City lose ground after stalemate
Airtricity League
Daire Walsh
SHAMROCK ROVERS…………………………………… 0
CORK CITY………………………………………………… 0
Daire Walsh
CORK City conceded ground to Dundalk at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table last night.
They drew 0-0 with Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.
Dundalk, Stephen Kenny’s champions, beat St Patrick’s Athletic 2-0, so this could be considered two points dropped by Cork (they are now three points adrift of the Louth outfit), although their unbeaten run in the league is now an impressive 14 games.
There were some decent opportunities on goal in the first-half, but the tempo intensified in the closing stages of the play. Although Cork will disappointed that they couldn’t break down the hosts, their reliable goalkeeper, Mark McNulty, did pull off a couple of late saves from Sean Boyd and Brandon Miele.
Since sharing the spoils with Galway United on April 15, John Caulfield’s charges have recorded eight straight wins in the top-flight, including a potentially-decisive 1-0 triumph over Dundalk at Turner’s Cross.
Their watertight defence only conceded two goals in that period, but they were searching for their first success in Tallaght since June 2014. With Michael McSweeney ruled out through injury, Conor McCarthy took his place at right-back – but aside from that alteration, Caulfield kept faith with 10 of his starting line-up from the Dundalk game.
The Leesiders had started in a positive fashion, but it was McNulty who was forced into the action on 12 minutes – after Rovers winger, Dean Clarke, found room to shoot from a tight left-hand angle.
Opportunities proved to be few and far between during the first-quarter, although Cork front man, Sean Maguire, was marginally wide of the mark, following excellent work on the left-flank from the lively Stephen Dooley.
Adventurous Rovers full-back, Simon Madden, had acres of space on the right-wing just before the half-hour mark, but outstanding defensive work from the retreating Kenny Browne blocked his attempted cross.
Rovers centre-half, Robert Cornwall, headed over from a well-directed set-piece just ten minutes prior to the interval, but he was booked moments later – he caught Maguire with a high-foot just outside the Rovers area.
Greg Bolger’s subsequent free-kick was off-target, though, and Browne joined Cornwall in reaching a yellow-card during a fiery end to the opening period.
Caulfield and his counterpart, Pat Fenlon, opted against making changes to their sides on the restart, but with a breakthrough still proving to be elusive as the hour-mark approached, reinforcements were eventually called upon.
The introduction of Ian Turner, for the deputising McCarthy, led to Steven Beattie’s re-deployment into the City defence, and Gavin Holohan also made way for the experienced Mark O’Sullivan.
Rovers brought Sean Boyd into the fray as a direct replacement for lone striker Gary Shaw, and he spurned a glorious chance from a Madden delivery in the 68th-minute. Indeed, the pressure on the City rearguard was beginning to intensify as the half wore on, but McNulty was on hand to cut out a number of promising attacking moves by Rovers.
A stalemate was beginning to look like a distinct possibility as the final whistle loomed large, but with just five minutes of normal time remaining, McNulty brilliantly tipped a glancing Boyd effort, from a Miele corner, over the bar.
Miele was also thwarted by McNulty, with an ambitious shot from distance, and even though a similar strike by Gearoid Morrissey almost deceived Rovers’ goalkeeper, Craig Hyland, City ultimately had to settle for a share of the spoils.
A two-legged Europa League qualifier with Irish league giants, Linfield, will now be the focus of attention for City for the next couple of weeks, before they once again resume domestic action against, Galway on July 15.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Craig Hyland; Simon Madden, Robert Cornwall, Sean Heaney, David O’Connor; Stephen McPhail, Patrick Cregg; Gavin Brennan, Brandon Miele, Dean Clarke (Trevor Clarke 77); Gary Shaw (Sean Boyd 59).
CORK CITY: Mark McNulty; Conor McCarthy (Ian Turner 59), Kenny Browne, Alan Bennett, Kevin O’Connor; Greg Bolger, Gearoid Morrissey; Steven Beattie, Gavan Holohan (Mark O’Sullivan 59), Stephen Dooley (Danny Morrissey 73); Sean Maguire.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin (Donegal).