Colin Healy: 'These are different times at Cork City’

Colin Healy insists that times are different now at Cork City and the club cannot be compared to their recent glories in the League of Ireland.

Three years ago the Rebel Army were the reigning league and cup champions, while waiting for the draw of the 2018 Champions League qualifiers.

On Friday evening, the club were beaten 1-0 by local rivals Cobh Ramblers, their first league derby defeat in twenty six years.

The result in East Cork means that the club eighth in the First Division, six points off the bottom of the table.

“These are different times at Cork City,” he admitted, “These aren’t the same times as when we played in the Champions League. This is a totally different situation we’re in. We cannot be compared to that.”

This is Healy’s first full season in senior management, after he was promoted from the club’s academy in October 2020.

So far this season, the club have won two out of the ten games that they played, a run which has left them six points off the play-offs.

“I’m always under pressure,” he assessed his situation, “There was always going to be pressure with the job that I came into. I’ve no problem with that.”

Focusing the derby defeat, Healy praised the effort from his players: “The effort is always there. It’s just the finished. We go into the final third, we put balls in and we put balls over the bar.

“It is frustrating. The lads are giving so much effort but the ball is just not going in.”

Next up for City is a home clash with Cabinteely at Turner’s Cross, a game which will see fans return to the ground for the first time since October 2020.