Cork City Foras Co-op 1 - 0 Salthill Devon

• Alan Smith
• Tue, May 04 2010


At times this match resembled a training game of backs-and-forwards but Davin O’Neill’s 80th minute straightforward strike got Cork City FORAS Co-op back to winning ways against a beleaguered Salthill Devon on Tuesday night.

For the 884 hardy souls that ventured out to Turner’s Cross, they were left bitterly disappointed with the spectacle but relatively happy with the result in a game which the home side should have scored a hatful. Whether it is 1-0 or 10-0 it’s still only worth three points and O’Neill’s fifth league goal moves the home team onto sixteen points ahead of Friday night’s tricky trip to Wexford.

The goal started off when Dave Rogers played a perfect through ball to Paul Deasy, the substitute flew down the left wing before crossing low into the area as O’Neill tapped into the bottom corner with his left boot.

Cork had made just one change in personnel from last weeks’ bore draw at Ballybofey, with Dave Warren replacing injured defender Uros Hojan, who damaged ankle ligaments against Harps. The away side, however, changed half their side after Friday’s 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Derry City, with Paddy Quinlan, Mike Quirke, Gerry Dolan, Daryl Hogan and Shane Browne all earning starting positions.

It started relatively well for the home team, with Davin O’Neill’s header cleared off the line by Luke McConnell in the opening minute, while Cillian Lordan fired inches over from the resulting corner as City dominated the early exchanges. Salthill’s top scorer Mike Kennedy was denied in the eighth minute when Mark McNulty palmed away from the striker’s powerful effort, but City midfielder Warren was the next to try his luck with a 20 yard drive deflecting over the bar, as Greg O’Halloran headed wide soon after.

Warren then played in an unmarked O’Neill on 16, but his effort was brilliantly blocked by James Whelan as the home side looked to find an opener. City were truly dominant and Graham Cummins should have done better with a tame effort in front of goal after Shane Duggan fed to him, Ronan Forde claiming the floating strike. Cathal Lordan swung in nine corners in the opening half hour for Cork, giving you an idea of their dominance, but they just couldn’t find the net and the chances really started to mount up as Ian Turner had his effort saved again by Forde.

The similar pattern continued immediately after the break when Cummins headed straight at Forde just 30 seconds after the break. Shane Duggan was denied by another good block from Whelan on 52 minutes, as the away side struggled desperately to get out of their own half. Cummins and O’Neill both had efforts tamed by Forde before the hour mark but you could sense some frustration creeping in as the tie remained scoreless.

Forde was putting in a sterling shift in goal, and he pulled off another couple of remarkable stops from Cummins and Warren in the space of a minute, just as it started to look like the away side might come away with a point. Cathal Lordan missed another two long-range efforts, while he then played to his brother, Cillian, with the skipper’s header drifting wide.

Salthill’s first chance of the second half came just a quarter an hour before the end as a long-range thunderbolt from an otherwise quiet Daryl Hogan was pushed around the post by Mark McNulty. Finally, Cork broke the deadlock ten minutes from the end, although Forde continued his man of the match performance with a splendid point-blank stop from Cummins.

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Ian Turner, Stephen Mulcahy, Greg O’Halloran, Dave Rogers; Davin O’Neill, Dave Warren (Paul Deasy, 70’), Shane Duggan, Cillian Lordan, Cathal Lordan (Rory Morrissey, 79’); Graham Cummins.
Subs Unused: Michael Devine, Eoin Forde, Dave Clancy.

Salthill Devon: Ronan Forde; Luke McConnell, James Whelan, Paddy Quinlan, Gearoid O’Leidhinn; Gerry Dolan, Mike Quirke (Marcin Marianek, 81'), Shane Stenson, Shane Browne; Mike Kennedy (Damien O’Reilly, 75’), Daryl Hogan (Enda Dunne, 81').
Subs Unused: Charlie Burke, Mike Casserly.
Booked: Whelan, Browne

Official Attendance: 884
Referee: Stuart Templeman (Kerry)

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Ronan Forde – kept the Cork attack at bay all night with just one exception.