Dunne laments points lost

Cork City manager Tommy Dunne revealed just how disappointed he was to see his team beaten by Derry City in the Airtricity League on Sunday afternoon, especially considering the manner in which the game was played.

“To be honest with you I thought it was a 50/50 game, it was nip and tuck. We said at half time that a mistake is going to decide who are the ones to take the three points, but it’s a cruel way to go.

“Toward the end of the match I thought that Derry were starting to get a little bit of a grip of it, but overall I think we dominated most of the game. We had a lot of the possession, but without really creating any clear cut chances.

“We had a few half chances that were bouncing around that we didn’t take, but overall we knew that it was going to be a difficult tight game and it was, it was down to that mistake.”

The mistake Dunne refers to was of course the defining moment of the match – in the last seconds of normal time, Cork substitute Adam Rundle was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area, forcing the referee to point to the spot. Rory Patterson saw his initial effort saved by goalkeeper Mark McNulty, but pounced on the rebound to score.

“It was a great save, but he [Patterson] finished the rebound well. I don’t think anyone had a chance to even get back in it was that quick, so it’s just disappointing.

“Sometimes you just do enough. You can play reasonably well without creating too much, but they didn’t create too much either. [Simon] Madden down the right caused us a few problems, and he got a few decent balls into the area, but we dealt with them.

“You’re going to get that.”

A big feature of the match was the poor state of the actual playing surface, another object of the Cork supremo’s discontent.

“The pitch was terrible. There’s too many games on it and the weather’s very bad. We had a throw in at one stage down the left side that hit a divot and went straight out.

“I think the football was generally good from both teams considering the conditions, but I don’t know what it was today. It was a bit subdued all over the ground.

“I thought we played reasonably well for most of the match, we had a couple of half chances, but if you give a penalty away in the 90^th minute…”

In a game that really failed to catch fire, one player who did stand out was Daryl Horgan. The winger has been Cork City’s player of the season thus far in the campaign, but was pulled off with 82 minutes on the clock to the surprise of many of the Cork faithful.

“He’s injured, he’s struggling. He’d been doubtful before the game. He had a problem with his back going into his hamstring. He’s been playing great and he’s done well again today, but at that stage he was gone, so we had to take him out.

Sunday afternoon also marked the return to the first team of John Dunleavy, another key player for the Rebel Army throughout 2012. The Donegal-born full back had been suffering with tonsillitis throughout pre-season, and Dunne revealed the youngster has suffered yet another setback.

“It’s his knee, it’s the bottom of his thigh. It’s just a niggle. He should be okay for next Friday.”

For the Cork City boss, the game underlined just how even the league is at the moment.

“Every week it’s going to be tough. Home or away, any team that we play it’s going to be difficult. Sometimes picking up a point here and a point there when the game’s a stalemate, you’d take that.

“I just hope it doesn’t come back to haunt us.”