An own goal and a Stephen Dooley strike saw Cork City beat Finn Harps 2-0 at a rain-soaked Turner’s Cross and maintain pressure on SSE Airtricity League leaders Dundalk.
The gap between the sides remains at four points, and City are running out of time as there are now just four league fixtures remaining.
A hardy crowd of 2,023 saw torrential rain pour down throughout the match and large puddles of standing water visible on the pitch by full time. Playing conditions were extremely tough for both teams as a result – even dangerous at time.
City went ahead just before half time when Kevin O’Connor’s corner was turned into his own net by Damien McNulty.
Dooley then secured all three points when he combined with Sean Maguire to blast the ball home just short of the hour mark.
Gearoid Morrissey’s failure to regain full match fitness meant that John Caulfield named an unchanged side from the team beaten by Dundalk earlier in the week.
Injury concerns, however, forced Harps boss Ollie Horgan into changes. Josh Mailey replaced Keith Cowan in the heart of the back four, while Dave Scully and Adam Hanlon were included at the expense of Sean Houston and BJ Banda, both of whom dropped to the bench.
Houston had been an injury concern ahead of kick off; Banda, for his part, is expected to be involved with the club’s U19 side in their league semi final against UCD on Sunday.
The visitors went into the game looking to stretch their recent unbeaten run to four games but lost the services of Michael Funston in the first minute after he sustained a nasty head injury in a clash with Garry Buckley and had to be substituted after medical care. The injury saw Tony McNamee introduced to the action with just three minutes on the clock.
A fine ball from Kenny Browne set O’Connor racing down the left on nine minutes. The full back’s pace saw him reach the ball before it went out of play but his whipped cross inside had too much pace for Karl Sheppard to control and he blazed his effort horribly into the stand.
A free kick from Greg Bolger drifted wide in the 20th minute, while Maguire couldn’t wriggle his way free from the attention of Adam Hanlon to get a clean shot away on goal three minutes later.
The visitors registered their first attempt on 26 minutes. A driving run by Gareth Harkin saw Tony McNamee try his hand from distance but Mark McNulty watched it fly wide. Another break by Ethan Boyle five minutes later saw Dave Scully muster an effort on target though the Cork goalkeeper would not be beaten on this occasion either.
As the game ticked towards half time, concerns grew about the levels of surface water on the pitch. Standing puddles halted Maguire in his tracks on 40 minutes before the vital breakthrough came just a minute before the half-time whistle.
City’s second corner of the evening saw O’Connor guide the set piece into the box and it deflected off the unfortunate Damien McNulty to beat Ciaran Gallagher in the Harps goals.
The second half failed to get into any sort of rhythm as rain continued to pour without any let up. Maguire’s attempted pass stopped dead in a puddle of water on 52 minutes and all eyes watched referee Robert Rogers for a short while.
The all-important second goal arrived on 59 minutes. Maguire’s pinpoint ball set Stephen Dooley clear through on Gallagher and the winger took a couple of touches before firing to the back of the net.
The Harps bench were up in arms and appealing for a penalty kick from Rogers on 65 minutes after substitute BJ Banda was clattered in the box by McNulty, while the latter was clearing his line. The referee had no interest though, and play continued.
And, despite half chances for McNamee and Maguire in the final minutes, goal chances were scarce in the conditions and remained so.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; Steven Beattie, Alan Bennett, Kenny Browne, Kevin O’Connor (Dave Mulcahy ’71); Greg Bolger; Karl Sheppard, Gavan Holohan (Mark O’Sullivan ’54), Garry Buckley, Stephen Dooley (Colin Healy ’81); Sean Maguire.
Substitutes: Danny Morrissey, Michael McSweeney, Chiedozie Ogbene, Eric Grimes.
Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; Ethan Boyle, Damien McNulty, Josh Mailey, Ciaran Coll; Gareth Harkin; Michael Funston (Tony McNamee ‘4), Barry Molloy (BJ Banda ’64), Adam Hanlon; Dave Scully, Ryan Curran.
Substitutes: Packie Mailey, Richard Brush, Daire O’Baoill, Tommy McMonagle, Sean Houston.
Referee: Robert Rogers
