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Dundalk -v- Cork City
- Alan Smith
- Thu, Apr 16 2009
Fourth place Cork City travel to Oriel Park tomorrow night as they renew acquaintances with old rivals Dundalk (kick-off 7.45pm). The Lilywhites will need a win to move away from danger, while Cork could go as high as second place depending on results elsewhere.
Rivalry Renewed
The two clubs haven’t played each other for seven years - a 0-0 draw in February 2002 at Turner’s Cross the final meeting between the two, as the Lilywhites dropped out of the top tier. The end of the 90/91 season sparked an intense rivalry between the two sides. Cork welcomed Dundalk to Turner’s Cross on the final day of the season and in front of 1200, the Lilywhites grabbed a 1-0 win to take the title back up to the north-east with them.
Connor’s Conundrum
Dundalk come into the game on the back of a 3-0 hammering against First Division Shelbourne in the EA Sports Cup on Monday night. Sean Connor will have some tough decision’s to make on his line-up and he will wait on several his player’s fitness before deciding his first the eleven. Tiarnan Mulvenna and Shaun Kelly have ankle injuries, while the trio of Thomas Heary, Liam Burns and Declan O’Brien all have hamstring problems. Simon Kelly is suspended, while George O’Callaghan will play against his former club for the first time since returning from the UK.
Travel tribulation Cork will be on the road again for the third time in a week. Having picked up a point in Tallaght last weekend, and after defeating Kerry in the EA Sports Cup on Tuesday night, the Leesiders are travelling to Louth now as they look to keep their good run going. The amount of travelling has given Paul Doolin a cause for concern. “When you have a new manager and new players, you need time to get your ideas across, you can’t just wave a magic wand; and the midweek games and the travel do interrupt that. We have also had an awful lot of travelling so far this season, with trips to Sligo, Derry, Dublin, Kerry and now Dundalk, but you just have to get on with it,” he said.
Points priority
“Dundalk will not be an easy game for us. I’m quite happy with how things are going, but it’s still early in the season and we are on a decent run of four wins and a draw in five games,” added the Cork boss. “If we can pick up a win tomorrow, it would be fantastic. It certainly will not be easy, but we have to go there looking for the three points, which would set us up nicely as we have a couple of home games coming up then.” Stephen O’Donnell remains a long term absentee for Cork, while Neal Horgan is ruled out after dislocating his elbow against Kerry. Robert Mezeckis remains a doubt for the game as he returns from a nasty injury he picked up early in the campaign. Other than that, though, Doolin has a fit and healthy squad to choose from.
Odds outlook
The bookmakers reckon the game will be a close one, with the away side the slight favourites. Ladbrokes have Cork as 6/5 favourites, with Dundalk 9/5 and the draw marked up at 11/5. Meanwhile, Declan Hanney will be the man in the middle
Extratime.ie Prediction: Going on recent form, Cork should win this one comfortably. However, it may be a lot closer; 1-0 to the away team.
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.