- Simon O'Gorman
- Fri, May 30 2014
A Mark O’Sullivan header was enough to win the points for Cork City against bottom of the table Athlone Town at Turner’s Cross on Friday night but it was a less than emphatic performance from the home side.
Cork came into this game a massive 26 points ahead of Athlone but that gap in class was not on show in an opening forty-five minutes that offered very little for the 2,875 crowd to get excited about.
In the opening period John Caulfield’s side did not look like the title challengers that their league position suggested they were and by the time the half-time whistle blew it was clear that the home side were missing the creative spark normally provided by the suspended Billy Dennehy.
City struggled to work their way through Athlone’s organised midfield and depended too often on long passes that rarely found their target. It was notable that Athlone’ striker Philly Gorman was considerably more involved than his opposite number, Mark O’Sullivan. Not that the City front man wasn’t willing, he simply wasn’t getting any service.
The first shot that in any way threatened either goal did not come until the 29th minute when Graham Rusk strode into space and struck a low shot towards the Cork goal. Mark McNulty gathered with dispiriting ease.
Cork defender Dan Murray was next to threaten when he drilled a shot across the face of Paul Skinner’s goal and the ball clipped the outside of the far post. The home side hit the woodwork again on the cusp of half-time when John Dunleavy’s deep cross was headed against the Athlone bar by Garry Buckley.
At half-time Caulfield switched to a two-man front line, replacing winger Liam Kearney with striker Rob Lehane and just four minutes after the restart Lehane did excellently to create an opening before shooting over the visitor’s crossbar.
City certainly looked sprightlier as the game developed and Lehane impressed again on 53 minutes, stepping deftly inside his man but then shooting tamely at Skinner. Just before the hour mark the young substitute made his key contribution.
Picking the ball up on the right hand side Lehane slung over a perfectly judged cross that found Mark O’Sullivan at the back post and the City striker’s cushioned header sailed over Skinner and into the far corner of the Athlone net.
Lehane almost created a second for City on 61 minutes when he went in bravely to win the ball from Alan Byrne and then slipped in Garry Buckley, who might have done better than shoot too close to the Athlone keeper. Moments later Lehane was a whisker away from getting on the scoresheet himself when his clever flick beat Skinner but was cleared off the line.
If Cork’s change in personnel had had a marked effect then Athlone made a positive change themselves, introducing Ian Sweeney for Mark Hughes with 25 minutes to go. Sweeney immediately looked lively and on 70 minutes he wrapped his foot around a shot that forced McNulty into a full length save.
But it was the home team who had the momentum and when Athlone captain Alan Byrne was sent off with nine minutes to go - after a second yellow card in two minutes - the result was all but assured.
There was still time for Lehane to impress again, winding his way through numerous challenges before seeing his powerful shot from a tight angle blocked by Skinner. And Sean Brennan very nearly upset the apple cart with a smart flick that beat McNulty in the City goal before being cleared from the goal-line.
Lehane’s heroics aside it was a largely unimpressive night for the Rebel Army and it took some frantic defending at the death to get them over the line. But perhaps they will take some comfort from the old truism that any team looking to win trophies must learn to win ugly.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; John Dunleavy, Dan Murray, Darren Dennehy, Iarfhlaith Davoren (John Kavanagh 90+4); Brian Lenihan, Gearoid Morrissey, Colin Healy (David O’Leary 73), Garry Buckley, Liam Kearney (Rob Lehane 46); Mark O’Sullivan.
Subs not used: Matt Gledhill (gk), Ian Turner, Kevin Mulcahy, Danny Morrissey.
Booked: D Dennehy (25).
Athlone Town: Paul Skinner; Stephen Quigley, Alan Byrne, Declan Brennan, Barry Clancy; Jason Marks, Mark Hughes (Ian Sweeney 64), Kealon Dillon, Sean Brennan; Graham Rusk (Neil Harney 86); Philip Gorman.
Subs not used: Craig Sexton (gk), Aidan Byrne, Conor McMahon, Aidan Collins, Derek Prendergast.
Booked: Alan Byrne (81), Clancy (84).
Sent Off: Alan Byrne (82)
Referee: Paul Tuite.
Attendance: 2,875
Extratime Man of the Match: Rob Lehane (Cork City).
