City boss delights at strength in depth
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
Following their opening day victory over Cabinteely in the SSE Airtricity National U19 League at Stradbrook last Saturday, Cork City manager Stephen Bermingham hailed the strength in depth of his squad.
Star striker Aaron Drinan was withdrawn through injury with just eight minutes gone in the contest, but with the game’s only goal coming from substitute Dylan Scott in the 77th-minute, Bermingham’s bench produced the goods in the end.
“Aaron [Drinan] was top-scorer for us last season. But the great thing is, when you have good subs to come on, and you’ve a good squad – even losing a player of the calibre of Aaron Drinan. You have replacements there on the bench that are strong and are looking to get into the starting eleven,” Bermingham remarked.
“It just shows the strength in depth. There’s a lot of work being done at underage in Cork. It’s great to see that we have strength in depth. Dylan Scott, he took the goal very well. It was a great finish in the end. It was great that we can bring players on that are going to make us stronger, because they’re fresher.”
In addition to the reserve options available to Bermingham, it is also noticeable that many of the Cork players are extremely versatile. Skipper Garan Manley switched from left-back to central midfield during the second-half, and Bermingham was pleased to see his charges adapting so comfortably in the south Dublin venue.
“A lot of these lads have a lot of experience. This is probably their fourth season at U19s, some of them. It’s great to have players that are able to play in a number of different positions. During a game, depending on how the game is going, we’re able to adapt and change depending on the situation.”
Cork were certainly made to work for all three points by a hard-working Cabinteely side, though, and Bermingham was quick to acclaim the level of their performance on the day.
“It was a very tough game. Tough conditions with the pitch, against a very, very organised Cabinteely team, in all fairness to them. They’ve a lot of work done. We knew that Cabinteely had played a number of national league friendlies over the last number of weeks.
“St Pat’s, Dundalk and Shelbourne, so we knew we were going to get a tough game there, and delighted to get three points away from home. They were very compact, they defended very well, and they hit us on the counter a few times. We’re delighted to get the win, but it was hard-fought,” Bermingham added. ted to get the win, but it was hard-fought,” Bermingham added.