We all know you’re getting a bit excited.
Rebel Radio’s 100% record is still intact after Friday! Oh, and City’s too.
Another broadcast from us, another Cork City win. Another succesful broadcast too. Myself and Cudds had a little bit of a problem when we realised neither of us had remembered to bring a headset. You’d swear that we were commentators!
Less surprisingly, Colm was there ahead of me. Like a fine wine, I’m always late. And I’m crap at analogies. In this case, I was playing hurling.
Once we sorted the microphone issue, we were flying. As were City. Seven minutes in and City press, but Devine’s header looked like it was heading for a corner. Colm had even turned to me to make a point! Cue an excited yelp from me as Seani nicked in.
In truth, Rovers battered us for 81 of the following 82 minutes. They got a (deserved, imp) penalty to level it and should’ve got a winner. At times City’s midfield were non-existent. I said as such on the stream, and JC afterwards – we need to improve before Saturday.
Stephen Bradley perhaps could’ve done with listening to his own advice though. Stopping Sean Maguire is a lot easier said than done. Teams have to realise that if you give him a yar d of space when man-marking him, you’ll get punished. This time, it was for a penalty, and another excited pair of yelps when he stuck it home. The always-frosty Rovers media area felt just a little colder!
A huge positive for us was the generous sponsorship from the Cork City FC Exiles group. Gavin O’Leary and Brian Rohan handed over the envelope to myself at half time and it’ll allow us to make a few key changes to the stream!
What struck me most leaving Tallaght though was just how hopeless the atmosphere was from the home side. This is Ireland’s most successful club, supposedly with their best chance of a league title in years. But they couldn’t beat an off colour City? The gap last year between us and the Hoops was 15 points. It’s already nine this year. And it doesn’t look like closing.
Next up is the biggest game in Irish football on the pitch. This Dundalk fans have critics to answer, with Patrick McEleney running the show this season so far. But they were beaten easily in Derry and I don’t think Gabriel is strong enough between the sticks. A sell out is almost certain. We’ve won 5 of the last 6 against the champions, and while it is indeed a marathon not a sprint – a win next Saturday and we could see a domino effect.
Our next broadcast is likely to be Derby Day in Market’s Field. Due to college, I won’t be able to make it down, but have as much faith in Kev & Colm as I do in City!
Yes, we’ve played scrappily at times. Are we a one-man team? No. Are we top of the table with a 100% record? Enough said.