Caulfield is thrilled with three points
REACTION
By Daire Walsh
COURTESY of their 2-0 success over Shamrock Rovers in south Dublin yesterday evening, Cork City now finding themselves just three points adrift of Premier Division pace-setters Dundalk with a game in hand.
This was the fifth league win on the bounce for the resurgent Leesiders, and City boss John Caulfield felt that they were worthy victors against Trevor Croly’s men.
“I think it was a good three points. We’ve bounced back brilliantly since the defeat (to St Patrick’s Athletic). We’ve had 15 out of 15. Five wins in a row, a lot of clean sheets. I thought the lads gave an excellent performance,” John Caulfield remarked after the game.
“Maybe we backed off a little bit when we went 1-0 up, but at the same time I don’t think really Rovers created what you’d call a clear-cut chance.
“It keeps us on the tails of Dundalk, and that’s what we need to do.”
The one downside from the game for City, however, was the four yellow cards they picked up during the course of the game.
Three of these cautions arrived in the opening half, and Caulfield was left frustrated by some of the decisions.
“It’s a joke. To be fair, we don’t want to go into football where people are just falling over.
“I accept one or two of them were yellow cards, but one of the Shamrock Rovers players dived twice, and the referee saw it and didn’t give him a card.
“I don’t want to get into it, but the whole thing is obviously people are talking about us.
“We’ve a team of passion. We don’t have dirty individuals. We have very committed guys who go for the ball, and that’s the way we are.
“The most important thing is that the guys held their heads. I thought we really were in control of the game.”
With just two defeats from 16 outings to date, Cork City are continuing to exceed expectations this season, and Caulfield feels that the mid-season break presents them with an ideal opportunity to assess where their campaign goes from here.
“Since pre-season, I couldn’t ask for any more from them. They’re just a fantastic bunch.
“We said at the start of the year we’re hoping to be in the top four.
“We’d love to get into Europe, and we’re on track.
“It’s a welcome break, and now we’ll recharge the batteries. We’ll get back and get our heads down on Monday week,” Caulfield added.