“How these players have come in and performed gives me great hope”
September 20, 2019
DERRY CITY v BOHEMIANS
SSE Airtricity League
September 20 2019, 7.45pm
Keith Long is hoping Bohemians can deliver some teenage kicks in Derry City tonight.
Bohs come into the game with a continuing injury crisis. Keith Ward (knee) returns but the Gypsies are set to be without Darragh Leahy (ankle), Danny Mandroiu (hip), Keith Buckley (hamstring) and Conor Levingston (groin) once more as well as long-term absentees Dinny Corcoran (ankle) and Cristian Magerusan (cruciate), while Robbie McCourt has decided to leave the club.
The mounting injuries have seen young guns such as 19-year-old Ryan Graydon, 18-year-old Ross Tierney and 17-year-old Dawson Devoy fast-tracked into the first team.
All three have come through the Bohs-SKB League of Ireland youth teams and started in the 2-1 defeat at home to Waterford a week ago, retaining their places for the 2-0 FAI Cup quarter-final win against Crumlin United
Long said: “We have had our hand forced with the number of injuries we’ve had. These lads are playing out of necessity.
“As I said before we know this is the business end of the season and the priority for us is results at this point and not development.
“But how these players have come in and performed gives me great hope for the future.
“They will be better players from this experience and we will be all the better for it as a club as well.
“We’ve had so many players out that it can be difficult to put a shape or structure to things at times but the lads have come in and coped really well with the demands put on them.
“It shows we are progressing as a club. We have quality young players who really want to play for Bohs. They have an affinity for the club and they want to express themselves. They are all working extremely hard but we have to be patient with them.
“As well as the lads coming in for the first time now, it is easy to forget the age of some of the others because they have been around the first team for so long.
“Danny Grant 19, Luke Wade-Slater 21, Andy Lyons 19. Scott Allardice looks older but he’s only 21. Rob Cornwall is an elder statesman in the team and he’s only 24!
“They put in a professional performance against Crumlin. We could have scored more but they are a good side and it was a potential banana skin so I was pleased with the result.”
While the performances being put in by the young guns are a source of great pride, youthful inexperience can also be punished. That was the case against Waterford and would a concern against a team of Derry’s quality.
Long said: “We have to eradicate mistakes at the back. Our early-season run was build on being solid at the back and being hard to beat. We’ll need that again tonight to get a result in the Brandywell.”
It is a mammoth two weeks for Bohs. They are currently in third on 49 points but have played one more game than the Candystripes, who are just two points behind.
And next week Bohs host Shamrock Rovers in the semi-finals of the FAI Cup looking to make the final having gone so close to reaching it last season.
Long added: “It’s going to be a huge occasion. Derry are having a great season.
“We have great numbers travelling up behind us again, which is hugely appreciated by us all. We’ll need that support too as the Brandywell will be bouncing.
“We want to be involved in big games. It’s a difficult place to go at the best of times but there is a real enthusiasm at Derry City again under Declan Devine so we will have to be at our very best.
“Last year. We had momentum second half of the season which carried into the start of this season.
“We’ve faltered slightly at times in recent months. Injuries have come at bad times for us which has been frustrating.
“But we are third in the table, in the semi-final of the cup and everything is in our own hands.”
