Cork City 1-2 Dundalk
It may not quite have been a six-pointer at this early stage of the season, but Dundalk took a definite step ahead of the rest in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division with a 2-1 defeat of closest rivals Cork City at a sold-out Turner’s Cross.
The clash was a repeat of last season’s incredible finale but City look an even better prospect in 2015 and, after an intriguing opening half hour, went ahead through a deflected Billy Dennehy strike.
Dundalk got back on level terms in added time of the first half with Richie Towell firing home a loose ball from a corner, and then put the Lilywhites into the lead with a penalty kick three minutes into the second half.
John Caulfield welcomed back four players from injury: Alan Bennett, captain John Dunleavy, John O’Flynn and Karl Sheppard were all declared fit to start despite the latter three having been labelled as doubtful all week.
His counterpart, Stephen Kenny, made just one change to his starting XI, goalkeeper Gary Rogers back from an automatic suspension at the expense of Gabriel Sava.
With a huge crowd of 6,900 behind them, City started with intent. Dennehy burst through from midfield and let fly with a decent effort from just inside the penalty box inside the first minute, only to see his shot blocked by Dane Massey.
An attempt from Sheppard was cleared out for a corner a minute later, and the former Shamrock Rovers attacker nodded just over the crossbar from Healy’s resulting set piece.
A lovely ball from Ross Gaynor set O’Flynn away in the fifth minute, but the City number nine’s volley drifted wide with few other options available.
Ex-City man Daryl Horgan had the ball in the back of the net shortly afterwards, but the goal was disallowed for a foul on City keeper Mark McNulty during the build-up play.
Horgan, often in combination with Towell, proved to be Dundalk’s biggest threat initially, and kept City full-back John Kavanagh busy all night. Indeed, it was the winger who broke into the City box in the 13th minute and when his shot was deflected clear into the path of Towell, it was left to Bennett to block the danger.
Ronan Finn tried his luck from a tight angle moments later, but McNulty gathered at the second attempt.
Caulfield was forced into making an early chance to his plans with 19 minutes on the clock. Dunleavy went down clutching his knee and was replaced by Garry Buckley after receiving some brief treatment on the pitch.
Horgan, again, was the man causing problems just before the half-hour mark. The pint-sized Galway man unleashed a fine, looping effort from 25 yards and had McNulty beaten, only to see his effort rebound back off the crossbar.
The breakthrough, when it came, did include a rub of the green for the home side. Dennehy’s set piece took a deflection off Andy Boyle to unexpectedly beat Rogers at his near post in the 32th minute.
The winger attempted to double his team’s advantage with a long-range effort four minutes later but it was parried out for a corner by a diving Rogers.
A superb block from Kavanagh kept Dundalk at bay temporarily in the 42nd minute, when Darren Meenan thought he had forced an equaliser, but the visitors’ first goal would arrive four minutes later in added time when Towell lashed the ball home from a Meenan corner - after McNulty could only punch the ball away from his goal mouth.
Finn fired a long-range effort in on McNulty within seconds of the restart, but the City keeper had little difficulty in gathering the effort.
Buckley and Dennehy then combined well to force Boyle into a decent block, before Dundalk took the lead a minute later.
Bennett took down McMillan in the box after the striker burst through on goal, and referee Robert Rogers immediately pointed to the spot. With 48 minutes gone, Towell nabbed his second of the night by slotting his penalty to the right passed McNulty.
Playing into their beloved Shed End, Cork tried to respond through a series of set pieces.
Sheppard, Darren Dennehy and Billy Dennehy all had half-chances cleared but it was the league champions that came closest to scoring next with McMillan landing an effort on the post in the 64th minute after an initial attempt from substitute Stephen O’Donnell.
Mark O’Sullivan, on for John O’Flynn, came closest to grabbing a second for Caulfield’s side but was inches away from making contact with Buckley’s cross despite close attention from the Dundalk back four.
Darren Dennehy also glanced a header wide in added time but there was to be no late drama on Leeside.
Cork City FC: Mark McNulty; John Kavanagh, Alan Bennett, Darren Dennehy, Ross Gaynor (Rob Lehane ’84); Billy Dennehy, John Dunleavy (Garry Buckley ’19), Colin Healy, Liam Miller; John O’Flynn (Mark O’Sullivan ’66), Karl Sheppard.
Substitutes: Alan Smith, Dan Murray, Gavan Holohan, Kieran Djilali, Mark O’Sullivan.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Chris Shields; Richie Towell, Darren Meenan (John Mountney ’75), Ronan Finn (Stephen O’Donnell ’62), Daryl Horgan (Shane Grimes ’79); David McMillan.
Substitutes: Gabriel Sava, Kurtis Byrne, Paddy Barrett, Jake Kelly.
Referee: Robert Rogers
