Cliftonville 0 Derry City 2
Goals in the second half from Cliff Byrne and Rory Patterson ensure that City followed up Tuesday’s victory over Institute with a victory over Tommy Breslin’s reds at their home ground. However City will see seem room to improve in their performance and they certainly could have tagged on another goal or two to the tally this afternoon.
Roddy Collins opted to deploy a strong starting eleven with the mos recent recruit, Aaron Barry, deployed at left back as the manager attempt to settle on his final side for the season ahead. The game was slow to get going in the opening stages with the high point the one “man” pitch invasion by a small child who slipped his father’s marking and cantered onto the pitch towards the centre circle.
However Derry began to settle and man of the match Patrick McEleney was at the architect of everything good for the visitors. Mark Stewart’s pace was being to trouble the home defence and he won a number of corners down the right hand side. The Scot was unlucky when he latched onto a loose ball back, nipping in front of Ryan Brown but the keeper forced him wide and the danger was averted.
McEleney and Molloy both tested Brown with shots, the home keeper palming them away for a corner. However the home keeper was beaten all ends up when terrific skill by McEleney saw him glide past two and crash a shot against the bar. The home side showed that they could attack as well, when Caldwell drove forward and forced Doherty into a full length save. The visitors continued to have the upper hand in terms of possession and chances, without able to make the vital breakthrough.
As expected in a friendly, both sides rang the changes in the second half. City made four changes at the break with Jarvis, Elebert, Patterson and McNamee all introduced and City hit the front nearly immediately. Good work down the Derry right saw City win corner in the 46th minute and Byrne crashed a header home to break the deadlock.
The Dubliner, making his debut for City was probably the stand out amongst the new faces and his goal was just rewards for a commending performance in the second half. The game entered a lull midway through the second period with a string of new faces on both sides and a lack of fluidity. City continued to try hard and Patterson should have scored when sent clear. The home side nearly got back into it when Scanell near connected with a low cross at the back post. Indeed Gerard Doherty had cause to thank his defence when he fumbled a high cross but Jarvis was alert to block the effort from Garrett.
City continued to press and Duffy and Curran looked lively down the wings. However Patrick McEleney capped a terrific performance with the precise through ball to find Patterson. Last season’s top scorer in the LOI made no mistake, making it 2-0 with seven minutes left. After that it was merely a case of running the clock down as City closed out their second win a week. It may have been an understrength Cliftonville side, but it is all about wins at this point and attention now turns to the visit of Glentoran on Tueesday night at the Brandywell
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