: 2.
BOOKINGS - Bohs: Flood, Burns. Derry: Greacen, McGlynn, Zayed, McClean, Higgins.
SENDINGS OFF – Bohs: Buckley, Derry: None.
REFEREE – Pádraig Sutton (Dublin).
Written by Shane Quinn
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