League Preview: Cork City -v- St Patrick's Athletic

• John O'Shea
• Fri, Aug 08 2014




CORK CITY

Cork City head into another huge top of the table clash on Friday night, when they host 3^rd placed St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday night at Turner’s Cross. Cork will be hoping for another 5,000 plus crowd to this second versus third placed clash.

 

City are in second place, with last week’s defeat to Dundalk leaving the Leesiders 6pts behind the Co Louth side who are top. That defeat was City’s first at home this season, but they had won their previous four fixtures at Turner’s Cross before that.

 

Manager John Caulfield feels that his side are more than able to bounce back well and get an important three points on Friday.

 

“Everyone was disappointed with the result against Dundalk, but the training sessions this week were excellent. There is feeling, nationally, that we are out of the running; I don’t feel that. I think the players feel that maybe they were unlucky last week, but we have to move on and this is another crucial game for us. It’s not only crucial in terms of staying second place, it is also crucial from the point of view of qualifying for Europe. Our focus all week has been to see if we can get the three points, and we believe we can.

 

“Pat’s were champions last year; we drew with them on the opening day and lost to a last minute goal up there in May, so we know how difficult it will be. They are a very strong team, they play great passing football, but I hope that we can give another high energy performance and hopefully this week we can get the result.”

 

Michael Rafter and Darren Murphy remain side-lined, while Rob Lehane is also out once again with an ankle injury. Gavin Kavanagh is a doubt for City, having picked up a knock during training, while Garry Buckley will miss out as he serves the first of an additional two match ban for his sending off in the EA Sports Cup, while Darren Dennehy also misses out because of suspension. Brian Lenihan is also side-lined, as he continues his recovery from the concussion he sustained against Bohemians.

 

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

St Patrick’s Athletic will be seeking to make a late push for the title, when they make the trip to Cork on Friday night, in what should be a huge game in determining the main challenger to Dundalk for the league title.

 

The Saints know a win will put them ahead of City on goal difference and they will be hoping for a repeat of the result when the sides last played each other back in May. On that night, Conan Byrne scored a 93^rd minute winner as St Pats won 3-2.

 

Pat’s won their last away game, winning two nil against Athlone Town, however they had failed to record a win in their previous six away games.

 

Asked for his thoughts on the game, manager Liam Buckley said that the game against Cork will be a tough one for his side.

 

“We know that Friday night will be a difficult game – all the games between ourselves and Cork this season and in past seasons have always been really tight and entertaining.
 

“Turner’s Cross is a great venue to play football though, as the pitch there is always in great condition and the crowd always get behind the home team and make some noise. So it’s a game that we look forward to as we know that the performance levels have to be right up there on the night to get a result.”

 

In team news, Buckley is without the services of both Sean Hoare and Chris Forrester who both serve a one match suspension. Ken Oman is a doubt with a calf strain and will be assessed before the game to determine his availability, while the Saints are boosted by the return of Republic of Ireland international Keith Fahey from suspension.

 

Referee:  Tom Connolly

 

 

MATCH STATS

Although there is a full round of fixtures still to be played, Cork City already have the same number of points as the whole of last season while their goal difference is 20 better (+17 versus -3). Also, Cork City have won more games (14 versus 13), kept more clean sheets (11 versus 5) and seen over 11,000 more people come through the gates of the Cross (42,688 versus 31,443) in the first two thirds of the 2014 season compared to the entire 2013 season.

 

While St Patrick’s Athletic have the highest win ratio at home in the league this season (nine wins from 11), they have managed just three wins on the road. Only Derry City and the bottom four have won fewer games away from home in the league this year.

 

Cork City have won only one of their last ten league encounters with St Patrick’s Athletic – a 4-2 win at home on the last day of the 2013 season.

 

 

BETTING

Cork City 15/8; Draw 23/10; St Patrick’s Athletic  13/10.

 

PREDICTION

Cork City 1-1 St Patrick’s Athletic

 

 

Cork City

Injured: Michael Rafter, Darren Murphy, Rob Lehane, Brian Lenihan
Doubtful: Gavin Kavanagh
Suspended: Garry Buckley, Darren Dennehy

 

St Patrick’s Athletic

Injured: None.
Doubtful: Ken Oman
Suspended: Sean Hoare, Chris Forrester