Bluebell United 0 - 1 Cork City Foras Co-op

• Daire Walsh
• Wed, Jun 09 2010


A goal 12 minutes into the second half from midfielder Davin O'Neill was enough to get Cork City past a determined Bluebell United side in an entertaining FAI Ford Cup replay at the Carlisle Grounds last night. Truth to be told, it was something of a struggle at times for the Leesiders, but Bluebell deserve enormous credit for the way that they performed on the night, and can go away with their heads held high.

Cork had begun the game the brighter of the two sides, and had their first attempt on goal after just four minutes when midfielder Gearoid Morrissey struck well from long-range, but his effort was well saved by Mark Clohessy in the Bluebell goal.

Much like the drawn encounter though, the Leinster Senior League side were not afraid of their big-time opponents, with striker Darren Meade and winger Gary Crowley impressing once again for the South Dublin men. The latter, in particular, was causing problems for the Cork back line, and looks like he has the potential to play at a higher level than the one is currently operating at.

As the half wore on, both sides would enjoy good spells of possession, with Cork City having probably the best chance when O'Neill struck with power on the edge of box, but towering Bluebell centre-half Niall Donnelly was at full stretch to block his goal bound effort.

The half did end with a heated exchange between Meade and Cork's Cillian Lordan, with both men receiving a yellow card, though Lordan was somewhat fortunate that his punishment wasn't more severe as he appeared to push Meade in the chest. He got away with it though, and both sides had to be content to go in at the break on level terms.

The second half would continue in much the same vein initially, as Bluebell continued to take the game to the First Division side, who were finding it hard to get a stranglehold against a tough-tackling Bluebell, especially without the presence of elusive forward Graham Cummins, who departed with an injury on 36 minutes, to be replaced by substitute Paul Deasy.

However, the Bluebell resistance would be broken on 57 minutes when substitute Paul Deasy latched onto Mark McNulty's long punt forward, before pulling back to the impressive O'Neill, who finished low to the net from 20 yards.

It was expected that this would the catalyst for Tommy Dunne's side to push on for victory, but Bluebell reacted extremely well to this goal, and Greg O'Halloran had to clear off the line from an Ian Cherry shot with 25 minutes remaining.

This was something of a let-off for Cork, and they had a lucky escape six minutes later as well when Meade's header from close-range bounced off the left-hand post. This showed just how capable a side Bluebell really are, but there was a sense that their chance of bringing this game into extra-time were gone with the failure to convert these two opportunities.

As the tie entered into the final quarter of an hour, Bluebell valiantly continued to press for an equaliser, and even though they went close on a couple of other occasions, Cork managed to hold firm to progress to the fourth round at the end of August.

Bluebell United: Clohessy; Cherry, Donnelly, Sherlock, Kenny; Hollingsworth, Keddy, Doyle, Crowley (Dunning '80); Meade, Quinn.
Subs not used: Cleary, Cronin, Killeen, Curran, Behan, McNulty.

Cork City: McNulty; Turner, Mulcahy, O'Halloran, Heffernan (Warren '62); O'Neill, G Morrissey, Dineen (R Morrissey '75), Lordan; Cummins (Deasy '36), Duggan.
Subs not used: Devine, Forde.

Attendance: 150.
Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin).
Extratime Man Of The Match: Peter Sherlock (Bluebell United).