Cork City moved twelve points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity Men's First Division as they overcame Treaty United at a sun-drenched Markets Field on Monday night.
In the past, these games had been quite sticky. Despite City’s eventual canter to the title, 2024 saw the sides draw in each of their four league meetings.
And the opening game of this campaign seemed destined for the same outcome until Ruairi Keating struck in the dying embers to snag the victory.
For all that might have suggested potential parity, 21 points had been wedged between the sides since the final whistle on opening night – from top to bottom.
It therefore seemed unlikely that Keating’s strike would once again be the only difference between the teams in this one after his spot-kick gave the Rebel Army the lead midway through the opening half.
This was a rearranged fixture from earlier in the month when the Garryowen venue fell victim to a downpour. At time of kickoff in this one, it was twenty-seven degrees. A victory for both sides of the summer football debate, really.
And while the prospect of playing on a waterlogged surface would have made for subpar entertainment, the scorching heat limited both sides early on in this.
It seemed fitting, then, that only a couple of minutes after the mandated water break, Conor Brann picked out Hans Mpongo brilliantly. The Dutchman’s first touch was sublime, and only a foul inside the box could prevent him from opening the scoring.
Ruairi Keating wouldn’t be stopped from the subsequent penalty though – brilliantly dispatching out of the reach of Jack Brady. It was just Keating’s third goal of the campaign, and only his second since he broke Treaty hearts back in February.
You would have thought chasing a game in the heat would prove incredibly difficult for a side rooted to the bottom of the division, but City needed Conor Brann on a couple of occasions in the second half.
His most timely intervention came after a good move down the Treaty right flank, when Steven Healy, who had recovered possession inside his own half, sent Mark Byrne one-v-one with the City number one. He got down well to maintain his side’s cushion.
Charlie Lyons did have the ball in the net after Conor Drinan’s free-kick ricocheted into his path, but the linesman raised his lag in enough time to avoid controversy.
To suggest any more goalscoring chances would inflate the communal display, but on an evening where the tenth-placed hosts gave as good as they got, the league leaders moved one step closer to the top tier, and those in attendance can still catch the last of the rays on their way home, nobody will mind too much.
Treaty United: Jack Brady; Darren Nwankwo, Robbie Lynch, Kyle Foley; Eric Yoro (Ronan Manning, 72), Steven Healy, Mark Murphy (Jason Folarin Oyenuga, 72), Mark Byrne, Ben Lynch; Ben Feeney (Brian Cunningham, 84); Cian Curtis.
Cork City: Conor Brann; Harry Nevin, Charlie Lyons, Fiacre Kelleher, Conor Drinan; Greg Bolger (AJ Bridge, 70), Darragh Crowley, Niall O’Keefe; Cillian Murphy (Donal O’Connor, 86), Ruairi Keating (Matthew Murray, 77), Hans Mpongo.
Referee: John Sconnie Walsh.
