Ben Doherty salvaged a point for Derry City late on despite the Candystripes finishing the game with ten men.

The opening half lacked any clear-cut chances for either side, both opting to play a safe and patient brand of football for the opening 45. It was, however, a lively opening ten minutes, and a period where the home side will feel they could have profited from.

In the 4^th minute, Jack Moylan attempted a spectacular volley from 25 yards out after performing a series of keepie-ups to dance away from the Derry defence. His attempt left Brian Maher in the Derry net rooted to the spot, as he could only watch the ball rocket inches wide of the post.

Shelbourne were on the front foot again in the 11^th minute after Sadou Diallo’s slip almost led to a chance for the home side, only for the midfielder to recover well and block the ball out for a corner.

It was a half marked by a number of injury concerns for an already depleted Shelbourne. Centre Back talisman Shane Griffin was forced to withdraw from the field of play in just the 20^th minute, and was replaced by Paddy Barrett. Conor Kearns and Shane Farrell would also go down in a spot of bother, warranting attention from the medical staff, but neither were forced to leave the pitch.

From a Derry perspective, it was a disappointing first half as they failed to control the chances in the half. Whilst they enjoyed 55% possession, they lacked the cutting edge in the attacking third to really trouble Shelbourne. The visitors certainly grew into the game, and pushed on in the latter half of the opening 45 minutes. Diallo attempted a shot from the edge of the box, but his effort was easily dealt with by Kearns in the Shels net. Jamie McGonigle also had an effort thwarted by the Shels goalkeeper, keeping the scores tied at 0-0.

By half time, Derry looked the more likely of the sides to break the deadlock, Shels thankful of the half-time whistle.

The Second Half was more of the same

Jack Moylan looked to break the deadlock in the 49^th minute, speeding past Ronan Boyce to set himself up one-on-one with Maher in the Derry net, albeit from a very tight angle. He didn’t quite connect with the ball how he would have liked, and his effort was easily dealt with by the goalkeeper. Moylan proved himself to be a nuisance constantly throughout the game, in the 55^th minute winning a free kick again Sadou Diallo after shielding the ball brilliantly. Diallo swung a leg in frustration, earning himself a yellow card.

The resulting Free Kick was taken by Evan Caffrey, who produced a sublime delivery from near the halfway line. His ball curled beautifully to the back post, where it was met by an equally delightful header from substitute Sean Boyd at the back post, his effort sailing into the bottom right corner of the net. Boyd broke the deadlock, and sent the home fans into a thunderous roar. The striker rightfully then ran to Caffrey to thank the young midfielder for his excellent delivery.

Derry got back on level footing just 14 minutes later through a wonderful strike from Ben Doherty. Diallo launched an ambitious ball into the Shels box, and was initially dealt with well, however the ball then ricocheted out to Doherty on the edge of the box who struck it first time with his left foot, and sent the ball flying into the top-left corner. There was nothing Kearns could do to keep the ball out of the net.

For the remaining 20 minutes, the game descended into card chaos, with both sides picking up five yellow cards and one red card, the red being shown to Derry’s Adam O’Reilly.

Ultimately, however, the game ended 1-1, with the sides sharing the points. Probably a fair result in the end, but it was certainly a game of two halves; the first was rather limited in chances and drama, whereas the second could not have been more dramatic.