Cotter hails inexperienced City’s courage against Rovers
Soccer
Daire Walsh
CORK CITY U19 coach, Cormac Cotter, hailed his squad for the heart and commitment they showed at the Tallaght Stadium last Saturday, despite being denied a crucial victory in the SSE Airtricity League Southern Elite Division.
Shamrock Rovers striker, Michael O’Connor, cancelled out one-goal leads for City in both halves, but although Cotter was disappointed to drop two points in the closing stages, he said Cork City displayed great courage.
“I suppose at the end of it, when you’re leading with three or four minutes to go, you’re obviously going to be disappointed.
“Overall, to be fair to them, they probably had the better of it in the first half, even though we went one up. Excellent finish in fairness to young [Cian] Murphy,” Cotter said.
“We lost probably one of our strongest first-team members, Pierce Phillips, early in the first-half. We ended up with a very inexperienced side. In fairness, the courage they showed to try and get on the ball, and the commitment they showed, was outstanding.”
An own goal from Rovers full-back, Conor Gleeson, placed them in the driving seat in the second-half, but it was thanks to a magnificent Cian Murphy finish that they opened the scoring on 34 minutes.
Murphy had replaced the injured Phillips, just eight minutes earlier, and Cotter acknowledged the massive role he has played for the U19s this season.
“He’s a decent boy. He has a good future ahead of him. He’s just back from injury, so we’re trying to temper his return back into the team, but, obviously, losing Pierce so early kind of just dictated. We had to bring him. He’s a joy to work with during the week, to be fair to him, and they’re all the same.”
While City are still searching for their first league win since July 9, Saturday’s draw means they are just outside of the top-four, because of score difference.
This gives them something to fight for, heading into their final game of the regular season, and with Rovers once again providing the opposition in Bishopstown, on Saturday week (September 16), Cotter is adamant that the final play-off spots are up for grabs.
“We’ll play them now, again, in the last game of the season. It’ll be interesting. It’s probably up for grabs again, as regards top-four, so it’s between Limerick, ourselves, and Rovers to get that spot. At least it’s down in our own patch this time. It’ll suit us a bit better, at least,” Cotter added.