Derry City Incar Kemenangan Lawan Waterford di Regional Sports Centre

Derry City menargetkan kemenangan penuh saat berkunjung ke markas Waterford di Regional Sports Centre pada Jumat malam, 15 Mei 2026, untuk mengakhiri tren negatif tiga pertandingan tanpa hasil maksimal. Ambisi ini diusung guna memangkas jarak 15 poin dari pemuncak klasemen sementara SSE Airtricity League Premier Division, Shamrock Rovers.

Klub berjuluk Candystripes tersebut saat ini menduduki peringkat kelima klasemen dengan perolehan 19 poin dari 16 laga, sementara tuan rumah Waterford masih terbenam di dasar klasemen tanpa satu pun kemenangan musim ini. Dilansir dari batuahnews.id, Waterford tercatat memiliki pertahanan terburuk di liga setelah kebobolan 32 gol.

Manajer Derry City, Tiernan Lynch, harus meramu strategi di tengah absennya James McClean karena cedera pinggul dan kiper Brian Maher yang baru menjalani operasi pergelangan tangan. Kendati demikian, tim tamu mendapat tambahan kekuatan menyusul kembalinya penyerang veteran Liam Boyce ke dalam skuat.

Tiernan Lynch memberikan evaluasi mengenai kurangnya efisiensi tim dalam penyelesaian akhir meskipun mereka mendominasi penguasaan bola pada laga-laga sebelumnya.

"You can’t start feeling sorry for yourselves, or think ‘here we go again’. It needs to stop," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Lynch menegaskan perlunya pembenahan di sektor-sektor vital agar Derry City bisa segera mengamankan poin penuh kembali di kompetisi liga.

"There are two major areas on the pitch that we have to get right. Until we get them right, we’re not going to win football games, so we need to get that right sooner rather than later," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Pihak manajemen menyoroti kekalahan dari Drogheda United pekan lalu sebagai evaluasi penting bagi tim yang secara taktis sudah berupaya mendominasi permainan.

"What has probably been a little bit of an Achilles heel for us this season is that we’re not probably working the opposition goalkeeper more and that’s something if we start doing and we can start scoring goals I think things will change for us very quickly," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Lynch juga mengungkapkan perasaan simpatinya kepada para pemain karena hasil akhir di lapangan seringkali tidak sejalan dengan performa dominan yang ditunjukkan.

"I felt for the players on Friday night because they pretty much done what we asked of them as far as performance was concerned," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Meskipun performa tim cukup dominan, sang manajer memaklumi adanya tekanan dan kritik dari para pendukung akibat kegagalan meraih kemenangan.

"Getting on the ball and being brave and it was a game that we were very dominate in, but obviously there’s criticism that goes with that because we ended up losing the game," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Menanggapi kekalahan tipis pekan lalu, Lynch meminta anak asuhnya untuk segera bangkit dan menerima kenyataan dalam industri sepak bola yang menitikberatkan pada hasil akhir.

"As I’ve said before there’s no doubt we’re in a results-based industry, so we’ve got to take the loss at Drogheda on the chin," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Latihan sepekan terakhir difokuskan untuk memperbaiki celah permainan sekaligus mengantisipasi kejutan dari strategi manajer baru Waterford, Graham Coughlan.

"We’ve tried to address a few things at training this week in terms of where we felt we could and should have been better at Drogheda and we try to bounce back at Waterford on Friday night," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Lynch memprediksi Waterford akan menunjukkan reaksi positif setelah pergantian pelatih, sehingga timnya telah melakukan analisis mendalam terhadap lawan.

"We’ve obviously spent a lot of time this week looking at Waterford, and yes, they’ve brought in a new manager, obviously, and he’ll be looking for a reaction from them," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Lini pertahanan Derry City diminta waspada terhadap pergerakan duet penyerang tuan rumah, Padraig Amond dan Thomas Lonergan, yang dinilai sangat berbahaya.

"The two boys up front (Padraig Amond and Thomas Lonergan) are a proper handful, they score goals, they work really hard, their movement is good and they cause most defences in this league problems," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Lynch menilai potensi ancaman dari tim lawan tetap nyata meskipun posisi mereka saat ini sedang terjepit di klasemen bawah.

"They’re probably like ourselves frustrated where they are, but they’ve got a goal threat there’s no doubt about that," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Terkait kembalinya Liam Boyce, Lynch menyatakan rasa senangnya karena pemain tersebut telah melewati periode sulit akibat cedera beruntun.

"It’s good to have Liam back, he hasn’t had it easy with regards injuries," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Pengalaman Boyce diharapkan menjadi solusi bagi produktivitas gol Derry City yang sedang menurun dalam beberapa pertandingan terakhir.

"He’s hugely frustrated that his time in Derry has been start/stop, but when you do get him back on the pitch and you do see him training, then you see the quality he has, so it would be great to get him back and stay injury free," kata Tiernan Lynch, Manajer Derry City.

Di sisi lain, manajer Waterford Graham Coughlan menuntut kerja keras dari skuatnya setelah menelan kekalahan telak 1-4 dari St Patrick's Athletic pekan lalu. Dilansir dari koranmanado.co.id, pertemuan terakhir kedua tim pada Februari lalu berakhir dengan kemenangan 4-2 untuk Derry City.

"The players have worked their," kata Graham Coughlan, Manajer Waterford.