Derry City goalkeeper Brian Maher insists his side won’t be getting carried away after defeating champions Shamrock Rovers and has played down suggestions the 2-1 victory has laid down a marker for 2023.

The FAI Cup champions rose to the top of the Premier Division on Friday as strikes by Ben Doherty and Jamie McGonigle brought the Hoops’ 30-game unbeaten home run to an end.

While Rovers are seeking a fourth successive league crown this term, the Candystripes have not lifted the title since 1996/97. Maher (22) accepted the Tallaght Stadium win was significant, but stressed there’s a long way to go in the season.

“It was a great win but we can’t get carried away,” said the former Ireland U-21 international, ahead of Derry's visit to UCD this evening (7.45).

“To finally get the win in Tallaght is great, but it's only the third game of the season. There’s a long way to go. We came here last year intending to win and had good performances, but didn’t get over the line.

“It was a big win for us. We’re winning in different ways, we needed to defend our box in the final 10 minutes (on Friday). We’ve more depth this year, especially when we get the injured boys back (Cameron Dummigam, Cameron McJannet and Michael Duffy).

“There was a lot of talk about Rovers last Friday, but we had important players out too. We coped really well with that and some boys played through the pain barrier.

“We know with the quality Rovers have, they’ll put a run of wins together at any time. We’ve to keep winning games ourselves.”

The Candystripes are back in the capital again this evening to take on UCD, who suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at Cork City last Friday.

Maher accepts it can prove tricky going from playing in front of over 7,600 at Tallaght Stadium to a much smaller crowd at the Belfield Bowl so soon, but says his side must maintain the same levels regardless of the venue or the opposition.

“It serves a different challenge,” added Maher, with Derry winning four out of four against the Students last term.

“It’s impossible not to be up for a game like that at Tallaght. It can be difficult going to grounds like UCD but we’ve to treat it exactly the same way. Every away game is a different challenge, especially doing two trips to Dublin in three days. We didn’t do that last year.

“You sometimes need a moment of magic at UCD, it’s a tough place to play. Every year, people expect them not to be as good as the previous year but they keep producing players.”