- John O'Shea
- Sat, Apr 05 2014
Cork City emerged victorious from their top of table clash with Shamrock Rovers to overtake the visitors and move into first place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
It was a special night for the Dennehy clan as both brothers were influential for the home side. Veteran midfielder and former Rovers stalwart Billy grabbed the opener before setting up the second, while younger sibling Darren struck the third to kill off the contest.
Lone striker Mark O’Sullivan also found the net for the second consecutive week for the Leesiders to ensure that the feel good factor around Cork City FC continues.
City went with the same starting eleven used in the 3-0 away win in Athlone a week previously. The Hoops, fresh off a home win against Sligo Rovers, also named an unchanged eleven. Ciaran Kilduff started against the side for whom he went on a great goal scoring run with in the second half of the 2013 season.
A huge crowd came out to Turner’s Cross to witness both clubs putting their unbeaten starts to the campaign on the line. The game began at a frantic pace, with both sides signalling their intent to go all-out attack from the very start.
City grabbed the lead on 13 minutes when Billy Dennehy headed the Rebel Army in front. Good work from O’Sullivan on the right side resulted in a cross which Gary Buckley headed on target. Rovers’ keeper Barry Murphy pulled off a brilliant save, only to see the rebound fall onto the head of Dennehy and the Tralee man put the home side one up.
As the home side continued to pile forward, a half chance from 25 yards for O’Sullivan as well as attempts from Buckley and Billy Dennehy failed to extend the home side’s lead.
As the half wore on Shamrock Rovers struggled to get a foothold in the game. They had ‘keeper Murphy to thank for a string of fine saves, including one from a shot by Billy Dennehy and a brilliant one-handed stop to deny Liam Kearney.
After the interval, though, City deservedly doubled their advantage, as Billy Dennehy crossed from the right hand side of the box for O’Sullivan to head into the net at the far post on 53 minutes.
Within ten minutes the home fans were on cloud nine and the points were safe as Darren Dennehy was on hand to tap home from close range from a Colin Healy cross which evaded the Rovers’ defence.
Trevor Croly’s side tried in vain to get back into the contest, but the City defence stood strong. The best chance that fell their way was through a free from Gary McCabe.
Cork City produced a solid performance of attacking football throughout the entire 90 minutes, in a game which saw the Rebel Army in control from virtually start to finish. John Caulfield’s side have made an excellent start to the season with his attack minded approach proving successful thus far.
Cork now head into the Munster derby away to Limerick on Monday night on a real high and Caulfield will be hoping his side can keep up their brilliant start to the season. As for Shamrock Rovers, a home game against UCD on Monday night will be used to get their title push back on track.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; John Dunleavy (c), Darren Dennehy, Dan Murray, Brian Lenihan; Billy Dennehy (John Kavanagh 83), Gearoid Morrissey, Colin Healy (Dave O’Leary 74), Gary Buckley, Liam Kearney; Mark O’Sullivan (Rob Lehane 89).
Subs not used: Matt Glehill (gk), Darren Murphy, Ian Turner, Kevin Mulcahy.
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy, Simon Madden, Conor Kenna (c), Jason McGuinness, Luke Byrne; Gary McCabe (Eamon Zayed 80), Ryan Brennan (Stephen McPhail 69), Shane Robinson, Ronan Finn, Sean O’Connor (Kieran Waters 56); Ciaran Kilduff.
Subs not used: Craig Hyland, Robert Cornwall, Robert Bayly, Karl Sheppard.
Referee: Robert Rogers
Attendance: 5,676
Man of The Match: Mark O Sullivan (Cork City) – He proved that he is more than able to cope with the step up from the Munster Senior League to the League of Ireland with a terrific performance up front. His work rate was exceptional all night up and he got the goal his performance deserved in the 53rd minute.
