REPORT: Shamrock Rovers 1 - 1 Cork City

Tolka Park witnessed an evenly contested encounter on Friday night when Shamrock Rovers and Cork shared the points. Both goals were scored within a two minute period right at the end of the first half.

George O'Callaghan gave the visitors the lead when his effort from ten yards was adjudged by the officials to have crossed the line. Almost immediately Rovers equalised through Stephen Rice. Both sides had a couple of half chances to get on the score sheet in the second half but more goals weren't to be and considering they already had three points on the board Rovers will be the happier of the two sides with the result

Cork were to have the games first chance. Liam Kearney did well on the left and his low cross was met by Dave Mooney at the front post. Mooney wasn't able to connect with it as he would have liked and Barry Murphy in the Rovers goal had an easy save to make.

Just after the quarter hour mark Rovers could have easily had a penalty. Mick Devines control of a back pass was poor and in nipped Dessie Baker. Baker moved the ball past Devine and it looked like the game was going to get its first goal, however Devine impeded and manhandled Baker. A penalty should have followed but the referee saw nothing wrong. Baker persevered and managed to get a shot in but his effort was blocked by Devine. Credit should probably be given to Baker for not hitting the floor - however if he had its hard to see now referee Connolly could have avoided pointing to the spot

Both sides were getting two lines of four behind the ball when not in possession and this had the desired effect of being very difficult to break down. The Cork centre backs were dominant in the air, while up front Mooney was full of running. Cork had a decent amount of possession however all they seemed capable of was playing it around in front of the Rovers defence - any attempts to get in behind them or find space between the lines were unsuccessful. The rest of the first half passed without much incident until with forty minutes on the clock Cork were awarded a free kick within shooting range. The Rovers defence stood and watched as George O'Callaghan made an angle for a pass on the right hand side. O'Callaghan received the ball and carried it into the box and towards the byline - but his cross was poor and was cleared to safety.

With just a minute remaining before the break Cork took the lead. Ger O'Brien tried to carry the ball out of defense but surrendered possession. Liam Kearney found room out wide and picked out O'Callaghan with a low cross. The number ten got his shot away with his second touch. Darragh Maguire half blocked it but the ball squirmed past Murphy and behind the line.

Straight from the restart Rovers piled forward and were awarded a free kick on their right hand side about thirty five or forty yards from goal. Baker curled the ball into the danger area and while the Cork defense were busy pushing up and looking for offside, Stephen Rice connected first time and volleyed low past the outstretched Devine. Cork remonstrated with the referee and his assistant claiming that Rice was offside but their claims came to nothing and the goal stood.

Early in the second half Cork found more space and were allowed more time before being closed down. None more so than Liam Kearney. He kept on tucking in and coming deep to receive the ball and it was he who initially started the move that lead to Gamble and O'Callaghan combining on the right and laying the ball off for Healy to have a shot at goal. Healy kept his first time effort from twenty five yards down but it ended up a couple of yards off target to the Rovers keepers right. On another occasion Kearney received the ball just inside the oppositions half and tried to find Mooney with a delicately weighted ball over the top. Maguire got across to cover just in time and prevented Mooney from getting a shot off.

By this stage the Rovers midfield had begun to drop far to deep and were inviting pressure. Cork were having time to pick out their passes yet the Rovers back four were still trying to hold a relatively high line. It seemed like something had to give but fortunately for Rovers, Mooney succeeded in straying offside a couple of times , when if he could have just delayed a second longer he would have found himself bearing down on goal one on one with the keeper.

Eoin Doyle was introduced as a sub for the home side and he nearly made an instant impact. O'Brien found Baker and he cleverly laid it off for Doyle twenty five yards out. Doyle shifted it on to his left foot but his shot ended up about a yard over the crossbar. The Rovers midfield were now starting to compete better and the home side went on to have a lot more of the ball. This forced Cork to go more direct and they started playing a couple of balls into the head of Denis Behan.

The plan was for Behan to knock it down for O'Callaghan on the right and to advance the attacks from there. O'Callaghan however wasn't having the best of nights and Pat Flynn at left back was doing a good job at limiting his influence. Not long after that O'Callaghan and Kearney switched wings but not before O'Callaghan fired harmlessly over from a free kick. Behan and Gamble then went close with efforts from inside and outside the box respectively.

It wasn't all one way traffic and Rovers created a couple of good openings of their own. Sean O'Connor was full of running and looked dangerous whenever he ran at the Cork defence. He then switched wings with Eric McGill. Almost immediately McGill was nearly in but Devine raced from his line and smothered the ball. McGill then had swerving shot from distance well held by the Cork custodian. Sean O'Connor continued to cause trouble and after a neat exchange of passes forced a corner with his shot from inside the box.

As the game drew to a close both sides had a chance to snatch what could have been a late winner. Cork broke quickly from defence and O'Callaghan held the ball up well in midfield. Full back Danny Murphy was quickest to offer O'Callaghan an option. Murphy raced forward and was played in, but running at speed and with his angle for a shot ever narrowing he snatched at it and his shot went high and wide. Rovers then had their chance for a late winner. Dave Mulcahy, who up until that point had been solid in central defence, totally misjudged the flight of the ball and Baker took up possession thirty yards from goal with time to take a touch and steady himself before having to decide his next move. Baker opted to try his luck with a shot and his curling effort brought a great save from the retreating Devine

All in all a draw was a fair result, however both sides had the chances in the second half to score a second and take all the points.

Rovers seemed to get more and more cautious after the seventy minute mark and you got the impression Pat Scully was more than happy to settle for the draw. Afraid of Cork breaking quickly, he ensured there was no chance his side were going to get caught short at the back. As one has come to expect from Rovers they didnt make life easy for the opposition but they mixed that with neat passing and movement when the situation allowed and at times were a joy to watch. Cork never really seemed to click, especially in midfield, and looked a little disjointed at times. Last season they were the best footballing side in the division. Matthews side doesn't seem to have that in them - or at least if they do there were no signs of it.

Cork have a Setanta cup game against Drogheda during the week and then host Derry at Turners Cross next Friday night. Next up for Rovers is another home game - they entertain Bray Wanderers next Friday.

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Ger O'Brien, Darragh Maguire, Barry Ferguson, Pat Flynn; Sean O'Connor (Jonathan Martin 80), Stephen Rice, Danny O'Connor, Eric McGill; Alan Murphy (Eoin Doyle 58), Dessie baker.
Subs not used: Karl Coleman, Darren Stapleton, Robbie Creevy.

Booked: Baker, B Murphy.

Cork City: Michael Devine; Cillian Lordan, Dave Mulcahy, Pat Sullivan, Danny Murphy; Colin Healy, Joe Gamble, George O'Callaghan, Liam Kearney; Dave Mooney (John O'Flynn 90), Denis Behan.
Subs not used: Mark McNulty, Dan Murray, Darragh Ryan, Sean Kelly.

Booked: Healy, Lordan, O'Callaghan, Sullivan.

Referee: Tom Connolly.

Attendance: 2,500 (estimate).