Cork City 0
St.Patrick’s Athletic 0
It was an uneventful evening in Turner’s Cross on Friday Night as it was a goalless draw between Cork City and St.Patrick’s Athletic. As much as the game didn’t have much substance their was many talking points that came from the night.
The main ones is the fan discontent showed from the Shed End which was on show for all to see on the Virgin Media cameras. Multiple banners were on display, the first of these was a banner which said “Sold the dream, living a nightmare” with black smoke pouring out from behind it. This is in reference to Dermot Usher and his running of the football club in the 2 and a half years in owning Cork City.
Another banner which was shown just to the left of the main block of The Shed End. This banner quoted “Usher, stop the lies let the rebel army rise”. This banner provoked a poor reaction from Djenairo Daniels who was upset with the banner and was then seen to be swearing at fans.
This was resurrected as Daniels went over to the same fans in which displayed that banner and talked it out and was seen to shake hands of many fans after Full-Time. This was as he said his goodbyes to the Rebel Army although it isn’t confirmed he is set to leave the club. Rio Shipston and Tein Troost also said farewell as the club announced their departures following their loan spells. All 3 stayed back to clap the Shed for a bit longer to show their appreciation to the fanbase.
As for the game itself both sides went into the game on very poor runs of form. City haven’t won a game since April and had yet to keep a clean sheet in the 21 games played so far. As for Pats they had only won 1 game in their last 7 which came against Cork City’s relegation rivals Sligo Rovers. Stephen Kenny’s side sat 6th in the table which has not been going down well with fans. Criticism has been often topic in Inchicore recently.
Nobody seemed to have a grip of the game early on. City were moving the ball slow from the back which made it very hard to keep possession. City were able to get a few crosses into the box but lacked that final ball quality.
Pats also looked very unimpressive in the first 45. They’re best chance coming in the 32nd minute where Zack Elbouzedi cut inside from the right hand side and bent his show low just wide of the left sided post. 35 minutes in Pats were forced to bring on Jake Mulraney in the place of Simon Power. It didn’t take long for Mulraney to get involved in the action as about 2 minutes into his display he squares the ball to Mason Melia at the byline. Melia collects it at the front post but miscontrolls it and wastes a very good chance for his side.
The Inchicore outfit also seemed to be getting lots of freedoms from set plays as they constantly found themselves at the back post with free headers most of these falling to young Mason Melia however all of these chances would be directed over the bar.
The best chance of the game would fall to Kitt Nelson as Seani Maguire out strengths Brandon Kavanagh after a throw in he squares the ball to Nelson who takes a second after a touch before floating the sitter miles over the bar from 12 yards as he falls to the floor in disappointment. The best chance of the game by far and a summary of City’s season.
As for the second half City had waves of pressure in which they looked like they may score but ultimately again that final ball was the problem. As for Pats they really struggled to get going and were limited to half chances and were very poor on the night to the discontent of their fans in the away end and online.
City acheived their first clean sheet of the season but still won’t be happy as they need points on the board as soon as possible to resurrect this season.
My MOTM: Greg Bolger
Cork City: Tein Troost, Milan Mbeng, Darragh Crowley, Freddie Anderson, Charlie Lyons, Matthew Kiernan(74′)(Y), Sean Murray(65′), Greg Bolger(74′)(Y), Kitt Nelson(57′)(Y), Alex Nolan(57′), Sean Maguire.
Subs: Cathal O’Sullivan(57′), Djenairo Daniels (57′), Evan McLaughlin (65′), Rio Shipston (74′)(Y), Josh Fitzpatrick (74′).
St.Patrick’s Athletic: Joseph Anang, Axel Sjoberg, Joe Redmond, Sean Hoare(Y), Jason McClelland, Jamie Lennon, Barry Baggley(75′), Zack Elbouzedi(75′), Brandon Kavanagh, Simon Power(35′), Mason Melia(67′).
Subs: Jake Mulraney(35′)(Y), Aidan Keena (67′), Chris Forrester(75′), Kian Leavy(75′).
Referee: Marc Lynch
Pictures credit to KBD Photos