A late strike by Ronan Curtis secured a replay on Tuesday night against Dundalk
DERRY City and Dundalk will have to do it all over again tomorrow night (Tuesday, October 4) to see who will take their place in the FAI Cup final.
The Candystripes came from two goals down at Oriel Park on Sunday to force a replay.
It looked like Dundalk had one foot in the final with a 2-0 lead at halftime.
But Rory Patterson pulled one back on 65 minutes to put Derry back in the game.
And with just four minutes left on the clock, substitute Ronan Curtis bagged an equaliser and the two sides will face other again at The Brandywell.
Dean Shiels and Alan Keane – a three time FAI Cup winner with Sligo Rovers – haven’t had too many chances to impress since joining Dundalk midway through the season but they played an integral part in the first goal of a thrilling semi-final.
Shiels, a son of Derry manager, Kenny, started the move, playing it wide to Keane, who exchanged passes with John Mountney before carrying on with his run.
Derry skipper Ryan McBride advanced but Keane skipped by him brilliantly before turning a vicious ball across the face of goal for Shiels to bravely head home under pressure from Niclas Vemmelund.
It was a bittersweet moment for the Northern Ireland international, whose bravery resulted in him shipping an arm injury that saw him withdrawn before play restarted.
The goal knocked Derry out of their confident, early stride that saw Rory Patterson force a fabulous save from Gabriel Sava after just three minutes.
And they were left with a mountain to climb when they conceded a second, just 30 seconds before the break.
Patrick McEleney, who came on to replace Shiels, lifted a delightful ball over the Candystripes back four and Ciaran Kilduff controlled before prodding home with his right foot.
Derry needed a quick reprieve and they almost got it within seconds of the restart. Andy Boyle’s header back to Gabriel Sava fell short, allowing Nathan Boyle to get there ahead of the goalkeeper but Paddy Barrett was on hand to clear the danger.
Kilduff almost put the game to bed in the 50th minute, his header from McEleney’s pinpoint cross coming back off Doherty’s post with the goalkeeper flailing.
Chris Shields and Stephen O’Donnell then almost combined in the final third with the Lilywhites skipper diverting his midfield partner’s cross wide of the target.
Keane showed his class again at the opposite end of the pitch just short of the hour mark, somehow managing to divert Curtis’ vicious ball across goal away before Patterson could apply the finishing touch.
The Derry hitman made no mistake six minutes later, though, hauling his right side back into the game.
Aaron McEneff’s drive from the right of the penalty area took a deflection off Grimes and when Sava parried, Patterson was on hand to tap home.
The goal set up a nervy ending to the game and Derry almost drew level in the 78th minute.
Barry McNamee’s powerful drive was beaten back into the danger zone by Sava but Barrett was there to stop Lucas Schubert from scoring.
Stephen Kenny’s side never looked comfortable, however, and the equaliser arrived with four minutes to go.
Dean Jarvis’ free-kick dropped over the head of Keane and Curtis was able to control the ball and come inside Barrett before lashing a right footed half volley past Sava to send the large travelling support crazy.
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