CORK City WFC manager Danny Murphy said it was a case of practice makes perfect at Dalymount Park last Saturday as Eva Mangan’s superb second-half goal earned the Leesiders a 1-0 victory in their SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division clash with Bohemians.

After creating several chances throughout the course of the game, City finally edged in front on 74 minutes when Mangan unleashed an unstoppable strike into the top right-hand corner of the Bohs net.

Having watched her attempts to execute a similar move in training on a regular basis, Murphy was thrilled to see the former Republic of Ireland U19 international pulling it off so spectacularly in a competitive scenario.

“I wouldn’t say Eva has had her best game and I’ll dig her out a little bit, but you know what, she’s been working to that. She has been practising it.

“She’s been out spending time on her own and doing the right things off the pitch,” Murphy remarked in the aftermath of Saturday’s game.

“As she went to hit, I said it was in. As soon as it left her foot because I know from working with her that she can finish from there. 

“She’ll probably be critical of herself saying that she didn’t play as well as she can, but she has hit the post and scored.”

UP AND RUNNING

Whereas it took them all of 18 games to get what proved to be their sole win of the 2023 league, City are already up and running with just three rounds played in the latest edition of the Women’s Premier Division.

They did secure three victories in last year’s All-Island Cup, however, and a commendable 2-2 draw away to Wexford Youths in the same competition seven days earlier gave City confidence ahead of their visit to north Dublin at the weekend.

Although he cautioned that his young side will continue to learn as they go, Murphy believes his charges are more than capable of developing into a formidable Premier Division outfit.

“The girls are still developing and still getting better. We’re not going to have consistency every week of great performances.

“We’re still going to learn and make mistakes, but we know that as a staff and as a club. We’re trying to build a team of girls that are young, that will be for the future,” Murphy added.

“I honestly do think that if we can keep them all together and they keep developing and improving like they are, then we’ll be a team that people will be worrying about in a year or two’s time.

“For me, the biggest thing is a clean sheet. From the goalkeeper across the back four, you’ve got two 16-year-olds, a 17-year-old, an 18-year-old and another 18-year-old.

“The confidence that will give them going into the rest of the season is massive.”