Double joy in Dublin should give Derry City confidence to kick on, maintains Tiernan Lynch
The Candystripes have taken just one point from two games against Kevin Doherty's side, who won at the Brandywell in April and who were denied a win in their previous meeting by a last-minute equaliser from Dom Thomas.
But wins over Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic have changed the expectation of a team that has struggled with inconsistency so far, and Lynch is hoping his players can build on the current momentum.
'They were two big games for us and they probably showed both sides of what we've been trying to work on as a team and a group,' he acknowledged.
'We'll not get too carried away. It's two games and two wins, two big wins, and I'm delighted for the players because I felt they deserved it and, hopefully, it will give them a little bit of confidence going into Friday night.'
Defender Mark Connolly looks unlikely to feature having picked up an injury at St Pat's.
'You hope it has now given us the confidence to now kick on,' he said.
'We've been crying out for that little bit of consistency. I've been saying all season that they are a great bunch of boys who give you everything that they have, and I think you saw that in both games on Friday and Monday.
'Even when we were under the cosh, they rolled their sleeves up and they dug in. That's character and I think they gave us that in abundance so, hopefully, we can take that into Friday night and bring that little bit of consistency into what we're doing.'
Derry have failed to beat Drogheda in any of the previous four meetings, including the 2024 FAI Cup Final, but looked on the verge of doing so at the Brandywell only for a complete implosion after Liam Boyce's opener which saw the striker red-carded before Drogheda took advantage of the dismissal by scoring three times.
'Liam Boyce got sent off and we capitulated after a seven or eight-minute period,' Lynch recalled.
'That was a difficult day for us and probably summed up where we were at that stage. Hopefully, we've moved on from that.
'Defensively, we have been much more solid and that has given us a platform to kick on, and hopefully Friday night is the same.'
City could potentially go into second place with victory on Friday evening, a huge incentive after a challenging few weeks.
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Double joy in Dublin should give Derry City confidence to kick on, maintains Tiernan Lynch
The Candystripes have taken just one point from two games against Kevin Doherty's side, who won at the Brandywell in April and who were denied a win in their previous meeting by a last-minute equaliser from Dom Thomas. But wins over Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic have changed the expectation of a team that has struggled with inconsistency so far, and Lynch is hoping his players can build on the current momentum. 'They were two big games for us and they probably showed both sides of what we've been trying to work on as a team and a group,' he acknowledged. 'We'll not get too carried away. It's two games and two wins, two big wins, and I'm delighted for the players because I felt they deserved it and, hopefully, it will give them a little bit of confidence going into Friday night.' Defender Mark Connolly looks unlikely to feature having picked up an injury at St Pat's. 'You hope it has now given us the confidence to now kick on,' he said. 'We've been crying out for that little bit of consistency. I've been saying all season that they are a great bunch of boys who give you everything that they have, and I think you saw that in both games on Friday and Monday. 'Even when we were under the cosh, they rolled their sleeves up and they dug in. That's character and I think they gave us that in abundance so, hopefully, we can take that into Friday night and bring that little bit of consistency into what we're doing.' Derry have failed to beat Drogheda in any of the previous four meetings, including the 2024 FAI Cup Final, but looked on the verge of doing so at the Brandywell only for a complete implosion after Liam Boyce's opener which saw the striker red-carded before Drogheda took advantage of the dismissal by scoring three times. 'Liam Boyce got sent off and we capitulated after a seven or eight-minute period,' Lynch recalled. 'That was a difficult day for us and probably summed up where we were at that stage. Hopefully, we've moved on from that. 'Defensively, we have been much more solid and that has given us a platform to kick on, and hopefully Friday night is the same.' City could potentially go into second place with victory on Friday evening, a huge incentive after a challenging few weeks.
