League of Ireland Premier Division: Shamrock Rovers 1 (Greene 83) Derry City 1 (Boyce 25)This was a full-blooded football match on a balmy night, at the end of which Shamrock Rovers struck late to rescue a point against a Derry City side still getting meagre yield on their potential.Derry led from midway through the first half but could not hold out to the end, ultimately denied by Aaron Greene’s equaliser.The result sends Rovers six points clear at the top and fully 18 points ahead of Derry, whose title challenge has not been ended, given it never actually started. They are instead stalked by relegation anxieties that first dared to speak their name after last Friday’s defeat to Galway.Rovers’ position at the top meanwhile looks secure only at a glance, given second-placed St Pat’s have two games in hand.Patrick McClean admitted last Friday that his team-mates were not too good to go down, and on Monday night the Candystripes started with the zeal of men embarrassed by his implication. They pressed Rovers man-to-man and quickly forced defender Tunmise Sobowale to play a loose pass directly to Adam O’Reilly, who slammed a shot against the underside of the crossbar. It was still shaking when James McClean threw himself into a challenge on Graham Burke. The referee saw a foul and booked an incensed McClean.Derry’s eager start nonetheless stymied any putative Rovers rhythm, and their chief defensive worry was themselves. Edward Beach was forced to deny Michael Noonan from close range after Patrick McClean left a back-pass short.Derry City's Liam Boyce celebrates scoring the first goal of the game. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Where Rovers were staccato, Derry flowed. Midway through the first half Barry Cotter danced away from Adam Brennan to slide a pass into midfield for O’Reilly, who in turn accelerated and fed James McClean on the left wing. McClean paused before slinging a cross into the box that was met by Liam Boyce, stooping to glance a header beyond Ed McGinty. Derry’s lead was deserved and yet they continued to find the prospect of calamity utterly irresistible. Immediately after the goal, O’Reilly split his own defence with a precise back-pass played directly to Noonan. A splayed Beach rescued Derry once again.Rovers gradually took a grip of the first half as Derry dropped deep, but went into the dressingrooms scoreless and with a sense of grievance. Referee Aaron O’Dowd was unmoved by James McClean’s apparent bundling into Dylan Watts in the penalty area. Derry boss Tiernan Lynch complained last Friday that he couldn’t coach desire into his players, but he can evidently provoke it, a fact encapsulated in Michael Duffy’s sprinting 40 yards after half-time to snuff out a Rovers counterattack. Duffy was otherwise Derry’s prime counterattacking threat and he wasted an opportunity crafted out of sheer comedy. James McClean lashed a ball forward that was so aimless that he raised his hand in apology, but as he trooped back to his position the ball appeared to be caught in a gust of wind and bounced perfectly for Duffy, whose attempted lob was slapped away by McGinty on the edge of his box. Stephen Bradley threw on all five of his substitutes and the cavalry eventually made their impact in quintessential style, as Greene muscled his way into the penalty area and fired low into the far corner. Derry were left reeling and clinging to a draw. Beach tipped a Naj Razi shot around the post before Jack Byrne skidded a teasing cross across the six-yard box which somehow evaded everybody. Derry were ultimately made to feel grateful for their point, as Sobowale flashed a volley wide in the final minute of stoppage time. SHAMROCK ROVERS: McGinty; Mulraney (Kovaleskis, 76), Sobowale, Grace (capt), C O’Sullivan (J O’Sullivan, 69); Brennan; Healy, Watts (McGovern, 69); Burke (Razi, 69), Byrne, Noonan (Greene, 69)DERRY CITY: Beach; Cotter, Barr, P McClean, Fleming; O’Reilly, Dummigan (Winchester, 55), J McClean (Kelly, 72); Dos Santos (Markey, 23; Olayinka, 55), Boyce (Doherty, 72), Duffy.Referee: Aaron O’Dowd.