Cork City 0 - 1 Waterford United

• Alan Smith
• Fri, Aug 20 2010


Waterford United took the spoils in the final Munster derby of the season as they edged out Cork City by a goal to nil in a thrilling contest at Turner’s Cross.

This game was always going to have big implications for both sides, so when Willie John Kiely popped up ten minutes before the break to give United the lead with the game’s only goal, you could sense that the Blues knew how important a win over their promotion rivals would be tonight.

They might have had very little chances after the interval but they sucked up the Cork pressure very well, despite a couple of late scares, and in the end deserved their win in front of 1984 on a sunny early Autumn evening on Leeside.

Undoubtedly, this was one of the more lively games at Turner’s Cross this season and the decent quality of football provided the perfect antidote for a weekend where rugby, and even more so, Gaelic football was on the agenda on Leeside.

Both sides were depleted coming into this tie, with suspension in particular ruling some key players out. Graham Cummins, City’s saviour on so many occasions this season, served a ban against his former club, while Stephen Henderson’s side had the trio of Paul Murphy, Michael Coady and Seamus Long absent due to an accumulation of their misdemeanours.

Cork, meanwhile, were without star defender Stephen Mulcahy, while Alan Carey and Shane Barrett also missed out on the third and final Munster Derby of the season. Still, George O’Callaghan, a man with a checkered past at both clubs, made his first home start since his return to Turner’s Cross as Liam Kearney, Kevin Murray and Vinny Sullivan all started in blue at their former stomping ground.

O’Callaghan, playing as the attacking link-up man between Shane Barrett and midfield, went close within the first five minutes as he headed Gearoid Morrissey’s pinpoint cross wide of the mark from a decent position ten yards out. At the other end, Vinny Sullivan had United’s first chance on nine minutes as his snapshot flew over the bar.

Waterford had a glorious chance to break the deadlock when Billy Woods was caught napping in the 14th minute and Daryl Kavanagh was given acres of space to get a shot away, but his effort was a bit flat as it skewed wide of Mark McNulty’s post.

The tie went from end-to-end like a game of ping-pong at times and O’Callaghan nearly gave City the lead on 26 minutes when he almost got onto the end of a Davin O’Neill cross after Cillian Lordan had played in the former Cobh man. Little over a minute later, United cursed the crossbar as Timmy Purcell’s header cracked off the woodwork, when Daryl Kavanagh’s cross was played in precisely from the right wing to the unmarked winger.

The opener, however, came in a similar move to their previous chance. Kavanagh played to Purcell, but this time he fed to Kiely, and the striker made no mistake when striking the ball across goal from a tight angle and into the far corner of the net to give the away team a deserved lead – that his eighth effort of the season.

Cork definitely had a bigger sense of purpose after half-time and O’Callaghan, their main go-to man on the night, forced Kevin Burns into saving his speculative chip from distance within a minute of the restart. The No. 10 then played to Morrissey, whose half-chance was easily gathered by the United stopper.

Waterford pressed forward quite a bit, despite having few chances in front of goal themselves, and the tactic worked as it pinned the home team back for long spells, although O’Callaghan blazed wide from an excellent position outside the box in the 65th minute. It frustrated the home team quite a bit, and Henderson’s side, keen to play on the break, were comfortable for most parts.

As the game progressed however, City’s chances improved and O’Callaghan forced Burns into a truly astonishing save when the home side’s best player headed towards the top corner only for the ‘keeper to react quickly and palm the ball around the post for a corner.

The home team pressed and pressed for that vital equaliser and Kieran Keneally, a product of Cork’s youth system making his debut, almost scored with a wonder goal with six minutes remaining, his right-footed curling effort glazing the roof of the net

. Nonetheless, it wasn’t to be as their slim chance of the play-offs remains just a slim one and nothing more. For Waterford, their own push for promotion continues to gain momentum and on this evidence, they will be near the summit later in the Autumn.

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Ian Turner, Greg O’Halloran, Gavin Kavanagh, Billy Woods; Davin O’Neill (Gareth Cambridge, 71mins), Shane Duggan, Cillian Lordan, Gearoid Morrissey (Eoghan Lougheed, 58mins); George O’Callaghan, Shane Barrett (Kieran Keneally, 79mins).
Subs not used: Jonas Piechnik, Neal Horgan.
Booked: Woods.

Waterford United: Kevin Burns; Paul Carey, Kevin Murray, John Hayes, John Kearney; Timmy Purcell (Kevin Waters, 77mins), Gray Dunphy, Daryl Kavanagh, Liam Kearney; Willie John Kiely (David Grincell, 89mins), Vinny Sullivan.
Subs not used: Chris Konopka, Paul McCarthy, James O’Sullivan.
Booked: Sullivan, Murray.

Referee: J Grimes
Official Attendance: 1984
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Kevin Murray – solid, solid as a rock!