Fires, streakers and the Coyle cracker

Derry City 1 Shamrock Rovers 0

Fires, streakers and goalmouth incidents aplenty were all on yesterday's Tolka Park agenda and to cap it all off a first cup final goal for Derry's mercurial Liam Coyle.

It arrived 47 minutes in and started with Ciaran Martyn's mishmash of a volley after Rovers defender Richie Byrne attempted a meek clearing header.

If you wanted a ball to fall to anyone in that scenario it would be Mr Coyle who still had a lot to do with his back to goal. Problem? What problem? A second later, the ball was nestling in Tony O'Dowd's net despite the keeper managing to get his fingertips to it on the way in.

"I just turned on it and it went in although I never even saw it hit the back of the net. I'll have to have a look at it on TV, if I get to see a TV!" Coyle said afterwards. For his manager Kevin Mahon, it was payback for those who had written off the veteran over the past few seasons.

"It was a fantastic goal. People have been writing Liam off for a long time but he signed a new two year contract at the start of the season and there's still a lot more to be seen from him," Mahon enthused.

And yet there wasn't much to be seen of Coyle or any of his team mates for the majority of the opening period. Rovers weren't a whole lot better and the game desperately needed one team to call a halt to the ball bashing and keep it on the turf for a change. As is often the case with such games, the occasion took over from the game itself, but no one was prepared for the ten minute spell in store after only 12 minutes of action. First up was the Derry streaker and with sub editors everywhere dreaming up headlines like 'Derry streak to victory' along came a fire in the Rovers section of fans near the Drumcondra Road end.

One fire extinguisher, a handful of baffled stewards and eight minutes later and the game recommenced. Mercifully, the two teams seemed to react like it was their pants and not a section of the stand on fire.

Tony Grant had managed the only shot on goal until then after eight minutes which Alan Gough took in his stride but now the Derry keeper had to be alert while Noel Hunt, Terry Palmer, Stephen Grant and Tony Grant all had pops at him.

Derry too had roused themselves from their torpor and although they also lacked any fluidity, they did manage some shots from Paddy McLaughlin, Sean Friars and two from Martyn.

"There was quite a strong breeze in the first half which favoured Rovers but coming up to half time we were doing quite well and I was quite happy at the break," Mahon admitted.

Then came Coyle's moment of magic and it should have been 2, 90 moments later when David Kelly found himself unmarked eight yards out with the ball waiting patiently at his feet.

Instead of a goal though, Kelly managed to get a corner flag running for cover. As he admitted afterwards, it was not his finest moment. "It just goes to show that you can still miss from eight yards," the ex Irish international blushed after receiving a long awaited cup medal on the very last day of his playing career. Kelly only arrived at the ground forty minutes before kick off, because his flight from Birmingham was cancelled, forcing him to drive to Heathrow instead.

Had Noel Hunt connected with a Jason Colwell cross seven minutes later rather than missing it with his head by mere inches, Kelly would probably have been back in Birmingham in double quick time.

The Tranmere assistant boss wasn't the only one who lost his eye for goal on the way to the ground. Eight minutes after Hunt's near brush with glory, James Keddy found himself unmarked at Gough's back post when Stephen Grant's cross flew towards him.

With the net beckoning though Keddy somehow managed to head wide and the chance was lost. Liam Coyle had left the fray prior to that with an injured calf muscle and Rovers boss Liam Buckley brought on Shane Robinson and Derek Tracey to try and install some pattern into their play.

Although the lights had gone on midway through the half, Rovers hadn't found any bright ideas on how to break Derry down. Despite that, chances did appear with Robinson and Scully seeing their attempts come to nothing.

The best of the lot fell to Tracey two minutes into the incredible five minutes referee Jim O'Neill somehow found on his watch. Gough soiled Robinson's shot from the edge of the area but the other substitute couldn't connect with the rebound which was whisked away unceremoniously by the boot of a City defender.

That was the last chance gone in a hectic last twenty minutes and for Rovers it was heart breaking stuff. "We had a few chances but I don't know how the ball didn't go in at the end. It just wasn't going to happen for us. To get to a cup final and lose it is heart breaking," captain Pat Scully said.

"With the conditions it was hard to pass it around but I don't think we passed it as well as we can pass it. We have some players who are very comfortable on the ball and maybe we didn't retain it as well as we could.

Tony (Grant) and Noel (Hunt) did very well on the scraps that they were given. It's progress that we got to a cup final. Sometimes, as the old saying goes, you have to lose one to win one. Maybe now we can go on and win something because that's what this club should be doing, is winning things.

"Maybe this club lacks a bit of professionalism, maybe that's the be all and end all," he continued. "Maybe we should be more resolute, tougher mentally and be saying that no matter what happens we're going to be walking off that pitch with a win. We haven't quite got that at the moment."

For Derry there won't be any post mortems. A storming welcome awaits them back north tomorrow, but they now face the unusual position of having to return to league duty for three more months. DERRY CITY: A Gough, E McCallion, S Hargan, P Hutton, P McLaughlin, E Doherty (capt), J Harkin, C Martyn, L Coyle, D Kelly, S Friars. Subs: T McCallion for L Coyle 57, D MacReady for S Friars.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: T O'Dowd, G Costello, R Byrne, J Colwell, T Palmer, P Scully (capt), S Grant, T Grant, N Hunt, L Dimech, J Keddy. Subs: S Robinson for R Byrne 69, D Tracey for J Colwell 69, S Francis for S Grant 82.

Referee: Jim O'Neill.