Higgins: There's a great spirit within Derry City group

Derry City manager Ruaidhrí Higgins commended the spirit within his squad after they collected a second away win in the capital in the space of four days, dispatching UCD 2-0 to copper-fasten their position as early season pace-setters in the SSE Airticity League Premier Division.

Having snatched victory at Dalymount Park on Friday with yet another late goal, Higgins' side didn't cut it quite so fine against the league's bottom club, the in-form Will Patching and Ronan Boyce grabbing second half goals to push their lead at the top out to six points.

While the opening goal took more than an hour to arrive, Higgins insisted his team had shown great intent from the off.

"Our performance was quite good. We were happy with where we were at half-time," Higgins told RTÉ Sport after the game.

"We should have been in front. We hit the woodwork a few times, (Jamie) McGonigle missed a one-on-one, Matty Smith's missed a good chance. We created a lot of chances.

"We kept doing the right things, the players never get flustered. And then a piece of magic from Will - doing what Will Patching does - gets us in front. We kicked on from there and got a good second goal and were quite comfortable seeing it out."

While Derry's bullish activity in the transfer market in late 2021 and early 2022 provoked much chatter - billionaire owner Philip O'Doherty facilitating a spending spree which saw the likes of Patching, Smith, Patrick McEleney and Michael Duffy arriving - Higgins was, at the outset, anxious to play down expectations of a title challenge in 2022.

At the LOI launch, the Derry boss was adamant that Stephen Bradley's three-in-a-row chasing Shamrock Rovers side remained heavy favourites. Continuing to tamp down expectations may prove more