St Patrick's Athletic 0 - Derry City 2Derry City capped off a fine season in style with a dominant performance and 2-0 win over St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park. Rory Patterson scored both goals, including a penalty at the death after drawing a foul and red card from defender Rory Feely, and will rue a host of missed chances to add further to his 17-goal league tally. For Derry boss Kenny Shiels, who this week signed a two-year contract and was nominated for manager of the year, it brought the ideal close to a fairytale first year in charge. Saints boss Liam Buckley opted to make just one change from the side that beat Dundalk 5-2 here on Tuesday night, with Jamie McGrath coming in for Graham Kelly. Shiels, whose side assured third place with a win over Sligo Rovers last week, made five changes, with Ger Doherty and Aaron McEneff among those rested. And for much of the first half, it had the feel of a game being played by two teams whose fate was already certain and had little riding on the result. Derry centre-half Niclas Vemmelund headed wide after young left-back Ben Doherty had done well to win a corner, while a mistake from stand-in stopper Shaun Patton allowed Steven Kinsella a half-chance at the other end. While both sides were peppered with inexperienced players, Derry had the edge in midfield as former Saint Conor McCormack used all his experience to ensure the away side controlled the bulk of possession. Nevertheless, it was one of the youthful Pat's midfield who created their first proper chance, JJ Lunney drilling in a cross that Christy Fagan headed but couldn't quite keep low enough to force Patton into action. Moments later the Candystripes took the lead as the Saints suffered a system breakdown at the back when a loose pass allowed Rory Holden to play in Patterson, and the former Northern Ireland international thought he'd scored only to see Sean Hoare hook the ball off the line. Patterson had to wait just moments for a reprieve however, as the he again found the Pat's defence out of position and this time he made no mistake, beating Brendan Clarke from just inside the box. A slip from Hoare presented Patterson with another great chance shortly after and the captain's luscious chip deserved better than to bounce back off the crossbar and Holden somehow managed to put the rebound wide with the goal gaping. Patterson could have had a third on the stroke of half-time as the imperious McCormack found him with a perfectly-weighted cross to the back post, but he couldn't wrap his foot around his volley enough to send it towards goal. The second half picked up where the first left off, Joshua Daniels seeing a shot from distance blocked before the ever-present threat Patterson forced a close-range save from Clarke after good work from substitute Keith Ward. Pat's again played themselves into trouble as Harry Monaghan intercepted a poor pass out of defence and Ward quickly played Patterson only for a heavy touch to foil the striker. Buckley gave a debut to play-maker Fuad Sule as the Saints pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages, and Ian Bermingham missed a great chance to equalise deep into injury time but couldn't wrap his head around the ball. It was to prove doubly costly as Derry broke and Patterson ran through on goal, forcing Feely into a desperate tackle. Patterson converted to condemn the Saints to a bottom-half finish for the first time since 2009. © rte.ie
