Cork City 3-2 Drogheda Utd

Cork City returned to winning ways on Monday night with a determined 3-2 win over title chasing Drogheda United.

Vinny Sullivan edged the hosts in front in the opening minutes when he finished from close range before Eric Foley got Mick Cooke’s men back on level terms just before the break.

Centre half Kevin Murray restored the Rebel Army’s advantage five minutes after the break before Drogs were awarded a controversial penalty to get back on level terms. Substitute Davin O’Neill still had time to make his mark, however, and the front man fired the ball to the back of Gabriel Sava’s net with 20 minutes remaining.

Manager Tommy Dunne made four changes to the team that lost out to UCD – Neal Horgan, Gavin Kavanagh, Kevin Murray and Vinny Sullivan all coming into his starting XI – and City started with real intent, going ahead inside five minutes when Danny Murphy’s free kick came back off the post and allowed Sullivan to tap home.

Sean Brennan recorded the visitors’ first effort on goal on the half-hour mark, picking up a loose ball and firing in a shot from the edge of the area that came back off Mark McNulty’s crossbar, before veteran striker Declan O’Brien saw a decent chance go narrowly to the right and wide off his right foot.

The equaliser arrived five minutes before the break – Foley slotting a deftly-taken free-kick into the top corner of McNulty’s goal, which sent the teams in at 1-1 apiece.

Dunne’s men were back in front shortly after the restart. Another well-placed free-kick from Murphy was planted on the head of an unmarked Kevin Murray, who headed beyond the outstretched hand of Sava to give the home crowd of just over 1,300 something to shout about.

United hauled themselves back into the contest in rather controversial circumstances on 66 minutes. Gavin Brennan broke free down the right and was adjudged to have been fouled by McNulty inside the box, though it appeared he was offside when he received the ball and that the Cork keeper had touched the ball, and not the player, first.

Referee Derek Tomney promptly pointed to the spot however – showing the City stopper red card in the process – and it was left to O’Brien to lash the penalty kick beyond the reach of substitute keeper Kevin Burns.

Just as it seemed that City might be set for yet another draw, up popped O’Neill to score the vital winner. The move started with a break from Shane Duggan through the centre, allowing City’s number nine race clear and fire home from an acute angle – Sava helped to bundle the ball over the line into his own net.

Despite playing nine minutes of added time, City finished out the game and secured all three points and now turn to the attention to and FAI Cup tie against Shamrock Rovers on Friday night.

Supporters Bus to the Shamrock Rovers game

Cork City: McNulty, N Horgan, Kavanagh, K Murray, D Murphy, I Turner (O’Neill ‘62), Morrissey, Duggan, D Horgan, Sullivan (Burns ‘65), Parker (Quinn ‘85).
Subs: D Murray, Lenihan, Kenny, Buckley.

Drogheda United: Sava, Quigley, McNally (Gannon ‘72), Byrne, McMahon, Brennan, Foley, Sullivan (R Brennan ‘62), Crowley, S Brennan (Mulvenna ‘62), O’Brien.
Subs: Schlingermann, Marks, Hynes, Brady.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login