- Simon O'Gorman
- Sat, Feb 14 2015
Cork City strolled into the semi-finals of the Munster Senior Cup with a 6-0 thrashing of Munster Senior League side Cobh Wanderers at Old Church Park on Saturday afternoon.
Rob Lehane grabbed a hat-trick after Mark O’Sullivan had opened the scoring while Billy Dennehy and Kieran Djilali also netted for John Caulfield’s side. City were never in any danger of slipping up in a game they dominated for long periods and with a strong starting XI on display they were three goals to the good after just 13 minutes.
The SSE Airtricity League runners up from 2014 had Cobh under the cosh from the first whistle and they took the lead in the second minute of the game when Mark O’Sullivan headed home Billy Dennehy’s corner. Full marks to O’Sullivan for getting his head to the ball in a crowded area but there was a distinct lack of conviction in Cobh’s defending and they would continue to be troubled by corners and crosses throughout the game.
Rob Lehane added a second after 11 minutes when he broke through a flat defensive line and showed strength on the ball before hooking his shot over the advancing Hallahan in the Cobh goal.
Two minutes later and the game was over as a contest when Lehane turned provider, driving a low pass to the far post where Billy Dennehy was on hand to guide the ball over the goal-line from point blank range.
Lehane then added a fourth on 22 minutes when another Dennehy corner found centre back Alan Bennett whose header back across goal was dinked over the line by Lehane with a minimum of fuss.
Cobh had hardly any of the ball in the opening half and City should have had a fifth when O’Sullivan latched onto an underhit back pass just after the half hour, but Hallahan did well to narrow the angle and block the City striker’s initial effort before eventually clearing after an ensuing bout of pinball.
The second period saw a marked improvement from the home side while, to John Caulfield’s frustration, City failed to match their efforts in the opening forty-five minutes. Cobh worked considerably harder in all areas of the pitch and to much greater effect. In fact, with an hour played they looked every bit as accomplished as their more glamorous opponents.
Mikey O’Shea excelled in central midfield as did Ian Stapleton, withdrawn from his forward roll to bolster midfield early in the first period. Conor Meade and Shane Geasley also showed their ability while City struggled to connect their midfield with any kind of penetrative forward play.
It was left to the old hands, Liam Kearney and Billy Dennehy, to reignite City’s faltering performance and on 77 minutes Kearney slipped a lovely ball through for Dennehy on the left who looped a perfectly judged ball to the back post where Lehane completed his hat-trick with a close range header.
Substitute Danny Morrissey might have made it six on 82 minutes when he side-footed over the bar from Kieran Djilali’s pass but Djilali did finally add a sixth two minutes later when he finished off the best move of the game and shot home from 12 yards after Morrissey’s lay-off.
Cobh Wanderers: Shane Hallahan; Eoin Hastings, Brian Fitzgerald, Gary Collins, David Stack; Shane Geasley (Peter Nolan 78), Mikey O’Shea, Owen Kinsella (Shane Barrett 46), Conor Meade; Ian Stapleton, Davin O’Neill (Stephen Bruton 78).
Subs not used: Sean McDermott (gk), Timmy O’Shea, Kyle Downing.
Booked: Nolan (88).
Cork City: Mark McNulty; John Kavanagh, Dan Murray, Alan Bennett (Danny Morrissey 78), Darren Dennehy (Liam Kearney 58); Gavan Holohan, Colin Healy (Kieran Djilali 58), Garry Buckley, Billy Dennehy; Mark O’Sullivan, Rob Lehane.
Subs not used: Kevin O’Brien (gk), Michael McSweeney, Josh O’Shea, Karl Sheppard.
Booked: Murray (65).
Referee: Graham Kelly.
Attendance: 300 (estimate)
Extratime Man of the Match: Billy Dennehy (Cork City)
