Aaron McEneff penalty earns Derry a fortunate draw
DERRY City scraped a draw tonight with a fortunate penalty to force a replay against Drogheda United in the FAI Cup.
The Candy Stripes were hoping for a win and easy their passage into the next round.
But underdogs Drogheda had other designs.
The First Division side took the lead through Sam O’Connor on the 33rd minute against the run of play after Derry had dominated the early exchanges.
Derry’s Rory Patterson saw a penalty saved but the Candystripes got another spot-kick 17 minutes from time.
It looked a harsh decision against keeper Stephen McGuinness who was unable to stop Aaron McEneff’s penalty.
Derry will feel they had enough chances to win the game on the night, but it was the Drogheda management who were protesting to referee Paul Tuite after the match.
The key decision came in the 73rd minute when experienced official Tuite ruled that keeper McGuinness had fouled Derry debutant Lukas Schubert.
It seemed McGuinness had got the ball before the Austrian, pushing the ball behind for a corner.
But a penalty was given and, with Paterson having failed form the spot earlier, McEneff stepped up to score his first goal for the Candstripes.
The first penalty was in the 57th minute after Josh Daniels had been tripped just inside the box by Kenneth Costello, but striker Patterson saw his casually-taken effort saved by McGuinness.
Early in the second half McEneff hit the crossbar twice while Schubert saw an effort strike the post as Derry pressed for a late winner.
The replay is at Drogheda’s United Park on Tuesday night.
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