19.05 17 Aug 2015 -
Referee: Tomas Connolly
League Report: Shamrock Rovers 3 - 0 Cork City
- Dave Donnelly
- Tue, Aug 18 2015
Cork City's title hopes were left in tatters after John Caulfield's men conceded three and tasted defeat for the second time in just four days, as they bore the brunt of a 3-0 whitewash to Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.
Normally the sight of Damien Duff warming up on the sideline would be a worrying one for any side, but the Leesiders' grip on this tie – and possibly their title challenge – had long since slipped by the time he replaced Brandon Miele.
Gavin Brennan – who has come in for a great deal of criticism from Hoops fans but was sensational playing wide on the right – opened the scoring with a deft header shortly before half time, while Danny North and Miele added salt to Cork's wounds in the second half.
Caulfield opted to make two changes to the side that were unexpected losers to Limerick at Turner's Cross on Friday. Captain John Dunleavy was injured, meaning a return for Ross Gaynor, while John Kavanagh returned from injury in place of Colin Healy who dropped to the bench.
Hoops boss Pat Fenlon, by point of contrast, chose to reward the 11 that breezed past Longford 3-1 at the weekend by naming an unchanged starting line-up, meaning Duff and the returning Pat Cregg had to be content with spots on the bench.
Cork threatened early on as first Gaynor and then Steven Beattie forced blocks from the Rovers defence, but the Hoops offered more penetration as Mikey Drennan finished off a clever corner routine with North by forcing a smart stop from McNulty at his near post.
McNulty was again on hand moments later as he used his considerable reflexes not only to stop Max Blanchard's point blank header, but to leap forward and smother the rebound at the auxiliary midfielder's feet.
There was nothing he could have done about Gavin Brennan's subsequent drive after Liam Miller and Garry Buckley left a gaping hole in midfield, but his powerfully-struck effort cannoned back off the base of the post.
The let-off seemed to focus Corkonian minds somewhat as, after David Webster had done well to deny Karl Sheppard, they had a gilt-edged chance to take the lead when Gary McCabe's pass fell short of its intended target and Beattie should have done better than flash his shot wide.
Alan Bennett did hit the target when he lost his marker from a John Kavanagh corner, but Gary McCabe was well-placed on the line to hook the ball away, and barely two minutes later Rovers scored after Luke Byrne's inch-perfect cross found the rampaging Brennan to head home to give the Hoops a 1-0 lead.
Again, Cork rallied, but they lacked a killer ball, and it was little surprise when Rovers doubled their lead shortly before the hour mark as Drennan took a clever long pass from captain Conor Kenna and centred for North, whose diving headed finish suggests he's finally regained his confidence in front of goal.
The game largely petered out as Cork showed neither the will nor ability to wrest back the initiative, and the final half-hour would have passed without incident had substitute Gareth McCaffrey – given a rare chance to impress – not fed Miele to extend the lead to three, a scoreline that hardly flattered the home side.
Duff took the field to raptutous applause, but the ovation was equally for a fine team performance that will have the Tallaght crowd wondering why they couldn't produce such quality and precision when they were still in contention for honours.
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, David Webster, Luke Byrne; Gavin Brennan, Max Blanchard, Gary McCabe, Brandon Miele (Damien Duff 88); Mikey Drennan, Danny North (Gareth McCaffrey 84).
Subs not used: Craig Hyland (gk), David O'Connor, Ryan Brennan, Pat Cregg, Cian Kavanagh.
Booked: None.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; John Kavanagh (Colin Healy 78), Dan Murray, Alan Bennett (Darren Dennehy 61), Kevin O'Connor; Liam Miller, Garry Buckley, Ross Gaynor (Danny O'Connell); Stephen Beattie, Karl Sheppard, Mark O'Sullivan.
Subs not used: Alan Smith (gk), Michael McSweeney, Liam Kearney, John O'Flynn.
Booked: Murray (32).
Referee: Tomás Connolly.
Attendance: 3,000 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Player of the Match: Gavin Brennan (Shamrock Rovers).
Subs
Subs
P | Team | Pd | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dundalk | 33 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 78 |
2 | Cork | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 67 |
3 | Shamrock R | 33 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 65 |
4 | St Patrick's Athl. | 33 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 58 |
5 | Bohs | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 53 |
6 | Longford | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 39 |
7 | Derry | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 35 |
8 | Bray | 33 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 33 |
9 | Sligo | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 31 |
10 | Galway | 33 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 31 |
11 | Limerick | 33 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 29 |
12 | Drogheda | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 28 |
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