Cork City 2 - 0 Ipswich Town
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Cork City defeated a lacklustre Ipswich Town 2-0 at Turner’s Cross this evening, as the Rebel Army were left to wonder whether they will see their side take to the pitch at the Southside venue again.
Though today’s game was just a pre-season friendly for Ipswich and yet another homecoming for Roy Keane, the day meant much more to Cork City FC and its supporters.
A smiling Tom Coughlan arrived shortly before kick-off, though in a severe contrast of emotions, the hardcore support at the Shed End held aloft a banner reading: “FORAS, the way forward,” clearly signifying the need for further change at Turner’s Cross.
There may be just eight days remaining until the potential end of the second-city’s only League of Ireland club, and Ipswich kindly waived their match fee to leave the club with some more much needed funds to pay-off their hefty €400,000 tax bill.
A relaxed Roy Keane received a standing ovation from his hometown fanbase as he jogged towards the dug-out before the game; however, the crowd was soon quietened by a dull opening period.
The game itself resembled a typical friendly, and without the presence of Roy Keane or Cork’s need for a quick buck, you’d wonder how many would have turned up to watch these two sides have a low intensity kick-about.
The first chance of the game fell to Ipswich’s 16-year-old striker Connor Wickham, who shot straight at Dan Connor having dispossessed the inexperienced Kevin Long, as Cork held a high defensive line. Wickham casually stroked the ball at the Cork goalkeeper, and a finish like that come August when the Championship gets underway would mean he’d surely face the famous wrath of Keane.
There was plenty of patient passing from both sides, though little else. Owen Garvan shot from the edge of the area on 28 but it was blocked down, while a minute later at the other end Cork’s fall-guy too often this season, Guntars Silagailis, headed in the opposite direction of the goal when Billy Dennehy sent in an inviting cross to the Latvian who was waiting at the back-post.
Lee Martin was brought to Portman Road from Old Trafford by Keane, and if his wastefulness with the football on this showing is anything to go by, Ipswich will need a bit more quality on the flanks if they want to be battling for promotion next May.
The football at times was tedious, with Ipswich looking like they’ve got a huge amount of work to do in the next three weeks before the Championship kicks-off on the 8th of August.
Jon Stead had a good chance to deposit some sort of excitement into the game two minutes before the break, though his left-footed effort came straight off of Dan Connor’s chest, as the former Sunderland and Sheffield United striker fired over with the rebound.
Much more entertaining than the first half, was the mess-up of the half-time draw - maybe parallels could be drawn between how the club has been run off of the field? Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Dara Murphy made the draw and the winning ticket was in fact one he bought himself. With Cllr Murphy’s daughter shouting, “Dad you won,” the Lord Mayor deemed this to be unfair and the draw was made again away from the pitch as the winning number was called over the tannoy.
Back to the game, the second half started with an injection of life as Cork took the lead. The Leesiders won a penalty when Tom Smith was judged to have taken down Faz Kuduzovic inside the area and the Bosnian-born attacker dusted himself off before caressing the ball into the top corner to give Cork a 51st minute lead.
Cork continued to harry their opponents, with Gareth Cambridge going close on 63 minutes, while a couple of minutes later Cork almost doubled their lead from the most unlikely of sources, Cillian Lordan. When Damien Delaney sent a side footed gift to the midfielders’ feet, Lordan spotted Shane Supple off of his line and he fired an effort narrowly over the bar from just inside the visitors half.
Cork looked far more composed with the ball at their feet and their calm build-up play was one of very few highlights as Ipswich offered nothing exciting moving forward.
They did have a decent chance to level the game with five minutes remaining, though 19-year-old Jordan Rhodes fired narrowly over from an acute angle. However, it was all over for Ipswich when Davin O’Neill’s superb solo effort culminated in the winger placing the ball under Shane Supple’s legs to double the Leesiders’ advantage.
As a whole, it seems quite sad that this could have been Cork’s last home game before they do battle with the Revenue on Monday week, with a winding-up order impending. On the other side of the coin, this game will serve as a stark reminder to Roy Keane that he will need to do a lot more with his current squad if they’re to challenge for promotion when their domestic campaign kicks-off in August.
Cork City (4-3-3): Dan Connor; Neal Horgan, Kevin Long, Dan Murray, Danny Murphy; Cillian Lordan, Timmy Kiely, Stephen O’Donnell; Billy Dennehy, Guntars Silagailis, Faz Kuduzovic, Subs: Mark McNulty (Dan Connor, h-t), Pat Sullivan (Kiely, h-t), Davin O’Neill (Dennehy, h-t), Gareth Cambridge (Silagailis, h-t), Greg O’Halloran (Long, 80mins), Shane Duggan (Lordan, 88), Paul Deasy (Kuduzovic, 88), Craig Duggan (O’Donnell, 88) Stephen Mulcahy.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Shane Supple; David Wright, Tom Smith, Pim Balkestein, Damien Delaney; Jon Walters, Liam Trotter, Owen Garvan, Lee Martin; Jon Stead, Connor Wickham Subs: Alex Bruce (Garvan, 60mins), David Norris (Trotter, 60mins), Veliche Shumiloski (Wright, 60mins), Kevin Lisbie (Walters, 60mins), Jordan Rhodes (Wickham, 79mins), Alan Quinn, Richard Wright, Shane O’Connor, Gareth McAuley.
Referee: Graham Kelly
Attendance: 3262
Though today’s game was just a pre-season friendly for Ipswich and yet another homecoming for Roy Keane, the day meant much more to Cork City FC and its supporters.
A smiling Tom Coughlan arrived shortly before kick-off, though in a severe contrast of emotions, the hardcore support at the Shed End held aloft a banner reading: “FORAS, the way forward,” clearly signifying the need for further change at Turner’s Cross.
There may be just eight days remaining until the potential end of the second-city’s only League of Ireland club, and Ipswich kindly waived their match fee to leave the club with some more much needed funds to pay-off their hefty €400,000 tax bill.
A relaxed Roy Keane received a standing ovation from his hometown fanbase as he jogged towards the dug-out before the game; however, the crowd was soon quietened by a dull opening period.
The game itself resembled a typical friendly, and without the presence of Roy Keane or Cork’s need for a quick buck, you’d wonder how many would have turned up to watch these two sides have a low intensity kick-about.
The first chance of the game fell to Ipswich’s 16-year-old striker Connor Wickham, who shot straight at Dan Connor having dispossessed the inexperienced Kevin Long, as Cork held a high defensive line. Wickham casually stroked the ball at the Cork goalkeeper, and a finish like that come August when the Championship gets underway would mean he’d surely face the famous wrath of Keane.
There was plenty of patient passing from both sides, though little else. Owen Garvan shot from the edge of the area on 28 but it was blocked down, while a minute later at the other end Cork’s fall-guy too often this season, Guntars Silagailis, headed in the opposite direction of the goal when Billy Dennehy sent in an inviting cross to the Latvian who was waiting at the back-post.
Lee Martin was brought to Portman Road from Old Trafford by Keane, and if his wastefulness with the football on this showing is anything to go by, Ipswich will need a bit more quality on the flanks if they want to be battling for promotion next May.
The football at times was tedious, with Ipswich looking like they’ve got a huge amount of work to do in the next three weeks before the Championship kicks-off on the 8th of August.
Jon Stead had a good chance to deposit some sort of excitement into the game two minutes before the break, though his left-footed effort came straight off of Dan Connor’s chest, as the former Sunderland and Sheffield United striker fired over with the rebound.
Much more entertaining than the first half, was the mess-up of the half-time draw - maybe parallels could be drawn between how the club has been run off of the field? Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Dara Murphy made the draw and the winning ticket was in fact one he bought himself. With Cllr Murphy’s daughter shouting, “Dad you won,” the Lord Mayor deemed this to be unfair and the draw was made again away from the pitch as the winning number was called over the tannoy.
Back to the game, the second half started with an injection of life as Cork took the lead. The Leesiders won a penalty when Tom Smith was judged to have taken down Faz Kuduzovic inside the area and the Bosnian-born attacker dusted himself off before caressing the ball into the top corner to give Cork a 51st minute lead.
Cork continued to harry their opponents, with Gareth Cambridge going close on 63 minutes, while a couple of minutes later Cork almost doubled their lead from the most unlikely of sources, Cillian Lordan. When Damien Delaney sent a side footed gift to the midfielders’ feet, Lordan spotted Shane Supple off of his line and he fired an effort narrowly over the bar from just inside the visitors half.
Cork looked far more composed with the ball at their feet and their calm build-up play was one of very few highlights as Ipswich offered nothing exciting moving forward.
They did have a decent chance to level the game with five minutes remaining, though 19-year-old Jordan Rhodes fired narrowly over from an acute angle. However, it was all over for Ipswich when Davin O’Neill’s superb solo effort culminated in the winger placing the ball under Shane Supple’s legs to double the Leesiders’ advantage.
As a whole, it seems quite sad that this could have been Cork’s last home game before they do battle with the Revenue on Monday week, with a winding-up order impending. On the other side of the coin, this game will serve as a stark reminder to Roy Keane that he will need to do a lot more with his current squad if they’re to challenge for promotion when their domestic campaign kicks-off in August.
Cork City (4-3-3): Dan Connor; Neal Horgan, Kevin Long, Dan Murray, Danny Murphy; Cillian Lordan, Timmy Kiely, Stephen O’Donnell; Billy Dennehy, Guntars Silagailis, Faz Kuduzovic, Subs: Mark McNulty (Dan Connor, h-t), Pat Sullivan (Kiely, h-t), Davin O’Neill (Dennehy, h-t), Gareth Cambridge (Silagailis, h-t), Greg O’Halloran (Long, 80mins), Shane Duggan (Lordan, 88), Paul Deasy (Kuduzovic, 88), Craig Duggan (O’Donnell, 88) Stephen Mulcahy.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Shane Supple; David Wright, Tom Smith, Pim Balkestein, Damien Delaney; Jon Walters, Liam Trotter, Owen Garvan, Lee Martin; Jon Stead, Connor Wickham Subs: Alex Bruce (Garvan, 60mins), David Norris (Trotter, 60mins), Veliche Shumiloski (Wright, 60mins), Kevin Lisbie (Walters, 60mins), Jordan Rhodes (Wickham, 79mins), Alan Quinn, Richard Wright, Shane O’Connor, Gareth McAuley.
Referee: Graham Kelly
Attendance: 3262
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile