Cork City v Glentoran

• Alan Smith
• Fri, Oct 31 2008




Cork City and Glentoran will do battle tomorrow night at Turners Cross to see who will be crowned 2008 Setanta Cup Winners. Cork were runners-up two years ago while they also lost in the semi-final twelve months ago. Glentoran, meanwhile, have been ever-present in the cross-border competition but this will be their first appearance in the Final.

Tomorrow night's game has been overshadowed by the MFA's failure to complete the renovations at the Saint Annes End in time. This has cut the attendance down to 4,300 and tickets are completely sold-out. This means that some die-hard supporters from both clubs will be without tickets. The FAI and Setanta Sports Cup committee have come in for serious criticism too as the decision to hold the show-piece in Cork was made with the building works ongoing.

Cork are still expected to outnumber their Northern opposition heavily on the terraces though and City midfielder Darren Murphy thinks the home advantage will be a big benefit to the Eircom League representatives, “‘The home advantage is huge; when you have a big crowd you always want to do your best with the crowd shouting you on.’

City boss, Alan Matthews was also keen to show his appreciation of the local support. “Cork people this year have got right behind the team, We've had some very good gates and they've been supportive throughout” said Matthews, whose role in keeping the club together during the Examinership period was pivotal.

The Dubliner has also watched quite a lot of their northern counterparts in recent times “ I've seen Glentoran four times already this season and I've been to their last two games against Glenavon and Ballymena. They're a good side and they're top of the league up north” he said.

Glentoran will be without club captain Paul Leeman and Jason Lee for the tie as they were both sent-off in their 1-0 victory over Drogheda United in the semi-final. Leeman had originally received a one-match ban which he appealed. The disciplinary committee rejected his appeal though and his punishment was increased to 3 games. This will mean Alan Mc Donald will now need to reshuffle his defence and it looks certain that a big physical battle will ensue with Denis Behan leading the line for the Leesiders. The loss of this duo will prove pivotal as defensively the Glens have been very difficult to break down thus far in the Setanta Cup. Just ask Drogheda.

Cork have been a bit short of firepower since the sale of Dave Mooney and John O'Flynn too so the battle on that side of the pitch will be fascinating. They have relied on goals from midfielders such asDarren Murphy. The former Cobh player, who has been in sterling form for Cork lately, also expects it to be physical but it's what he has come to expect from the teams up North. “They’re a big physical team as are all the teams up north. I was watching the Linfield and Cliftonville game on TV the other night and some of the tackling was ferocious, some of them would be a yellow card down in this league. Although, size wise I don’t think there will be much difference as we’ve a few big lads ourselves.” said the 23-year-old.

Glentoran's hopes will rest on the forward pairing of Gary Hamilton and Michael Halliday. They've scored over 200 goals between them for the club and currently have 8 goals each this season. Elsewhere Joe Gamble will have to be at his best to keep David Scullion quiet.

This game is certainly not one to be missed.

ExtraTime.ie Prediction: Whoever puts the ball in the net first will more than likely win this game but quite like the bookmakers I'd predict a Cork win. If the 'home' side, as they are being billed, can score early then I can't see a comeback from the Glens. The Belfast side though have already shown Eircom League sides how difficult they are to break down so the longer they can hold Cork off the more they will fancy their chances.

Betting: Cork City 8/11, Draw 11/5 & Glentoran 10/3.