Derry City take lead to Finland as sparkling second half comeback helps overcome KuPS

Derry City 2 KuPS 1

Derry City's Will Patching celebrates after scoring against KuPS

Derry City head to Finland with a lead after a memorable night at the Brandywell.

Second half goals from Will Patching and Cian Kavanagh saw City come from behind to win and it would have been more had it not been for heroics from KuPS goalkeeper Johannes Kreidl.

It was all KuPS in the early stages, but 13 minutes in a shooting opportunity appeared for Ben Doherty and he took it, and it almost paid off, his effort deflecting and causing a serious problem for Kreidl, who just gathered at the second attempt.

The home side came so close to scoring just two minutes later and again the KuPS goalkeeper was panicking. Patrick McEleney picked out Ronan Boyce in the penalty area and the defender showed superb close control under pressure before lobbing the ball towards goal, with Kreidl backtracking before just getting a hand to it to push it onto the crossbar.

The crowd were firmly behind their players and they watched their team come close again when City’s first corner of the game led to Brandon Kavanagh crossing for Boyce, who came in at the back post and looped a header onto the roof of the net.

An excellent first half ended disastrously for Derry City, though, as they conceded a penalty. Derry were caught on the back foot after McGonigle lost possession and Urho Nissila’s close-range shot hammered against Connolly, who was penalised for handball. Axel Vidjeskog stepped up to send Brain Maher the wrong way from the spot right at the end of the half.

Derry started the second half encouragingly, with Brandon Kavanagh heading wide before testing Kreidl in quick succession, which showed again that City’s ability to get at their opponents was