By Scott Buckley
Cork City 1- Galway United 0
City end a drought…
2,092 fans attended the game in Turners Cross including a nice number of Galwegians as bottom of the table Cork City FC who were faced with relegation worries after “bottling” a 2 0 lead to lose to Sligo Rovers 3-2 at home last Friday faced off against Galway United. The morale at the club is as low as a snakes belly as Milan Mbeng embarked to Shelbourne for an undisclosed fee and Malik Djksteel signed for St. Mirren earlier than initially agreed. There was also devastating news for player and club as young Cathal O’ Sullivan was announced to have an ACL injury. It was thought Ger Nashs job could have been on the line as well as possible protests before tonights game became speculated among supporters. While there was no protests after the talk I could understand why the talk of protesting against City owner Dermot Usher who is involved with city for 3 years arose as the people of Cork truly love their club and hate to see it being dubbed as a “Yo-Yo club”, going up and down and doing poorly,However the “shed end” was in full voice and City deservedly won 1-0 against Galway. This may well be a confidence boost for the Cork City players amid a troublesome period but it doesnt quite bring the club out of relegation. Sligo Rovers now sit only 2 points adrift of Galway United which brings speculation aroud could John Caulfields,( The man who brought Cork city success in the recent past) job possibly be well on the line. While Galway were pushing for Europe at one stage,they are now sitting in a position which could see them endure a relegation play off. While City face relegation, Citys third league win of the season and first win since beating Wateford at home on Easter Monday(15 games ago) was certainly needed and what way better than to do it than at home.
The only goal of the Match came from Josh Fitzpatrick in the 5th minute, the 19 year old winger secured a nice finish into the bottom corner. It was Joshs first goal of the season .The goal brought Ger Nash his first league win as manager of Cork City also. Citys defence proved to play well for the game as they got more tackles won-15 to 11 according to Fotmob, the beneficial score app and from what I saw from the stands that is accurate enough. While Galway held a lot of possession City were strong and Brann handled any situation that came his way in between the sticks for City . Galways no 33 impressed me as a quick player on the wing-“Jeannout Essa”. Of course Cork also met several former players now residing in the West of Ireland.Patrick Hickey also impressed but City came out on top as the likes of Sean Maguire ensured a positive result for City.The referee was poor at times throughout the game in my opinion making poor choices in realtion to tackles inside the box and im a few situations outfield. Freddie Anderson came on in the first half for Fiachre the brother of Caoimhin Kelleher in defence and failed to have a major impact while Benny Couto received a welcoming applause as he replaced Josh Fitzpatrick in the fading minutes. The skillful defender from Portugal was injured for a long period and it was great to see him return to the ball.
As a City fan there was a great feeling to see the team win. It cannot be denied its a tough time to be supporting CCFC at the moment with attendances falling rapidly arguably because of the pricy ticket prices but now more than ever, this club needs support as they face the drop.This season is far from pretty and there could be a lot going on behind closed doors in the club no doubt but City fans should appreciate winning tonight despite Sligo Rovers sitting 8 points above City still.City now face the long trip to Derry City next week followed by a Munster Derby in the Cross against Waterford in the FAI cup after,while Galway face Shamrock Rovers next. Time will tell on the situation that is how long John Caulfields reign over Galway will last with his current form being 5 leauge losses which is included in a 6 game winless streak. Sligo have a chance tommorow night against Shelbourne to try and escape the relegation places as the fight for survival tightens up for sure in the League of Ireland.