Derry City must summon the spirit of their Irish League team from 1965 if they are to overcome their 2-0 deficit against Bruno’s Magpies in the second leg of their Conference League qualifier on Thursday night.
No League of Ireland team has ever overcome a 2-0 deficit in Europe, but the Candystripes overturned a two-goal deficit a long time ago.
In the 1965/66 Irish League season, Derry City lost 5-3 against Norwegian champions FK Lyn in Oslo in only their second-ever European campaign.
But the return leg at the Brandywell, on September 9, 1965, proved to be one of the most famous nights in the club’s history as 11,000 fans packed in to see Jimbo Crossan score from the halfway line as Derry destroyed the Norwegians, winning 5-1 to become the first Irish side to win a two-legged tie in Europe.
That is the size of the task facing Ruaidhri Higgins and his players on Thursday evening, all determined to put the record straight after a dire performance and result in Gibraltar the previous Thursday.
Higgins, though, acknowledges the first goal is vital.
“I think it doesn’t really matter when we get the opening goal,” he said. “As long as we get it, we give ourselves a chance.
“In our last four home games, we have scored 12 goals, so we’re creating opportunities and scoring goals at home.
“Our home form’s been good, so if that’s anything to go by, we definitely give ourselves a chance. But we want the crowd to get right behind us.
“We need them. We need everyone that comes to the ground to be together, and if that’s the case, our stadium can be a real powerful place, and that’s what we want it to be.”
The Derry boss admitted that his team have needed a few days to contemplate what happened in Gibraltar, with the performance and result shocking and disappointing everyone.
“I think we needed the time,” he stated. “We needed the time because you can’t just sweep things under the carpet either.
“We’ve broken it down. We’ve spoken about it. We’ve all had our say. As I said, directly after the game in an interview, talk is cheap.
“You can do all the talking you want and all that sort of stuff, but it’s about actions now and turning the hurt into joy.
“We know what we have to do to do that.”
Derry have won 9 of 13 games at home in the 2024 season and, in doing so, they have scored at least three goals on five occasions.
A potential penalty shoot-out aside, the Candystripes will need to score three goals again if they are to progress, but Higgins believes his team can make this another famous European night at the Brandywell.
“Absolutely,” he insisted. “It’s probably a bit of a difference between now and last season where I think we look like we’re going to score goals.
“We create chances and we’ve got players who can put the ball in the back of the net, and if we get it right on the night, then there’s no doubt we can score goals.
“But we also have to be very mindful that we’re set up right behind the ball when we’re attacking because they’ve got threats as well.
“We can’t just go gung-ho. We have to attack with a certain amount of discipline as well and commit bodies forward but being mindful that they have one or two threats on the counter-attack.”