Derry City Targetkan Poin Penuh di Markas Waterford

Derry City berambisi memutus tren negatif tanpa kemenangan dalam tiga laga terakhir saat bertandang ke markas Waterford di Regional Sports Centre pada Jumat malam, 15 Mei 2026. Pertandingan pekan ke-17 Liga Premier Irlandia ini krusial bagi tim tamu untuk memangkas selisih 15 poin dari Shamrock Rovers di puncak klasemen.

Klub berjuluk Candystripes tersebut kini menempati peringkat kelima dengan 19 poin, sementara Waterford masih terpuruk di posisi terbawah klasemen tanpa kemenangan. Dilansir dari batuahnews.id, lini pertahanan tuan rumah menjadi yang terlemah di kompetisi setelah kebobolan total 32 gol dari 16 laga.

Manajer Derry City, Tiernan Lynch, harus kehilangan James McClean akibat cedera pinggul dan kiper Brian Maher yang baru menjalani operasi pergelangan tangan. Namun, Lynch mendapatkan angin segar dengan kembalinya penyerang veteran Liam Boyce ke dalam susunan skuat untuk menambah daya gedor.

Strategi khusus disiapkan Lynch untuk memperbaiki efisiensi penyelesaian akhir setelah mengevaluasi performa anak asuhnya pada pertandingan 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.

Pelatih tersebut menitikberatkan perbaikan pada area-area vital di lapangan agar tim bisa segera mengamankan poin maksimal 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 turut menyoroti minimnya ancaman yang diberikan ke gawang lawan meskipun tim mampu tampil mendominasi permainan secara taktis.

"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 mengakui adanya ketidaksesuaian antara hasil akhir dengan dominasi yang ditunjukkan para pemain di lapangan hijau.

"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.

Tekanan dari pendukung akibat kegagalan meraih kemenangan disikapi secara terbuka oleh Lynch sebagai bagian dari dinamika sepak bola profesional.

"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.

Kekalahan tipis pekan lalu diminta untuk segera dilupakan agar para pemain bisa bangkit dan fokus pada tantangan di depan mata.

"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.

Selama sesi latihan sepekan terakhir, fokus utama tim adalah memperbaiki celah permainan sekaligus mengantisipasi taktik baru dari manajer 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 adanya reaksi kuat dari skuat tuan rumah yang kini berada di bawah kepemimpinan pelatih baru.

"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.

Perhatian khusus juga diberikan pada sektor pertahanan untuk meredam pergerakan Padraig Amond dan Thomas Lonergan yang dianggap sebagai ancaman utama.

"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.

Meskipun Waterford berada di dasar klasemen, Lynch memperingatkan timnya bahwa potensi serangan balik lawan tetap sangat berbahaya.

"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.

Kembalinya Liam Boyce menjadi sorotan positif bagi tim pelatih setelah sang pemain sempat menepi cukup lama karena cedera.

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

Kualitas dan pengalaman Boyce diharapkan dapat menjadi kunci untuk meningkatkan produktivitas gol Derry City yang sedang menurun.

"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 kubu lawan, manajer Graham Coughlan menuntut kerja keras maksimal dari skuat Waterford usai kekalahan telak dari St Patrick's Athletic.

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

Berdasarkan laporan koranmanado.co.id, pertemuan terakhir kedua tim pada Februari lalu berakhir dengan keunggulan 4-2 untuk kemenangan Derry City.