General
- Thursday November 2nd, 2023 @ 15:25
Match Preview: Saints V Derry City (03/11/23)
The Saints will cross the white line in 2023 for the final time in the league this Friday evening in the Premier Division as they face a northbound trip to play Derry City in what will be a 2nd against 3rd in the table clash.
Kick-off is on Friday evening at 7.45pm in the Ryan McBride Brandywell.
Tickets for the game are on sale via the Derry City website.
Supporters are encouraged to buy tickets now to avoid disappointment, with another strong away support expected in Derry, as has been the case all season. Tickets will not be sold at the Brandywell.
For those St Pat's fans not making the trip, the fixture will be shown live on LOITV.
The Saints come into this game off the back of a 2-0 loss to Shamrock Rovers in the final game at Richmond Park this season. Two late goals from Aaron Greene and Graham Burke secured the win for Rovers which confirmed them as league title winners for a fourth season in a row.
Despite the Saints being in control for large spells of the game and putting up a good fight, Rovers' two late goals condemned them to a rare loss at Richmond Park this season.
This result means St Pat's are in 3rd place in the Premier Division, with 62 points from 35 league games. They're behind Derry City on goal difference.
St Pat's have withheld a very strong domestic record in recent times, with 16 wins, three draws and that result against Rovers being just their fourth loss in their last 23 games.
OPPOSITION WATCH / RECENT MEETINGS
Derry City currently sit 2nd in the table, ahead of the Saints on goal difference. They have 62 points from 35 games.
Their last outing was a 1-0 win away to Cork City, with a Ronan Boyce goal winning it for his side.
The Saints have won one, drawn one, and lost one of their three league encounters against Derry City this season. Another game between the sides came in the FAI Cup this season, with the Saints beating Derry City on penalties to progress in the Brandywell.
The last time out in the Premier Division was a 4-1 win in Richmond Park on June 5th. Jay McGrath opened the scoring in the 36th minute with a thumping low effort to put his side 1-0 up at half-time. Eoin Doyle got a second before Chris Forrester and Mark Doyle added their names to the scoresheet.
The other two games finished in a 2-0 loss in the Brandywell in April and a 1-1 draw in Richmond in February, with club captain Joe Redmond getting an 89th minute equaliser for his side in the latter.
The FAI Cup game was in the Brandywell in August and, after a game that ended 0-0, the Saints won 4-3 on penalties. Mason Melia, then 15 years old, stepped up to coolly and confidently dispatch the winning penalty.
Previous to this penalty shootout victory, St Pat's last win against Derry in the FAI Cup had come in the final in 2014. Christy Fagan scored twice at the Aviva Stadium to end the club's 53-year wait for the trophy.
JON DALY: "We're trying to finish the league season off on a high"
With this game being the last before the FAI Cup Final v Bohemians on November 12th, Manager Jon Daly is hoping to sign off on a good note to secure 2nd place in the final game of the league campaign:
"We're looking to the game and trying to finish the league season off on a high and try to get three points.
We're happy to have qualified for Europe through the League already and will be looking to put in a positive display up in Derry.
We've had good games against them in the league and in the cup, we've got good memories of the last time we were up at the Ryan McBride Brandywell, winning in the cup on penalties.
Derry City are a very good team, they've got a strong squad and I'm sure they'll have a big home crowd as the'’ll be looking to finish their season strongly too.
We are aware of their threats, they have very good attackers and lots of experience in defence and we know we’ll need to be on our game.
Our aim is to put in a good performance and try to build some more confidence leading into the final."
TEAM NEWS:
Tom Grivosti (knee), Axel Sjoberg (hamstring) and Harry Brockbank (quad) are all unavailable for this game.
TICKETS:
Tickets for the game are on sale via the Derry City website, link on our social media channel.
Tickets will not be sold at the Brandywell.
The match will also be live on LOITV.
UPDATES:
As always, updates can be found on the Official St Pat's FC App - available now on both the App Store and on all of our other social media channels
Image credit: Sportsfile
