With Dundalk seeking to avoid four losses in a row and Derry City looking to bounce back from two painful reverses at home, a defeat for either side would have placed the respective club into crisis mode.

In that context, Stephen O’Donnell and Ruaidhri Higgins would be reasonably happy with a draw, but both managers will feel they allowed victory to slip away here.

For Derry, the regret will be that they conceded twice in a frantic 60-second spell after entering the final 20 minutes with a one-goal lead.

For Dundalk, the frustration will be that they allowed the guests back in with the concession of a goal from a routine set piece.

O’Donnell’s side were happier to hear the whistle, though, after a straight red for defender Wasiri Williams left them a man down for the last ten minutes when injury time was added to proceedings.

The manager needed a response from his team after an uninspiring first-half showing, an injury to skipper Andy Boyle in the warm-up, setting the tone for a disjointed performance.

Sadou Diallo struck the bar from Derry’s first attack, although they struggled to create chances of similar quality until the lead goal arrived after Greg Sloggett joined Dundalk’s injury list.

He was stretchered off after going down in an innocuous collision, with his replacement Johannes Yli-Kokko still finding his feet as Derry pounced to go ahead. The Finn was robbed in possession by Derry’s left winger Ben Doherty, the latter staying inside to subsequently receive the ball and curl it beyond Nathan Sheppard.

With Pat Hoban only fit enough to start on the bench, O’Donnell was always going to have to judge when he could spring the Galwegian. He was warming up within two minutes of the restart as part of a double switch, with the talented Rayhaan Tulloch entering proceedings.

Dundalk mixed things up with Robbie Benson moving inside to a central role behind Hoban and began to pose more of a threat with Tulloch dispatched down the left.

Local anger with ref Rob Hennessy helped to raise the volume levels, a penalty shout on Tulloch that was waved away drawing a furious response from the sideline with O’Donnell booked for his protests.

Dundalk were knocking on the door, though, and were level when Keith Ward’s free was steered home by Benson.

Derry had dropped off, but it went from bad to worse from the tip-off, with Diallo unprepared for a pass in his direction with the alert Yli-Kokko nipping in to race through acres of space and clip the ball past Brian Maher. The natives couldn’t believe the pace of the turnaround.

Higgins had top-class options on the bench, with Will Patching introduced after Jordan McEneff took ill mid-game and former Dundalk favourite Michael Duffy also sprung for a cameo as he continues his recovery.

Colm Whelan was on the bench, too, but will have to wait for another day. Instead, the unheralded Cian Kavanagh saved the day, his looping header from a deep free catching out Sheppard.

Hoban was furious with Tulloch, who had wasted an opportunity in the passage beforehand – fine margins in a match suddenly alive and capable of going in either direction. Williams’ lunge on Boyce drew a red that the Oriel crowd couldn’t really argue with and they had nervous moments in the dying stages with Duffy inches away from nicking a winner.

Instead, the Candystripes move into third spot, five points behind leaders Bohemians and four ahead of eighth-placed Dundalk in a table that looks set to remain congested.

Dundalk – Sheppard, Muller, Williams, Leahy, McCourt (Tulloch 52); Davies, Malley (Lewis 85), Sloggett (Yli-Kokko 39), Benson; Ward (O’Kane 85); Martin (Hoban 52)

Derry City – Maher, Boyce, S McEleney, McJannet (O’Neill 76), Coll (Duffy 76); O’Reilly, Diallo; Graydon, McEneff (Patching 45), Doherty; McGonigle (C Kavanagh 54)

Ref – Rob Hennessy