Interview - Stephen Bermingham

Cork City FC U19 Manager Stephen Bermingham feels that all has gone according to plan to date for his side.

City have gone through the Under 19 Southern Section unbeaten, have won the U19 Enda McGuill Cup  and they have played a very impressive brand of football along the way as well.

There are some massive games over the coming weeks, both domestically and also now on a European level for Bermingham’s side and if they can continue to play to the levels which they have done all season over the coming weeks, there is plenty of reason to believe that  it will be an exciting and promising few weeks ahead.

“We are very happy overall, we have had a good season, another good result on Saturday against Shamrock Rovers and a good performance.

“I thought in the first half we were very strong, played good football , good attacking football and we took our goals well.

“Overall we are very happy. We have gone through the season unbeaten, but now we are coming in to some big games obviously with the knockout phase coming up in the next couple of weeks.

“They are going to be the big ones, but so far so good everything is going well.”

They will now have a home tie in the  the quarter finals of the knockout stages to look forward to in the next few weeks. That will see City play against the fourth placed side in the Northern Division, which is Finn Harps as things stand at the present moment in time.

Regardless of who they come up against, from defence to attack, City will be tough opposition for whoever they will come up against.

City will look to continue what has been a very successful number of years since the U19 League Of Ireland was introduced.  Since the FAI’s introduction of the U19 Elite League in 2011, Cork have won it in four of the five seasons.

Cork also  have a very welcome reward for their efforts with the chance to play in the UEFA Youth League. The draw has pitted City against Finnish side HJK Helsinki, with the away leg to be played  on the 28th of September, before Helsinki come to Turners Cross on 19th of October.

There is a potentially massive big prize at stake should City progress, as they could face  Italian giants AS Roma, should the Italians do their side of the bargain also and beat Cyprus side APOEL.

Putting all thoughts of results and progression to one side, the European competition allows Bermingham’s players to test themselves on the continental stage and also see where they are compared to other lads at a similar age in different countries, which overall is a nice reward for the hard work they have put in during the year.

“I have always said that the lads have worked very hard. They work very hard in training and they get everything that they deserve.  Helsinki is a nice bonus and it will be a great experience for the lads to play in a game of that level, against some top teams in Europe and it will be an unbelievable experience for them.”