Cork City 1-0 BK Hacken
(Cork City win 2-1 on aggregate)
Cork City are into the third qualifying round of the Europa League following a thrilling 1-0 victory over BK Hacken of Sweden at Turner’s Cross.
A sole, first-half goal from the left boot of Kevin O'Connor was enough to split the teams and see the SSE Airtricity League side through 2-1 on aggregate.
Swedish Cup winners Hacken, for their part, were much improved on their performance last week but failed to make the breakthrough despite huge firepower up front, leaving Cork to advance to a two-legged tie against Belgian side KRC Genk.
Caulfield retained faith in the side that had secured the vital away draw in Goteburg, while his counterpart Peter Gerhardsson made two changes - drafting Joel Andersson in for the suspended Baba Mensah and Mohammed Abubakari for last week's captain, Martin Ericsson.
Where City had started brightly in Sweden, it was now the turn of the visitors to display their own wares during the opening exchanges. The pace of Hacken's front three - Nasiru Mohammed, John Owoeri and Paulinho - was particularly noticeable and caused the Leesiders problems initially.
Mohammed turned inside and registered the first shot on target with eight minutes on the clock. His effort was deflected though, and the Swedes also claimed the first corner of the game.
Dangerman Paulinho tried his hand with an effort from the edge of the area on 15 minutes before a lovely ball from Abubakari allowed Owoeri through and forced Mark McNulty into a close-range save.
The first real chance came 20 minutes in. Greg Bolger, City's chief injury doubt beforehand, lost the ball in the centre of the park and Hacken poured forward with lightning speed. Owoeri's fine ball allowed Abubakari shoot, and it was Alan Bennett that cleared City's lines.
Having been on the back foot for most of the opening 26 minutes, the breakthrough came very much against the run of play.
O'Connor won a free kick out on the left wing having been fouled by Andersson. Bolger took the resulting set piece, found O'Connor at the edge of the box and the full-back volleyed home with the help of a deflection off Emil Wahlstrom.
The score gave the crowd of 5,336 something to shout about and also seemed to spur City back into the contest.
Stephen Dooley had to clear Paulinho's header off the City line on 33 minutes before another set piece at the other end a minute later allowed Bennett put Abrahamsson under pressure. However, the Hacken keeper gathered cleanly.
The first half ended on a sour note, however, with Mohammed badly hurt in a clash with Garry Buckley. The winger had to be stretched from the pitch in some discomfort with a deep gash in his ankle, though early reports suggest there was no break.
A pinpoint ball from Bolger almost set Beattie free early in the second half; however, the midfielder blazed high and wide under pressure from Kari Arkivio.
It was all Hacken for a long spell after that. The visitors probed, passed back and forth but were limited to long-range efforts until Arkivio broke down the left and pulled a ball back inside to Rasmus Schuller, who fired straight at McNulty on the hour mark.
Beattie was brought down on the edge of the box on 66 minutes but the free kick came to naught after a mix up between O'Connor and Bolger.
Dooley, on the other wing, created an excellent opportunity for Gearóid Morrissey five minutes later. The winger beat his man and turned inside to feed his team-mate; Morrissey took a single touch before letting fly and forcing Abrahamsson into a superb save.
Hacken moved the ball quickly in every attack, and substitute Demba Savage was the next to threaten on 73 minutes. Escaping the close attention of Bennett, the forward was only able to lash his effort straight at McNulty.
Marshalled by Kenny Browne, however, the City line held firm and resolute and kept their clean sheet.
Cork City FC: Mark McNulty; Michael McSweeney, Alan Bennett, Kenny Browne, Kevin O'Connor; Steven Beattie, Garry Buckley, Greg Bolger, Gearóid Morrissey (Gavan Holohan '78), Stephen Dooley; Sean Maguire (Mark O'Sullivan '90).
Substitutes: Colin Healy, Danny Morrissey, Matthew Connor, Karl Sheppard, Ian Turner.
BK Hacken: Peter Abrahamsson; Joel Andersson, Emil Wahlstrom, Jasmin Sudic, Kari Arkivio; Mohammed Abubakari, Samuel Gustafson, Rasmus Schuller (Martin Ericsson '64); Nasiru Mohammed (Demba Savage '45), John Owoeri (Alexander Jeremjeff '73), Paulinho.
Substitutes: Tefu Mashamaite, Gustav Berggren, Egzon Binaku, Christoffer Kallqvist.
Referee: Carlos Miguel Taborda Xistra (Portugal)
