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IFA Cup Winners
1949
Twenty years after joining the Irish League, Derry City finally collected their first major trophy, when, on April 16th 1949 they defeated Glentoran in a thrilling final at Windsor Park.
The Cup campaign that year began with Derry being drawn away to Intermediate side Brantwood. City won the match comfortably 3-1 and were rewarded with a home draw against Bangor.
Derry found it tough against a determined Bangor side at the Brandywell and, after a 1-1 draw, the two teams had to go to a replay at Clandeboye Park. In the replay, Derry led 3-1 with five minutes to go - but somehow they managed to squander the lead and allow Bangor to snatch a draw. And so it was back to the Brandywell for the second replay - again the match ended in stalemate 1-1. The tie was finally decided in the third replay, with Hughie Carlyle scoring the only goal of the game after 35 minutes.
After that epic struggle, Derry finally made it to the semi-finals - a tie against Distillery at Celtic Park, Belfast. After the excitement of the previous round, this tie was over as a contest after only 35 minutes - the legendary Jimmy Kelly opened the scoring after 15 minutes, and Billy Hermon added the second, twenty minutes later. Derry were in total control of the match, and Distillery could not match a confident City side. The second half was scoreless and the thousands of Derry supporters, who had travelled to Belfast for the match, went home ecstatic.
The final, against Glentoran, took place on Saturday 16th April 1949 in front of 27,000 supporters at Windsor Park.
Glentoran took the lead through Bertie Peacock after twenty minutes, but three minutes later Derry were level - Hugh Colvan converting a cross from Kelly. The match remained at 1-1 for the rest of the first half.
As the second half got underway, Derry's maestro Jimmy Kelly was stretchered off with what looked like a serious injury. As Kelly was stretchered off, Derry's hopes of clinching the trophy looked over. But within sixty seconds, ten man Derry had taken the lead. Matt Doherty lobbed a free kick into the Glentoran penalty area, which Hermon managed to slot past Moore, the Glentoran keeper.
Jimmy Kelly returned to the action after fifteen minutes - he had been badly concussed following a fall, but the City doctor was able to get him back quickly on the pitch. Derry were put under immense pressure by Glentoran in the last twenty minutes, with the Glens looking the likeliest to score. Seven minutes from the end, Glentoran were awarded a corner. The entire Glens team packed into the Derry penalty area desperate to score an equaliser, but when Feeney crossed the ball in, Hugh Colvan was there to sweep the ball to Barney Cannon. Cannon was standing alone on the half-way line with no Glentoran defenders between him and the goal - as Cannon advanced on the goal, Moore came out and Cannon unleashed a stunning strike from 18 yards which flew into the Glentoran net.
Derry were the Cup Winners - at last some silverware for the famous Candystripes, after 20 years in the Irish League, the only dissapointment being that there was no place for Hughie Carlyle in the Cup Final team, after serving Derry so well since the 1930's.
Derry City: Tommy Muir, James Cully, Gerry Brennan, Matt Dohert, John Ferris, Jack McCreary (Captain), Billy Hermon, Billy Aitken, Barney Cannon, Hugh Colvan, Jimmy Kelly Subs: Pat Begley, Hugh Gilmartin
Manager: William Ross
