Derry City manager Ruaidhri Higgins was a frustrated man following Friday night’s scoreless draw against Dundalk, at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.
The Candystripes dominated for long periods, particularly in the second half and skipper Patrick McEleney produced a masterclass performance, but City were unable to score the all-important goal which their play deserved.
While Higgins’ side didn’t test the Oriel Park men’s goalkeeper Nathan Sheppard, they had their opponents camped inside their own half for the majority of the second half as they produced their best performance of the campaign so far.
“I thought there wasn’t much in it in the first half but the second half was one-way traffic,” said the Limavady man.
“We completely dominated the second half and I’m absolutely gutted for the players and the effort they put in that they didn’t come away with the three points.
“It was wave after wave and they were looking for the final whistle. They’re an excellent team but I think that second-half performance was the best we’ve played this season without a shadow of a doubt and we haven’t taken the three points we deserved.
“That second 45 minutes, if we play like that for the remainder of the season we’ll be a smashing team and we’ll be right there.”
The Brandywell men have now played three of last year’s top four sides and they have secured five points, with four of those coming in Dublin at champions Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.
“We’ve played three of the top four from last year so it’s not a bad start,” said Higgins.
“It’s frustrating that we didn’t win but I’m really proud of the performance and in particular the second half.
“If we keep playing at those levels then we’ll pick up a lot of points. We’ve had real difficult fixtures. If you had offered me 11 points from 15 from the first five games I would have shaken your hand and taken it.
“The players and staff have been brilliant and there’s a clear identity and hunger in the team that’s there for everyone to see. If we keep playing like that, particularly in the second half, we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
The other downside to Friday night’s game against Stephen O’Donnell’s side, was the hamstring injury centre-back Mark Connolly picked up. The Candystripes are now awaiting scan results to find out the extent of the injury.
“It’s a hamstring injury but obviously we need to get him scanned and see where it’s at,” said Higgins.
“It’s obviously disappointing but credit to the team that we didn’t lose our focus and actually got stronger and stronger as the game went on.
“It’s the third game in a week and it’s another hamstring injury. Mark has been nursing a small niggle in his hip that he’s been getting through over the last few weeks. I don’t know, but maybe the lack of training has caused it because we’ve been managing him over the last while.”
