19th December
What is it about Tom McNulty. When you least expect it he scores the goals. Tonight was no exception. Yet my memories of this game will be one of the greatest performances you'll ever see from any goalkeeper anywhere. The quite brilliant Steve Williams. He was faultless in the goals. Every cross he had to claim he did. Any save he had to make he did. His brilliance was apparent but another hero of the night was Padraig Gollogly. Kevin Brady was out with flu but Gollogly did not find out until the couple of hours leading up to the match that he was playing. He put in an assured display and has now firmly established himself as a recognised first team squad member.
Gollogly instead of Brady was the only change from last weeks team that should have beaten Cork. Derry's new manager Kevin Mahon had yet to taste defeat as Derry manager, but then he'd never been in charge against Dundalk. The referee failed to endear himself to the Derry faithful. He made a couple of decidedly dodgy decisions in the opening half hour which strayed towards Dundalk. It was a first half which was dominated by the referee and not by the football. There was the occasional threatening shot. Derry were in control over the first 30 minutes by keeping Dundalk in their own half and giving Padraig Gollogly and David Capper plenty to think about. Michael McHugh and Liam Coyle both had half chances blocked wide or saved. However over the half time cup of tea the talk was all about three penalty incidents and a goal that would grace any ground. The first penalty decision came when John Brennan swung a long ball over the Derry defence but Peter Withnell seemed to be held back by Paul Curran not once but twice but the Dundalk appeal was waved away by the ref and shouted down by the Derry support. Then came incident number 2. A flick on by Coyle saw McCann on his own but going away from goal towards the touchline. Williams came out and stuck a hand out to get the ball but McCann went down. The ref blew the whistle and the penalty seemed inevitable but instead the goal kick was awarded and mcCann was booked for diving. I think we'll leave that one there ! While the Derry crowd roared its disapproval Dundalk slipped up the left wing where Crawley and Campbell exchanged passes with Campbell eventually getting a cross in. It only reached the near post where it was cleared out but only as far as Tom McNulty who controlled it with one touch and let rip with a 25 yard volley which sailed over Platt into the far corner of the net. A goal out of the blue but worth waiting 45 minutes for. The referee did not like or want the abuse he was getting to continue into the second half so he immediately awarded Derry a penalty after an innocuous looking challenge on Coyle. The Derry player stood up to take the spot kick but Williams guessed right and saved it. Half time 1-0.
The second half saw the referee getting more abuse and trying to take the pressure off himself by giving Derry some amazing corners. On one occasion Coyle shot wide with no-one near him and walked back towards the centre of the pitch before realising a corner had been given. If you thought Steve Williams' penalty save was good then it was only for starters because in a 10 minute spell in the second half the Dundalk defence crumbled and Williams took centre stage. First of all a long ball into the box was headed goalwards by Coyle but Williams somehow got a hand to it and turned it over the crossbar. Darren Kelly turned inside the Dundalk defence but his shot was brilliantly saved by the Welshman who was also winning everything in the air. Michael McHugh was put clean through and shot wide although a corner was given. Another long ball into the Derry box broke loose to a Derry player with only Williams to beat from 8 yards but the keeper spread himself and saved it at his feet quite brilliantly. His contribution was quite priceless, just like Williams himself. He was aided by good performances from all his back four and midfield. Only the front men, Withnell and Ward didn't look to be at the races. Brian Byrne made a most welcome return to action when he replaced Withnell. Byrne had a glorious chance to seal it with 8 minutes left when he robbed a Derry defender but Platt came out and saved well. Jumbo Brennan who had a decent enough game went off injured and was replaced by Michael Harte who was left on his own up front but looked a bit dazed by the atmosphere although he made some dazzling runs without ever picking out the right pass. Lee Thew after a shaky start and Tom McNulty also performed well in centre midfield and Ray Campbell performed as well as would have been expected on the left wing. He did not look comfortable as he nearly always had to switch inside back onto the right.
The number board said 5 minutes left and 5 minutes later the Dundalk support had anxious faces. Yet Stevo claimed a cross and hoofed it upfield. Michael Harte tried to chase it but it bounced into the hands of Platt. The ref looked at his whistle and Platt kicked it out but time was up and the whistle blew three times and Dundalk had won away from home for the first time since St Patricks Day and with that moved above Bray and Sligo and into 9th for the time being. There is a God.
For the first time ever there was a unanimous decision on the way home in the vote for man of the match. Who am I to argue with the vote of the people. There's only one Steve Williams.