Derry City 1-0 Skonto Riga (Agg 2-1)

Derry City are bound for Bulgaria next week following a 1-0 victory over Skonto Riga at an electrifying Brandywell this evening.

And it was midfielder Kevin Deery who was hailed the hero when his fortuitous 57th-minute strike from 35 yards crept into the Riga net.

No stranger to heroic status in Europe, Deery didn't travel to Riga due to a calf strain but he bounced back at the Brandywell to send the old stadium wild.

Derry will now face CSKA Sofia next Thursday night in the third preliminary round and hopes are high that Stephen Kenny can reproduce his antics of three years ago, and guide his Candystripes to further progression in the Europa League.

Holding a precious away goal in the 1-1 result in Latvia the previous Thursday night, Deery’s low 35-yard shot crept into the Skonto net with goalkeeper Germans Malins not making any attempt to save as the Brandywell erupted.

And it was a thoroughly deserved win for Kenny’s battle-hardened troops, who bossed the second half and held their nerve in what was an electrifying atmosphere.

Kenny’s claim that the game remained finely balanced was correct as Skonto certainly had their chances in the opening period when 'keeper Gerard Doherty produced two top drawer stops.

With both teams prepared to go for it, the attendance was certainly kept on its toes.

In fact, the Brandywell erupted when last week’s goalscoring hero Tam McManus appeared to be hauled down when inside the box, but Dutch referee Pol Van Boekel dismissed those appeals.

Skonto left-back Raivis Hscanovics got a timely header to a Thomas Stewart cross as Derry’s Gareth McGlynn was about to pounce in the eighth minute.

However, in the 15th minute Skonto right winger Aleksandrs Cauna produced a superb shot but Doherty got down superbly at his near post to make a vital save.

McManus went very close to breaking the deadlock with a powerful free-kick in the 18th minute, but his effort screamed narrowly wide of the upright.

But Derry could not afford to take anything for granted when their failure to deal with a defensive clearance saw the alert Brazilian striker Junior produce the perfect flick, placing the ball into the path of Igors Tarasovs but his shot was again blocked by the well-placed Doherty.

Skonto keeper Germans Malins, found himself heavily involved in the action when he palmed another McManus effort over his crossbar but, on the half hour, the keeper really earned his wages.

McManus’ close range shot was pushed into the air by Malins and when Sammy Morrow rose to head the ball into the net the keeper again made a first class save.

With the Latvians breaking at pace and in numbers, Derry’s Peter Hutton played a captain’s role when his superbly-timed challenge inside his penalty area denied Blanks a shot on goal from close range.

Striker Morrow was stretchered off during the early stages of the second half with what appeared to be an ankle problem and with Ruaidhri Higgins entering the fray, and not a front-line player, one got the feeling that Derry were attempting to hold onto that precious away goal.

But there was a surprise in store in the 57th minute when Deery found the Skonto net from 35 yards.

And it appeared a fortuitous strike, Deery’s effort appeared to have been covered by the keeper, but the ball crept into the corner of the net as Malins did not make an attempt to save thinking the shot was going wide!

Clive Delaney headed a Deery corner over the crossbar in the 64th minute as Derry’s tails were up and from that point, Skonto were denied any scoring chance, the home back five putting in a magnificent performance.

Skonto Riga: Malins; Golubevs, Hscamoniqs, Gamezardashvili, Smirnovs; Kozlovs, Fertovs (Mingazov 65 mins), Tarasovs (Laizans, 68 mins), Cauna; Junior (Agafonov 83 mins), Blanks.

Derry City: Doherty; McCallion, Delaney, Hutton, O’Brien; McGlynn (Scullion 87 mins), Deery, Molloy, Stewart (Farren 73 mins); Morrow, McManus.

Referee: Mr P Van Boekel (Netherlands).