There’s a real Tayside vibe about the League of Ireland title race this season.
Summer football means they are heading into the final straight on the Emerald Isle.
Top of the table right now are Shamrock Rovers, boasting St Johnstone hero Alan Mannus in goal and ex-Saintee Dan Cleary at the back.
But chasing them down are a couple of former Dundee team-mates and an ex-Dundee United defender at Derry City.
Paul McMullan was a star for the Dark Blues last season as they won the Championship title but moved across the Irish Sea after his contract expired.
And he’s been linking up to great effect with his old team-mate Danny Mullen, who scored 15 goals for the Dee across two seasons before spending last season at Partick Thistle.
‘Added real quality’
McMullan, “instrumental” in Derry’s recent run of form, crossed for Mullen to open the scoring at UCD as Derry romped to a 5-0 win on the road.
Derry boss Ruaidrhi Higgins has been full of praise for the former Dee duo, saying: “I think in Mullen and McMullan we’ve added real quality at the top end.”
That was Mullen’s second goal in three games after he opened his account for the club in a 2-2 draw at Bohemians, facing another couple of ex-Dees in Declan McDaid and Jonathan Afolabi as well as former United kid Ali Coote.
Mullen has been described as “excellent” by Higgins and told the Derry Journal after that clash with fourth-placed Bohemians: “As a striker you want to hit the back of the net.
“It doesn’t matter if it is penalties, extra time or whatever, it’s just hitting the back of that net and getting that feeling back. I’m hungry to get more.”
Ex-United defender Mark Connolly has been missing with injury but Derry are now unbeaten in seven matches domestically.
They lost away to Kazakhstan side Tobol in Europe last month but that’s their only defeat in all competitions for 13 games.
That’s since a 1-0 reverse away to current league leaders Shamrock, played before McMullan and Mullen made their debuts.
Now the return fixture is on the horizon – a real title showdown at the Brandywell Stadium next Friday night with Derry four points behind Rovers with just seven games to go.
Victory would cut that gap to just one point to set up a barn-storming finish to the campaign.
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