Photo courtesy of Tony Tobin.
The full range of emotions yesterday at Turner’s Cross.
Excitement and nerves ahead of the encounter, as we hosted our biggest game since the visit of Genk in the Europa League last year, again in full sunshine as the Irish game forced a Saturday afternoon kickoff.
The city basked in sunshine and a city once again expectant, as John Caulfield’s men looked to beat Dundalk for the sixth time in seven games, having already retained the President’s Cup ahead of the Lilywhites in a comfortable 3-0 pre-season victory.
However, that was a much different game, and in my cynical mind the conditions were ideal for a monumental Cork City bottle job, especially given the loss of Greg Bolger from the heart of midfield, an always-influential Steven Beattie, expected to start right-back with the loss of a continually sporadic John Dunleavy.
An impeccably observed minute’s silence by both sets of supporters, whose two banners showed a brief moment of solidarity in the face of tragedy ahead of what was sure to be a tasty affair, a strong tackle between a white and green body in the centre of the pitch barely noted five minutes into the game during the minute’s applause for the late 27-year-old defender.
Plenty more strong challenges put in over the course of a game which referee Rob Rogers always struggled to keep a handle on, bubbling over with flashpoints throughout the course of the game.
Neither side really got an opportunity to display their full attacking potential as they cancelled each other out, but a frenzied opening just showed why the pair are so far ahead of the rest of the country, with a tempo rarely seen in the League of Ireland. Gary Rogers was back in goal for the Lilywhites after playing in their win against St Patrick’s Athletic, where, in truth, he was barely tested.
This time around, however, he was up against the league’s leading scorer, and much like he did a few weeks previous against Galway’s Ciarán Nugent, he nipped in to nick the ball off Rogers’ toe – albeit after a terrible backpass by an atrocious Sean Gannon yesterday afternoon - but this time the angle just evading him.
However Dundalk again looked shaky, throwing away possession as soon as they got it with some awful transition passing, and being wholly ineffective from the set-pieces they managed to claw out of a deadlocked opening 20 minutes. Therefore, despite City never really dominating in any real way, it wasn’t a huge surprise when they took the lead.
Our counter-attacking game this season has been deadly, and Dundalk once again falling victim as this time Maguire turned provider. We had actually thought in these parts that the Kilkenny man had missed the opportunity by not giving it early, but a really insightful cut from Sheppard lost his marker and he tucked it into the far corner.
The first goal in front of such a big crowd was always going to be a huge settler for the side, especially with Maguire being refereed out of the game by a Rob Rogers who seemed to be officiating the striker based on reputation rather than merit, a number of punishable fouls let go by the Dubliner.
However, the referee could have easily blown the whistle moments later as Robbie Benson took a tumble as Mark McNulty reached for a rebound from Michael Duffy’s wicked shot, but sighs of relief as it was left go.
Was it a crucial moment in the match? Perhaps. But given that Duffy’s effort was Dundalk’s first meaningful shot, in truth the home side were having the better of things, and another mixup involving Rogers after another beautiful Maguire assist saw Sheppard net his double, the real crucial goal in the game, finally giving City a two goal buffer in a big league game, which proved oh-so-important down the final stretch.
Much has been said of the former West Ham striker’s finishing ability since joining the Rebel Army, but rather ironically in a game where he lost his scoring record, the striker showed us more than ever how important he is to City’s attacking threat.
A word at this juncture, too, for Karl Sheppard, who probably played one of his best ever games in a green shirt (including those with Shamrock Rovers!), and showed sides to his game we’ve probably never seen before. City’s number 19 has always been the bit player, and by his own admission has had his disappointments in the past – see this commentator’s review of the Dundalk away game last year.
However, this time around he was at it from minute one, battling for every 50/50, working beautifully in transition, tracking back to help out his midfield partners, as well as showing fantastic composure and a deft touch to finish both goals; the first a particularly pleasing effort clipped in with the outside of his right boot.
Nothing was going Dundalk’s way meanwhile, Kilduff was booked for an off-the-ball altercation in front of the shed, and after half-time they lost substitute Conor Clifford to a bizarre concussion, Alan Bennett smashing the ball off his face in trying to launch a long attack.
However, Dundalk being Dundalk, they refused to give up, and having blown a few excellent shooting opportunities with City retreating further and further back, the closer was well deserved. Clifford’s replacement McMillan finally taking advantage of the gaps to fire one into the corner from the edge of the box, and with a strong Dundalk following rejuvenated, it was set to be a long 15 minutes.
Time dragged as ref Rogers had his sights set on a draw. The Lilywhites must have earned more than a dozen cheap free-kicks for fairly innocuous – and sometimes well deserved – stuff, and more and more long balls rained in on the City penalty area as they desperately clung on.
Perhaps a better Dundalk side would have gotten the equaliser – a club fond of late goals given their previous history – but with 10 men their gallant late push was eventually seen out by the Rebel Army. In previous times it would have been a surprise, but this City side have shown a serious amount of grit recently.
A goal down to Sligo with a half-hour to go John Caulfield’s side dug out a vital victory against a Bit O Red side that kicked everything that moved for the 90 minutes, against Shamrock Rovers the Leesiders clung on for dear life, before Maguire again showed his nouse to earn and convert a late penalty.
Three games that arguably last year the Rebel Army would have dropped six points easily, and be no better off against their County Louth rivals, but now, two clear victories ahead it’s finally time to see how Stephen Kenny’s men deal with the pressure of playing catch-up.
The next few weeks will show how they can cope.