League Report: Cork City 0 - 0 Bohemians

Cork City’s title hopes were dealt a blow after they were frustrated and failed to break down a stubborn Bohemians side at Turner's Cross.

The Leesiders will see this as a missed opportunity because of the fact that they did not close the gap as much as they wanted on Premier Division champions and current leaders Dundalk.

Bohemians did work hard off the ball to frustrate the home side, but they rarely threatened other than the odd effort from distance.

With The Lilywhites losing in midweek to Bray Wanderers, John Caulfield’s side would have liked to have picked up a victory on this occasion. But for too long in this game they were not playing at the required intensity to break Bohs down.

After what was a rather dull opening to proceedings, City had a decent chance to go in front when Derek Prendergast dwelled too long on the ball for the Dublin side, allowing Maguire was able to nick the ball off of him. He ran towards goal, but he was unable to beat Bohs netminder Shane Supple, who made himself big to make the save.

City had a great chance to go in front in the opening stages of the second half, but Gavan Holohan blazed over the bar from point blank range when it may have been easier to hit the target.

As the contest edged towards its conclusion, City threw on Mark O’Sullivan and Danny Morrissey in search of a winner. That nearly came late on, but much to the disappointment of the City crowd, Maguire was in an offside position when he knocked the ball home.

The Rebel Army don’t have long to get over these two dropped points, because they make the long trip to face Derry City on Monday night. Meanwhile, next up for Keith Long’s side, who will be most certainly the more happier of the two sides on this occasion with the draw, they host an in form Sligo Rovers outfit.

Cork City FC: Mark McNulty; Alan Bennett, Kenny Browne, Michael McSweeney (Danny Morrissey, 58) , Kevin O'Connor; Steven Beattie, Greg Bolger, Garry Buckley (Colin Healy, 80), Gavan Holohan (Mark O'Sullivan, 68), Stephen Dooley; Sean Maguire.

Subs not used: Matthew Connor, Gearóid Morrissey, Dave Mulcahy, Karl Sheppard.

Bohemians: Shane Supple; (Dean Delany, 57)  Lorcan Fitzgerald, Stephen Best, Derek Pender, Derek Prendergast; Roberto Lopes, Jake Kelly (Daniel Byrne, 87), Paddy Kavanagh, Keith Buckley, Eoin Wearen;  Mark Quigley (Kurtis Byrne,69).

Subs not used: Ian Morris, Marco Chindea, Dean O'Halloran.

Referee: Rob Rogers.

Attendance: 2,816.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Stephen Best (Bohemians).

You can see Steve Alfred's pictures from the game here.