Gretna's European fairytale was killed off as Derry City scored three goals in the space of ten minutes in the second half to romp to a 5-1 win in the first leg of their UEFA Cup qualifying round two tie. An evenly balanced first half belied the threat that Derry posed to the Scottish second division champions and in the second half the Eircom League side stepped up a gear to take control of the game. Gretna quickly settled into the game and gave their supporters something to shout about when they took the lead after 12 minutes. A free-kick was played into the box and Ryan McGuffie hammered a powerful left-footed shot just inside the right-hand post. Gretna continued to pressure and looked to have broken through the Derry defence again when James Grady slid the ball behind them, but McGuffie couldn't quite reach the ball. Midway through the first half Derry won a free-kick in a dangerous position and got back on terms when Darren Kelly headed a Sean Hargan delivery into the top corner of the net to make it 1-1.
Five minutes before half-time Gretna had a great opportunity to take the lead, but Steve Tosh misjudged his options and with the goalkeeper stranded he shot from a tight angle and found the sidenetting, instead of passing to one of his two team-mates waiting in front of goal. Derry quickly took control of the game after the restart and they took the lead on 54 minutes when Kevin Deery blasted a 30-yard free-kick into the top corner of the net. Two minutes later, Deery made it 3-1, rifling the ball into the net from 35 yards out to send the travelling support wild. Just when it looked as if things couldn't get any worse for Gretna, Ciaran Martin compounded their misery, driving through the home defence before rounding Alan Main and sliding the ball into an empty net. And on 75 minutes Martyn doubled his tally firing into the top corner to make it 5-1.
Gretna: Main, Canning, Innes, Townsley, McGill, McGuffie, Tosh, Skelton, McQuilken, Deuchar, Grady
Subs: Mathieson, Birch, Jenkins, O'Neil, Graham, Nicholls, MacFarlane
Goal: McGuffie 12
Derry City: Forde, McCallion, Hargan, Hutton, Martyn, Beckett, McHugh, Deery, Barry Molloy, O'Flynn, Kelly
Subs: Jennings, Delaney, Higgins, Oman, McGlynn, Farren, McCourt
Goals: Kelly 22, Deery 54, 56, Martyn 63, 75
Ref: Marijo Strahonja (Croatia). | 