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First Division Championship
1986/87
Derry City kicked off their quest for League glory with the longest journey in Irish football when they had to travel to Cobh Ramblers. City were looking to the new strike force of Alex Krstic and Owen Da Gama to provide the fire power and were not to be disappointed as a clinical piece of finishing by Krstic was enough to give the Derrymen two valuable points.
Next on the agenda was a tough game against City’s old adversaries from the previous season, Longford Town. The visitors took an early lead through John Delamere, but after Paul Pigeon was sent off for a foul on Noel King, Derry took the upper hand thanks to Alex Krstic, to take a 2-1 half-time lead. Against the odds, Longford equalised just into the second half when a Derek Carthy corner sailed straight into the net, but again City came back and a fine goal by Alan Harrison made it 3-2 and in the dying minutes O’Brien inadvertently headed a Kevin Mahon cross into his own net to make the final score 4-2.
The next week saw City at home again, this time as hosts to EMFA, in a game which should have seen the homesters win comfortably but they twice fell behind and only a brilliant Owen Da Gama hat-trick, including an injury time winner after referee Michael Caulfield, had sent the EMFA goalkeeper Cheevers, off, gave Derry the two points.
Monaghan United were the next side to try and stop the City charge in a game which, because of the large crowd expected, was moved from Belgium Park, Monaghan to Oriel Park, home of Dundalk, and was to be Derry City’s first experience of playing under floodlights in the League of Ireland. Although not at heir best, City ran out 2-0 winners with goals from Paul McLaughlin and Alex Krstic.
Derry City, with a 100% record had a tough game at Brandywell against fellow promotion challengers, Shelbourne. The home side rose to the occasion and goals from Alex Krstic, Paul Carlyle and Noel King secured the points.
United Park, Drogheda, was the next venue as the Candystripes attempted to continue their winning ways. After nine minutes Owen Da Gama climbed superbly to head home a Kevin O’Neill free-kick, to give City the lead, which they thoroughly deserved. Five minutes later disaster struck when Alex Krstic was dismissed for retaliating after being kicked from behind by two Drogheda players. For the remainder of the game Derry fought a rear-guard action and even survived a missed penalty, to gain a memorable victory.
Next came the arrival of a South African midfielder to Brandywell, Harris Cheu. With Owen Da Gama out of the next game away to Newcastle West, it was the ideal opportunity for Noel King to assess the new player’s ability. Derry won this game with both goals coming from Alex Krstic and although Chueu had a good game, the management duo decided that the player was surplus to requirements and they subsequently released him.
With seven games now played, City had a maximum 14 points, two clear of Finn Harps in second place.
The next game was billed as the game of the season, as the top two clashed in front of a capacity crowd at Brandywell. Derry took a first-half lead with a Jim McKechnie goal, but a brilliant strike from 25 yards by Finn Harps centre-forward, John McDaid, in the second half, earned Harps a point and so ended City’s 100% record. With the top two dropping points, Shelbourne and Drogheda capitalised with home wins to tighten up things at the top.
For the next fortnight, Derry had to face UCD - at Belfield and the following week at Brandywell. City won 1-0 at Belfield in the first game, in which Owen Da Gama was sent off. In the return at the Brandywell, goals from Leonard and Gallagher gave the students an historic victory. City replied with a goal from Alex Krstic. In Dublin that same day, Shelbourne defeated Finn Harps to move into second place, two points behind Derry City.
Noel King’s men shook off the UCD defeat by gaining success over Cobh Ramblers in the next game at Brandywell, with Alex Krstic scoring twice in a 2-1 win.
The next game took us to Abbeycarton, home of Longford Town, where the previous season, City were trounced 5-1.
However on this occasion, the tables were completely turned - City avenged the result with a 5-1 victory. Goals from King, Mahon, McGuinness and Krstic (2) sent Derry City supporters home very happy. Incidentally, the Longford goal, scored by Jim Mahon, was the first that Derry City had conceded away from home all season in the League.
Finn Harps now found themselves moving back into second spot with a good win over Monaghan United, while Shelbourne had lost at home to Drogheda United.
City’s next two games saw then defeat EMFA in Kilkenny 2-0, and Monaghan, at Brandywell 3-1, and so it was on to Harold’s Cross and Shelbourne in the knowledge that a Derry win would virtually ensure promotion.
In a new style Argentina strip, and with Alan Sunderland making his debut, the huge travelling support had plenty to be optimistic about. After only four minutes, a Sunderland free-kick was headed in by Krstic at the near post. Da Gama and Krstic again both missed chances to increase the lead, and with only five minutes to go, Dom Tierney equalised for Shels.
However the match was not yet over. In the last minute of the game, a brilliant piece of opportunism by Sunderland, gave Derry the lead again, and promotion, barring a mathematical improbability, was theirs. As for Finn Harps, they failed to make the most of the City victory, when they lost at home to lowly Newcastle West, and the rot was beginning to set in.
The Derrymen, because of a Cup game, had to wait a fortnight for the chance to gain that all-important point to ensure promotion when they took on Drogheda United in front of the Brandywell faithful. Everything was set up for an enthralling contest, as Drogheda themselves still had an outside chance of going up. City survived some early pressure and, against the run of play, took the lead with a terrific right-foot shot from Noel King. However, within a minute Paul Newe equalised for the visitors.
After 10 minutes City went ahead again with a goal from Alan Sunderland and just before half-time Krstic slipped the ball home to make the score 3-1. The second half was a quiet affair with Derry’s thoughts perhaps, on the Cup replay the following Thursday. This quiet pattern stayed until the final whistle - and the team were greeted with the loudest roar of the season. Noel King was chaired shoulder-high by the jubilant City players and all the hard work put in had been brought to fruition.
Sadly, Finn Harps lost again, this time 2-1 to UCD, and with Shelbourne winning it was now odds-on that the Dubliners were to claim that other promotion place. Derry City’s last home game was against Newcastle West and with the pressure now off, the fans were looking for a good performance and perhaps the introduction of some of the Reserve team players to assess their abilities.
Before the Newcastle West game, Mr Brendan Duffy, President of the FAI, presented
the First Division Trophy to Stuart Gauld, much to the delight of the crowd,
who were in fine voice as the team paraded their well-earned prize around the
ground in the customary lap of honour.
When the game started, Newcastle provided an early shock when Christy Earle headed them into the lead, but this only served to spur City on. They levelled the scores midway through the first-half through Owen Da Gama. Six minutes later Kevin Mahon gave City the lead. In the second half Da Gama scored twice more for his hat-trick, and an Alex Krstic penalty rounded the scoring off.
Derry City's last game of the season was against Finn Harps in Ballybofey, who still had an outside chance of pipping Shelbourne for the second promotion spot. The early signs showed that Finn Harps had no stomach for the big occasion as City, thanks to Da Gama and Krstic, took a 2-0 half-time lead. Further goals from Paul McLaughlin and Noel King made it 4-0 and as the game and the season came to a close, John McDaid salvaged a little pride for Harps with a fine headed goal.
Derry City finished the season with 33 points from a possible 36. They won all their away games, conceding only three goals in the process.
Alex Krstic scored an incredible 18 goals in 17 league games, and in doing so, scored against every other side in the League, either home or away.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derry City | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 14 | +31 | 33 |
| 2 | Shelbourne | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 27 |
| 3 | Drogheda Utd | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 41 | 22 | +19 | 24 |
| 4 | Finn Harps | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 32 | 24 | +8 | 22 |
| 5 | UCD | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 19 |
| 6 | Cobh Ramblers | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 15 |
| 7 | Newcastle West | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 32 | -15 | 12 |
| 8 | Monaghan Utd | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 34 | -14 | 11 |
| 9 | EMFA | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 31 | -14 | 10 |
| 10 | Longford Town | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 49 | -33 | 7 |
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