Derry City won 3-0 against Dundalk F.C, a deserved victory in a strong performance from start to finish for the home side. With 2 great finishes by Jordan McEnuff and Brandon Kavanagh, followed by a great run by Adam O’Reilly, picking the ball up in his own half, driving into the box before selflessly squaring it for a tap in for Michael Duffy to close out an impressive victory.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Cameron McJannett
Player Profile:
- Nationality: English
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 06/09/1998
- Club: Derry City
- Career: Luton (Y), Stoke U21, Curzon Ashton (Loan)
- Position: Centre Back
- Other Positions: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Cameron McJannet played in the left centre back position in a back 4 for Derry, he showed strong leadership throughout the match, consistently giving instructions to team mates ahead of him. He has a great physical presence, and not only did he win most of his duels in the air, but impressively showed he could accurately head the ball to a team mate too.
McJannet showed a lot of skills associated with a modern centre back, a real strength of his game was his driven diagonal passes to team mates on the opposite touchline. He confidently moved forward with the ball and had the vision and execution to pass through the lines into the attackers.
He showed real composure, still looking to play under pressure but also read the play well and got into positions to intercept. I liked that he didn’t go to ground often when trying to tackle, he would wait for the opportunity to win the ball, and often timed them well, even when in a 1v1 situation.
He hardly put a foot wrong all game, but was involved with a miscommunication issue with teammate Ben Doherty in the second half, gifting Dundalk a clear cut chance at goal although they couldn’t take advantage.
Rating- A1
I really enjoyed watching McJannet, he had multiple strengths to his game, showed he could defend well but importantly he could use the ball well too and consistently tried to be progressive. The only weakness to his game in this match was the odd long diagonal pass being over hit, but if he can work on these small errors he could become a very strong modern centre back.
Jordan McEneff
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Irish
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 08/01/2001
- Club: Derry City
- Career: Derry City (Y), Arsenal(Y), Arsenal U18/U23, Shelbourne (Loan)
- Position: Attacking Midfield
- Other Positions: Central Midfield, Right Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Former Arsenal Academy player Jordan McEneff played as an attacking midfielder in Derry City’s 4-2-3-1 formation and put in a strong performance. One of his greatest attributes was the variation in his movement, whether that be to use his decent acceleration to get in behind the defence, or his strong scanning ability to pick up pockets in the final third, he was constantly looking to receive the ball or get into goal scoring positions.
He showed good awareness and understanding with Cian Kavanagh, often trying to take advantage of the space left when the striker dropped deeper, as well as looking to get closer to the striker for quick layoffs. Doing exactly that for his goal, moving sharply for the knock down from Kavanagh, before showing great composure and technical ability, with a classy low driven finish from a wide angle whilst under pressure from a closing defender.
McEneff showed good aggression when competing in duels, often using his short acceleration to build momentum when going in for ground duels as well as timing his jump well in aerial duels and showed good technique when heading the ball, often looking to pick out team mates even when under pressure. He pressed well trying to force the play backwards and had the understanding to try and cut off inside passing lines for the opposition when he couldn’t win the ball.
The Irish midfielder also showed a good close control when dribbling and combined this with his agility to shift easily past defenders, although he was caught out when trying to do too much on some occasions. And although technically strong, McEneff was guilty of a few poorer controls, although I thought this more a concentration issue.
Rating – A2
Jordan McEneff showed he had all the attributes to be a dangerous attacking midfielder, playing under pressure, showing ability to get into and find space, press well from the front as well as showing he was capable of real composure in and around the box, backing that up with strong finishing ability too.
If he can continue to improve these abilities as well as improve his concentration specifically when controlling the ball, he could become a real prospect as a goal scoring midfielder.
Brandon Kavanagh
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Irish
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 21/09/2001
- Club: Derry City
- Career: Bohemians U19, Shamrock Rovers, Bray Wanderers (Loan)
- Position: Right Midfielder
- Other Positions: Left Midfield, Attacking Midfield
- Preferred foot: Left
Brandon Kavanagh played off the right for Derry, and stood out for all the right reasons, cutting inside on his stronger left foot, he would get his head up early and showed great vision to spot passes to runners, although not always successful it was encouraging that he was never too far off, and showed real resilience to keep trying to affect the game.
The Irishman worked really hard off the ball, had great acceleration and used that to aggressively put the opposition under pressure quickly to force mistakes. Impressively he used this speed to get back into position, and showed a good defensive understanding to track the opposition full back and stop what could have been dangerous situations.
Kavanagh showed glimpses of his dribbling ability, using his low centre of gravity to shift past defenders, or turn quickly. Doing this for his goal, he shifted past the defender into the space before showing a great finishing ability, as he fired the ball into the top right corner from just outside the box.
Although his smaller frame made it difficult to challenge for anything in the air, he never gave in and still tried to make the opposition work. It was nice to watch Kavanagh still want to play under pressure, sometimes waiting for the defender to press before playing the ball past them. His short passing game and lay offs were accurate, and although smaller he did usually protect the ball well. He looked very comfortable when moving inside and had a good awareness of the space around him too, often getting into positions for cutbacks.
Rating – A2
Brandon Kavanagh has great potential, I particularly liked how confident he looked throughout, he has good technical ability, backing that up with a strong finish for his goal, uses his physical attributes such as his agility and acceleration to his advantage, pressed aggressively and consistently showed he has the vision to pick out a pass. If he continues to work on his passing execution and first touch under pressure, as well as looking to use his acceleration to run in behind more, he could definitely play at a higher level.