Analysis can give City bit of boost
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
Despite having to wait longer than most for a resumption in League of Ireland action, Cork City midfielder Daire O’Connor can see the advantage of hosting Bohemians next Sunday evening (kick-off 5pm).
By the time the Leesiders and their north Dublin counterparts get up and running at Turner’s Cross, the remaining eight teams in the Premier Division will have already fulfilled their return fixtures. Yet thanks to the introduction of the FAI’s new live streaming service (watchloi.ie), O’Connor and his team-mates will have a firm gauge on how each team in the top-flight has dealt with the lockdown.
“I’m sure it will be an eerie enough affair, behind closed doors. Obviously with the new streaming service and what not, we’ll have seen all the games on the Friday and the Saturday. We’ll know what it’s about,” O’Connor acknowledged.
“We’ll know if teams are up for it more. If it’s more of a lower standard because it’s less of a pre-season. It’ll probably benefit us just being able to analyse everyone else, how they’ve coped with it.
“We’ll be able to take into our game little things that we’ve picked up on. From that point of view, it’s a slight advantage. If you want to look at it that way.”
In a bid to address their disappointing early season form – four defeats in five league games thus far – City boss Neale Fenn has embarked on a recruitment drive in recent weeks.
In addition to Deshane Dalling extending his loan deal from English Championship outfit QPR, Kevin O’Connor and Graham Cummins have been welcomed back to the club.
Cummins’ re-emergence has sparked considerable debate as he is set to line out as a centre-half rather than his old striker position.
While admitting he had initial reservations about his third coming at Turner’s Cross, O’Connor believes the 32 year old is more than capable of shoring up the City defence.
“When I first heard it, I’m not going to lie, I thought it was a joke! That being said, he did say it last year. He didn’t just make it up on the spot a few weeks ago.
“Towards the end of last season, he kept saying that it was his natural position. He grew up playing there.
“He only changed to a striker I think when he was 19 or 20.
“If you’re a striker, you know how they’re going to play so he probably has that advantage on him. He’s looked sharp in pre-season in the last couple of weeks. He hasn’t looked out of place there.
“We lost Joe Redmond back to Birmingham. We needed cover there. Thankfully, and hopefully, Graham will give us that,” O’Connor added.