O'Connor furious at penalty

TURLOUGH O'CONNOR will review his position as a manager at the end of the season following a highly controversial finish to this game at the Brandywell yesterday which cost his side two valuable points.

The Dubliners had led Derry City until the 88th minute when the referee, Denis McArdle, awarded the home side a controversial penalty which Paul Curran converted.

The spot kick came about after Thomas McCallion had played Derry substitute Kevin McKeever in behind the Bohemians defence. Goalkeeper Dave Henderson appeared to touch the ball wide for a corner before he actually made contact with McKeever. The Derry player dropped to the ground and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.

A furious O'Connor said: "I will consider my position at the end of the season. It's not worth carrying on if you are going to have to put up with decisions like that," he said.

"We have to play the referee as well as the home team. It was a home town decision and I don't think it's worth carrying on. The Derry player fell and the referee gave a penalty. It was a bad decision and it's very difficult to take."

But Derry manager Felix Healy agreed with the referee. "Kevin McKeever was fouled inside the area and the referee gave a penalty," he said.

"My complaint is that the referee didn't award us a penalty in the third minute when Harry McCourt had been clearly upended inside the box," he added.

But he criticised Bohemians style of play. "They defended in numbers and refused to play. If I sent my team out to play like that I would give the game up. It's a typical League of Ireland style and fans have been crying out against it for years. In the end, Bohemians got what they deserved: very, very little."

McArdle could not be blamed for the opening goal in the 10th minute. A free by Tommy Byrne was floated into the Derry box and, when Peter Hutton failed to adequately clear his lines, the towering Maurice O'Driscoll ran in to hammer a shot home from close range.

Henderson denied Derry an equaliser with a superb save in the 15th minute, touching Paul Doolin's header over his cross-bar. And, three minutes later, the Bohemians goalkeeper excelled yet again when he blocked a Gary Beckett shot after the Derry striker had broken clear.

Brian Mooney could have given Bohemians a 2-0 lead in the 26th minute, but his shot screamed wide of the target, while Tony O'Connor had a great chance to end the match as a contest in the 75th minute, but he failed to find the target with Tony O'Dowd beaten.

Content to defend throughout the second period, Bohemians were always dangerous on the break and while Derry more or less controlled the play, their final ball left a lot to be desired.