John O'Flynn returned to the Cork City starting line-up to help fire them back to fourth place in the eircom League Premier Division with a flattering 3-0 defeat of Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds tonight.
O'Flynn, making his first start in almost two months, clinched the three points for the visitors with a superb second-half strike, after Roy O'Donovan had put the Leesiders ahead in the tenth minute.
Neale Fenn put an unfair gloss on the scoreboard with a third goal from a free-kick in the 90th minute.
The win takes Cork a point clear of their hosts and back into fourth spot but Rovers will curse their luck as they completely dominated the match for the hour that separated the two Cork goals.
Damien Richardson welcomed Joe Gamble back from suspension, while striker John O'Flynn started his first game in almost two months, with Dennis Behan among the absentees.
Rovers boss Sean Connor brought full-back Gavin Peers back into the side that beat Bohemians on Saturday.
The importance of the tie was clear after just nine minutes as former Cork player Conor O'Grady and Gamble literally got to grips with each other in the middle of the park and both earned a booking.
But Cork silenced the considerable home crowd just a minute later. Neale Fenn's cross from wide on the right looked too long but Billy Woods headed it back at the far post and the onrushing Roy O'Donovan crashed the ball to John O'Hara's net.
Rovers responded well and had strong claims for a penalty waved away when Gamble intercepted O'Grady's break into the box. The home fans appealed for a handball, but referee Paul Tuite saw nothing illegal.
O'Grady also saw two quick efforts charged down by the Cork defenders at the edge of the box on 20 minutes, but he was fortunate not to see a second yellow when he fouled O'Flynn at the other end five minutes later.
Rovers continued to dominate and should have levelled matters on 38 minutes. Chris Turner's free-kick found Adam Hughes in space on the edge of the six-yard box, but his header was stopped by Michael Devine at point-blank range. Rovers captain Michael McNamara could not direct the rebound into the empty net but the ball eventually made its way to O'Grady outside the box and his powerful drive bounced off the crossbar.
It didn't get much better for Rovers after the break. Striker Brian Cash picked up a serious looking injury after just eight minutes of the second-half. He was replaced by local hero Paul McTiernan, whose first act was to win his side a corner, although Rovers failed to make it count.
Some Harpal Singh trickery on the left forced Devine into a fisted clearance on the hour-mark as Rovers remained the better team but let themselves down with some poor passing in the crucial final third of the pitch.
Cork did threaten five minutes later when O'Flynn raced downfield and tried to release O'Donovan into the box, but O'Hara was quick off his line to avert the danger.
O'Grady went close with a lofted effort from the edge of the area on 74 minutes but Cork wrapped up the points with a superb goal from O'Flynn just two minutes later.
It all stemmed from a Sligo Rovers corner which was played to the edge of the area by Turner and intercepted by the Cork defenders. They worked the ball forward and O'Flynn sped past a weak challenge from Singh on the right and raced into the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
The second goal knocked the stuffing out of the home side and the defending champions grabbed a third when Keith Foy gave away a free at the edge of the box and Fenn blasted it to the top corner.
Sligo Rovers: John O'Hara, Gavin Peers, Michael McNamara, Liam Burns, Keith Foy, Adam Hughes, Chris Turner, Conor O'Grady (Fahrudin Kudozovic 83), Harpal Singh, Brian Cash (Paul McTiernan 53), Darren Mansaram.
Subs not used: Richard Brush, Gary Curran, Jamie MacKenzie.
Cork City: Michael Devine, Neal Horgan, Dan Murray, Neal Horgan, Danny Murphy, Alan Bennett, Roy O'Donovan, Colin O'Brien, Joe Gamble, Billy Woods (Cillian Lordan 75), John O'Flynn (Vinny Sullivan 87), Neale Fenn.
Subs not used: Mark McNulty, Admire Softic, Brian O'Callaghan.
Referee: Paul Tuite.
