Match Preview: City vs Treaty United

Cork City are back in action this Friday night when Treaty United come to Turner’s Cross in the 20th round of SSE Men’s First Division action. It’s top v bottom as the two team’s come into the game in very contrasting form. City are fresh from a sixth consecutive victory, away to Wexford last week, while at the same time Treaty secured their only point in the last four matches, at home to Bray Wanderers. 

The 2-0 victory in Ferrycarrig, thanks to a late header from Ruairi Keating and a Hans Mpongo rabona that went in via a defender, not only extended the Rebel Army’s winning streak but also made it five clean sheets in a row for Barry Robson’s men. Across that quintet of games, City have found the net 12 times, four of which came last time out at the Cross against Finn Harps in one of the standout attacking displays of the season so far. 

Having entered the first of those six wins in second place, level on points with UCD (albeit with a game in hand), CCFC’s resurgent from has seen them open up a 12-point gap at the top of the table. One of those victories came in Markets Field against Friday’s opponents in late May (the fixture having been rearranged following an April downpour) when Keating’s first half penalty secured the three points. That was the first of four goals in the last three matches for City’s #9 who, along with Mpongo, has helped keep the goals flowing in the absence of Seani Maguire. 

The Manager’s Words: 

On the eve of the game, Robson spoke about Keating’s “really encouraging” form of late and noted how the striker is “looking lean, aggressive and sharp” as the club and coaching staff managed his return from a lengthy lay-off with an Achilles injury last season; “we wanted to get him game time, probably needed time out, were trying to do it right with him.” 

The City boss also mentioned that Maguire should be back in contention for Friday night, having missed the last four matches through injury. Darragh Crowley, meanwhile, will return from suspension after his absence from the clash in Wexford due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Fiacre Kelleher, though, could miss out, Robson revealed.  

The one upside of the mounting casualty list of the last month or so, according to the manager, has been the opportunity it has granted to some of the younger contingent within the club; “the one positive is lots of exposure for young players. It’s a real good eye opener for them; it’s given me a real chance to have a close look at them. Some players have made their debuts which is really good. Listen, we’d like to have everyone fit but I’ve been really pleased with some of the other players that have come in,” he said, namechecking AJ Bridge and Matthew Murray. 

The Opposition View: 

Treaty have won three of 19 matches so far this season, all at home, coming against Athlone Town, Wexford and Finn Harps. They have accumulated four points on the road, a quarter of their overall total. Currently sitting 10th, Tommy Barrett’s side will require a major uplift in fortunes to reattain the fifth position they finished in last year, which brought them to within two wins of promotion. Having beaten Cobh in the play-off semi-finals, they were then defeated 1-0 by Bray in Athlone, depriving them of the chance for a direct face-off for a Premier Division spot against Waterford. 

Both previous encounters with Treaty ended in 1-0 City triumphs, Ruairi Keating bagging the winner on each occasion. All four meetings in the 2024 season, meanwhile, ended in draws and the Limerick club’s last victory against the Rebel Army came back in August 2022.  

If City do make it 3/3 against their Munster rivals on Friday, it will take their points haul to treble that of their opposition (who currently have 16), maintaining, or possibly extending, their 12-point lead at the top. Kick off at Turner’s Cross is at 7:45pm.