Derry City 0 Bohemians 2
Keith Long made no fewer than eight changes when facing Derry at the Brandywell and the fresh legs, particular in the second half, reaped handsome dividends for Bohemians.
And Derry can have no complaints with this defeat, the men from Dalymount having started the second half so well before going on to net twice, the second killer goal of Derry’s own making.
Both sides enjoyed spells of possession throughout the first half with defences very much on top.
Derry’s Eoghan Stokes was presented with two early chances but he dragged the ball wide on each occasion.
In between those efforts, Bohs winger Kevin Devanny brought the best out of Derry goalkeeper, Peter Cherrie, who saved well at his near post.
However, the most clearcut chance of the opening period fell to Derry’s Greg Sloggett in the 19th minute.
Conor Levingston deliberately held Darren Cole, for which he received a yellow card and from the free-kick, Barry McNamee’s superb delivery saw Greg Sloggett stretch out his neck but failed to make contact and a glorious chance was lost.
Having opened the second half on the front foot, Bohs broke the deadlock following a flowing move in the 52nd minute.
Danny Mandroiu found Dinny Corcoran in space and when he sliced open the home defence, the striker returned the favour Mandroiu lashing the ball high into the net from close range.
Minutes later Danny Grant worked his way into the penalty area before crashing a shot off the upright.
Brandywell boss, Declan Devine went for broke when making a treble substitution in the 62nd minute.
And they threatened in the 65th minute when Junior broke on the counter setting Jamie McDonagh free but Sloggett again failed to get his head to the teasing cross.
However, Bohs put the game to bed in the 78th minute following a disastrous Derry defensive error.
Having gain possession deep inside his own half, Sloggett’s under-weighted back pass to his keeper proved disastrous.
The alert Corcoran intercepted the ball dribbled his way pas the advancing Cherrie before gleefully passing the ball into the empty net.
In injury time Corcoran almost made it 3-0, his shot deflected onto the crossbar by a defender.
DERRY CITY: Cherrie; Cole, Toal, McClean (McDermott, 62), Coll; Sloggett, Harkin (Bruna, 62); McDonagh, McNamee, Stokes (Seraf 62); Junior.
BOHEMIANS: Talbot; Pender, Barry, Cornwall, Leahy; Levinston (McCourt, 90), Buckley; Grant, Mandroiu (Ward, 84), Devanney (Wade-Slater, 86); Corcoran.
Referee: R. Rogers (Dublin).
Waterford 3 Dundalk 3
Michael Duffy bagged a brace as Dundalk easily saw off 10-man Waterford to record their fifth win on the spin.
Duffy gave Dundalk an interval lead before substitute Jordan Flores and another by Duffy wrapped up a convincing victory.
The only worries at full-time for Vinny Perth was the sight of Jamie McGrath and Dan Kelly leaving the fray early through injuries.
After dominating the first half, the Lilywhites broke the deadlock on the stroke of the break.
A needless foul by Maxi Kouogun 20 yards out on the left offered Duffy a window to try his luck and he completely deceived Matt Connor who was more interested in trying to prevent Pat Hoban connecting than stopping the ball fly beyond him.
Waterford failed to muster a response after the break, bar a half-chance for Aaron Drinan which Sean Gannon easily cleared.
It was one-way traffic thereafter, not helped by Héry letting his side down with two ridiculous yellow cards in the space of two minutes.
Before the Frenchman saw red, Flores made it 2-0 by unleashing a ferocious left-foot drive into the top corner following neat build-up play by Hoban and Duffy.
Frustrated at being outclassed in midfield, Héry firstly caught Kelly late on the hour which led to the winger hobbling off.
Then he launched into McEleney on the halfway line, a foul which might even have earned a straight red card.
That concession only compounded the hosts’ problems and they were all at sea for Duffy’s second five minutes later.
Duffy was left alone 40 yards out to receive Gannon’s pass, turn and rifle a low shot past a static Connor. In the end, Dundalk could have scored five or six.
WATERFORD: M Connor; R Feely, D Delaney, M Kouogun, A Simpson; S Duggan (G Poynton 69), JJ Lunney; Z Elbouzedi (C Galvin 75), B Héry, I Akinade; A Drinan (S Twine 69).
DUNDALK: G Rogers; S Gannon, S Hoare, B Gartland, D Jarvis; C Shields, P McEleney (G Kelly 69); D Kelly (J Mountney 61), J McGrath (J Flores 15), M Duffy; P Hoban.
Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin).
Attendance: 971.
Cork City 1 Finn Harps 1
Finn Harps remain without a victory in the league, but a late equaliser from their captain Keith Cowan at Turner’s Cross made it eight winless games for Cork City.
While the Rebel Army ended what had become a three-game scoring drought when Kevin O’Connor curled home a free kick four minutes into the second half, they were unable to build on that.
Harps pushed hard after falling behind, with Niall Logue drawing a good save from Mark McNulty while Jacob Borg had a header come back off the post. Eventually, they were rewarded in the 76th minute when sub Tony McNamee kept play alive after a corner was half-cleared, his cross allowing Cowan to steer the ball home from close range.
Having been pulled back, City searched for another lead goal but their best chance came when Conor McCarthy flashed an effort wide from a corner, while good Cowan defending denied Graham Cummins.
The hosts had the better of the first half, with Karl Sheppard and Cummins linking well, each having a chance from a flick-on by the other while on 35 minutes Peter Burke had to save well from Cummins’ header following a Sheppard cross.
Shortly before half-time, Shane Griffin set up Kevin O’Connor for a header which saw Burke having to save again, Sheppard firing the rebound wide as the half ended scoreless.
City did manage to find a goal in the nascent stages of the second period, but unfortunately for them it proved not to be enough.
CORK CITY: McNulty; Horgan (Bennett 75), McCarthy, McLoughlin, Griffin; Phillips (Rainsford 79), K O'Connor (D O'Connor 69), Buckley, Tilley; Cummins, Sheppard.
FINN HARPS: Burke; Todd, Cowan, Logue; Gallagher, Coyle, Borg (McNamee 73), Russell; McAleer (Cretaro 73), Boyle (Ascroft 89); Boyd.
Referee: R Hennessy (Limerick).
Attendance: 1,612.
UCD 0 Sligo Rovers 2
Second half goals from Dante Leverock and David Cawley deservedly brought Sligo Rovers the three points at the UCD Bowl.
The win moves Liam Buckley’s side six points clear of UCD – who slumped to a fourth straight defeat – in the relegation playoff place.
Sligo started the better with skipper Cawley bringing a comfortable save from Conor Kearns after good approach play from Kris Twardek and Ronan Coughlan.
Without skipper Gary O’Neill, who was on the bench, UCD struggled to get their passing game going.
That said, College striker Conor Davis brought the first real save of the game 17 minutes in, forcing Mitchell Beeney to tip his free kick over for a corner.
Romeo Parkes was Sligo’s chief threat, heading a Regan Donelon cross straight at Kearns before blasting a shot over the bar as the game laboured to ignite.
A howler from Beeney then almost gifted UCD the lead on the blow of the interval.
Allowing a low shot from Davis to squirm under him, the Sligo keeper was relieved to see the ball go out for a corner.
The game needed a goal to spark it to life and it thankfully came as Sligo took the lead on 54 minutes.
UCD only partially cleared a Donelon corner and Coughlan whipped the ball back into the near post where Bermudian central defender Leverock scored with a stooping header.
Another corner undid UCD for Sligo’s second on 80 minutes.
Cawley’s inswinging delivery wasn’t dealt with and the ball ending up in the net with the help of a deflection.
UCD: Kearns; Farrell (McDonald, 80), Collins, Scales, Dignam; Doyle, Molloy (O'Neill, 66); Coffey (Mahdy, 69), O'Farrell, Farrugia; Davis.
SLIGO ROVERS: Beeney; Dunleavy, Mahon, Leverock, Banks; Twardek (Kerrigan, 87), Cawley, Keaney, Donelon; Coughlan (Murray, 58), Parkes.
Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford).
Attendance: 465
