Cork City 6 - 1 Longford Town

New signing Daryl Kavanagh notched an impressive hat-trick for Cork City, as his new club romped to an emphatic 6-1 victory over Longford Town at Bishopstown on Saturday afternoon.

It may only be a pre-season friendly, but City and their fans alike will undoubtedly be delighted with such an incisive attacking performance.

The win means that the Rebel Army are so far unbeaten in their pre-season preparations (this was their second game of 2013 following the 1-1 draw with a Leeds United XI on Thursday night) and in good stead for their Setanta Cup tie against Cliftonville at Turner’s Cross on Monday evening.

For Longford, questions were asked of their worryingly leaky defence – Cork tore through them time after time, and the score line could have been even more embarrassing if it were for better finishing.

From what was literally the first play of the game, the hosts had their opening goal. Ian Turner broke down the right side, before crossing the ball to Danny Morrissey, who bounced it across to Daryl Kavanagh who bundled it in – the goal was so scrappy it was unclear who had actually scored it, with many believing it to be Morrissey.

Then, not even 60 seconds later, it was 2-0. Kavanagh was the architect once again, this time rattling his shot off the woodwork and seeing the ball somehow spin into the net.

Although judging by the balance of play the game was even, the Premier Division side clearly had that extra bit of quality. Gearoid Morrissey ran the game, while Ian Turner was magnificent, tearing the opposing left side to shreds.

The pair linked up for what was nearly goal number three – Morrissey turned well in the centre circle, before threading through a delicate ball that found Turner – but the full-back-cum-winger couldn’t quite produce the finish to match the run.

The Town were still in the game however, and created a couple of chances of their own around the 20 minute mark – first Etanda Nkololo cut inside and shot, only to see his effort sail harmlessly wide, and then David O’Sullivan struck powerfully to pull a good save out of Kevin Burns.

The second-tier side then shot themselves in the foot just minutes later. William McDonagh tamely passed back to his goalkeeper Paul Hunt, who sliced his attempted clearance and the ball rolled into the net.

It was 4-0 just minutes later. Gearoid Morrissey, who capped a good showing against Leeds during the week with a fantastic performance here, slid a delicious ball through to Ian Turner, who this time made no mistake and finished with aplomb.

Longford got themselves a consolation goal five minutes before half time. Gavin Doyle showed good vision to play in ex-Cork City player Keith Quinn, who finished neatly to pull one back for the midlands side.

Determined to really pulverise their visitors, Cork replied almost instantly. Stephen Kenny drifted in off the left side, before cutting the ball back for Daryl Kavanagh, who juggled with it and slotted home to complete his hat-trick.

The second half was really a damp squib, the flow of the game being disrupted due to the large influx of substitutes – Cork City changed their entire starting XI at half time, barring Eoghan Murphy, who put in a very impressive performance at right back.

One moment did stand out however, and that was when Denis Behan marked his return to football on Leeside with a goal.

Daryl Horgan showed his marker a clean set of heels, before feeding Behan, who showed a cool head to roll it past the goalkeeper and get his second spell at Cork City off to a good start.

Cork City: Kevin Burns; Eoghan Murphy, Kevin Murray, Darren Dennehy, Danny Murphy; Ian Turner, Gearoid Morrissey, Colin Healy, Stephen Kenny; Daryl Kavanagh, Danny Morrissey (first half).

(second half): Mark McNulty; Eoghan Murphy, Dan Murray, Kalen Spillane, Adam Rundle; Sean Brosnan, Garry Buckley, Shane Duggan, Daryl Horgan; Danny Furlong, Denis Behan.

Longford Town: Paul Hunt; Noel Haverty, William McDonagh (Daniel Purdy, 57), Chris Deans (Willie Tyrell, 46), Michael Lee (Mark Salmon, 46),; David O’Neill, Keith Gillespie (Gary Smaw, 46), Etanda Nkololo, Keith Quinn; David O’Sullivan, Gavin Doyle (Gary Cronin, 57).

Subs not used: Corie Tracey, Joe Donomund