Derry City 0 - 1 Cork City

Cork City fought their way to the final of the Setanta Cup in front of a packed Brandywell thanks to a headed goal from Tim Keily. Derry dominated in possession but lacked the cutting edge to carve out the vital opportunities. Stephen Kenny could have little to complain about from his team but it was Cork who found the back of the net with a seventieth minute sucker punch to take all the plaudits.

As was to be expected from two teams who have now met six times in the course of the season, it was a tight affair with both sides mostly cancelling each other out. The first half was very subdued.

Derry’s young winger Niall McGinn was the first to raise a shot on about 10 minutes but his wild effort probably looked better than it actually was due to the angle. Down the other end, Joe Gamble tried his luck with a volley he’d knocked up to himself on the edge of the penalty area but dragged the ball harmlessly wide of the Derry upright.

Midway through the half, Sammy Morrow released a ball down the middle to Mark Farren but Dan Murray was on hand to easily tidy up his loose, awkward header. On the half hour, Mark McChrystal put in a decent cross from the left to find Clive Delaney in the box but, although the towering defender leapt the highest, he was unable to find the composure to test the Cork custodian, Mark McNulty.

David Malcolm brought the lacklustre half to a halt with a shrill blow of his whistle.

During half time, Kevin McHugh was brought on for Billy Dennehey who had had a limited impact to say the least. McHugh was at least more effective than his predecessor but Cork proved more than capable of riding the meagre storm Derry were trying to generate. Dan Murphy, at left back, gave very little away all game and, in fact, Alan Matthews should be proud of the shift put in by all his defenders, who for the most part dealt comfortably with Farren, Morrow and McGinn all evening.

As Derry pushed harder and harder for the openings that never came, Cork slowed the game down with clever time wasting. In the seventieth minute their patience paid off. Gamble’s simple diagonal pass out left to Darragh Ryan caught Gareth McGlynn out of position. His first time cross found Tim Keily in the right space at the right time and Gerard Doherty was beaten by the header.

Derry had put in much of the attacking endeavour up until then but Cork had matched them step for step. Much of the game was played in Cork’s half however Lawrie Dudfield and Liam Kearney had worked tirelessly all evening never giving the Derry back line too much space. In midfield, Gamble and Darren Murphy matched their counterparts stride for stride and there was little room for manoeuvre at the back either.

Derry tried to go on the offensive in the final stages, swapping to a 3-5-2 formation for the last ten minutes. Mark Farren will feel hard done by after being denied a strong penalty shout. The game ended with a frenetic few minutes and a flurry from the Derry forwards who caused a stir in the Cork box but nothing broke for them.

So Cork are through to the final of the all-Ireland cup where they will face Glentoran who booked their place the previous night. An early Jason Hill goal against Drogheda followed by some fairly dogged defending was enough to see off the former eircom League champions.

Derry City: Ger Doherty; Gareth McGlynn, Clive Delaney, Eddie McCallion, Mark McChrystal; Niall McGinn, Barry Molloy, Ciaran Martyn (Ruaidhri Higgins 68), Billy Dennehy (Kevin McHugh 46); Sammy Morrow, Mark Farren.
Subs not used: Darren Quigley, Sean Hargan, Aaron Callaghan, Ruairi Harkin, James McClean.

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Neal Horgan, Dan Murray, Pat Sullivan, Danny Murphy; Timmy Kiely (Gareth Cambridge 90+2), Joe Gamble, Darren Murphy, Darragh Ryan; Lawrie Dudfield, Liam Kearney (Alan O'Connor 68).
Subs not used: Gary Philpott, Eoin Forde, Sean Kelly, Robbie Waters. 

Referee: David Malcolm (Belfast).