Cork City v Shelbourne Match Preview: Duff’s men look for back-to-back wins and can Nash stop the rot?
Friday’s clash at Turner’s Cross brings together two teams in desperate need of a run of results, with their respective eyes fixed on opposite ends of the table. Reigning champions Shelbourne are keen to avoid seeing their crown slip further so early in the season with Shamrock Rovers already stealing a nine-point march on the side that ended their dream of a fifth straight title last November.
Although Damien Duff’s men have stuttered in recent weeks, picking up only two wins in their past nine outings, they will view their trip to the Rebel County as an opportunity to build on last week’s 3-2 triumph over Sligo Rovers at Tolka Park. Cork City, meanwhile, might be able to draw some inspiration from the two sides’ previous encounter, a 1-1 draw back in March. Albeit only earning them a point, it was a performance widely regarded as one of City’s best, especially on the road, of an otherwise underwhelming return to the Premier Division so far.
Shelbourne: A Testing Time for the Champions
Since that last meeting, the title holders’ form has been rather inconsistent, with two of their four victories in the intermittent twelve matches coming against bottom-placed Sligo. It was a run that included a five-game winless spell, throwing their hopes of retaining the trophy in jeopardy. The importance of Friday night lies not only in the three points on offer for Duff’s men, that could propel them back into a European position ahead of the mid-season break, but in the momentum provided by securing back-to-back wins for the first time since matchday two. This will be much needed ahead of a testing run upon the return from the international fortnight when high-stakes Dublin derbies against Shamrock Rovers (H) and St Pats (A) are followed by the arrival of an in-form Derry City to Tolka Park, all in the space of eight days.
Duff has repeatedly mentioned how defensive lapses and individual errors have cost his team this season but was keen to praise his side’s resilience in the wake of last Friday’s success, having fallen a goal behind after less than two minutes: “There was so much good in it… the lads played with real freedom and expressed themselves really well.” It will no doubt be something the Shels boss will hammer home to his players ahead of the trip to Turner’s Cross, which he noted (as most LOI managers tend to do) is “always a tough place to go”, also touching on the added dimension of a new managerial arrival and the difficulty of preparing for a different, less predictable approach. “I doubt our lads will be surprised. We’ve warned them what’s coming”, Duff said speaking before the game, “they have a new manager, a proud city. They won’t lie down and accept it. It’s up to us to be at our best.”
Cork City: Hope to Desperation or Desperation to Hope?
City fans will be hoping to see the value of the much anticipated ‘new manager bounce’ in full effect on Friday, as Ger Nash takes charge of his first game at the Cross, having replaced Tim Clancy two weeks ago. His debut outing ended in disappointment after an 85th minute Conor McCormack strike sealed a 2-1 win for Galway at Eamonn Deacy Park, consigning the Rebel Army to a fourth straight defeat. A week prior, watching on from the stands in Inchicore, Nash witnessed his new team throw away a precious three points when, having led up until the 89th minute, St Pats then scored twice to make it 3-2 in stoppage time. Defensive fragility late on in games has been an unfortunate trend of the Leesiders’ campaign – the decisive goal in each of their last five defeats has come beyond the 80th minute (and as deep as the 95th and 96th).
Fixing a leaky backline and an apparent lack of resilience in the latter stages of matches will no doubt be one of Nash’s primary targets as he acclimatises to his first job in League of Ireland management, with the team still searching for an elusive first clean sheet of the season approaching the halfway mark. Solving the defensive frailties will go a long way to aiding the Corkmen’s survival bid, given that scoring goals has not been too much of an issue so far – even with extensive injuries at the top end of the pitch. For a club seemingly cut adrift in the drop zone, they have kept pace with the general goalscoring tallies of the rest of the league and hit the net in all but two of seventeen games to date. With twenty, City have bagged the same amount as fourth placed Bohemians and just one fewer than Shelbourne. It is the number thirty in the ‘against’ column that has placed them in what looks like a two-team scramble for a relegation play-off spot with Sligo, the only team to have conceded more (33).
Team News (On and Off the Pitch):
Ever since the opening matchdays, Cork City have been plagued by extensive injury absentees, although thankfully from Ger Nash’s perspective, the wave of casualties seems to be subsiding. While striker Ruairi Keating was ruled out for the rest of the season in early April, Friday might see Sean Maguire return to the starting line-up for the first time since the 3rd of March in what would be a welcome boost to City’s survival prospects should he remain fit. Elsewhere, the trio of Benny Couto, Malik Dijksteel and Harry Nevin are all edging closer to recovery but may have to wait until after the mid-season pause to get back into action.
The biggest news of the week for the Rebel Army came on Thursday, and although it was not player-related, it was nevertheless a positive piece of information to discover that the assistant manager role – which had been left vacant since Jamie Hamill departed in March – had finally been filled by David Meyler. The ex-Hull City and Sunderland midfielder returns to the club where he started his career, adding some much needed experience and ‘Corkness’ to a squad which had been operating under limited coaching personnel for the past few months – seemingly a key reason behind Tim Clancy’s decision to resign.
For the opposition, Damien Duff confirmed that both Sean Boyd and Sam Bone will miss the trip to Cork, while Paddy Barrett and Sean Gannon are only fit enough for the bench. Up top, the Reds’ boss may have a selection headache on his hands – albeit a positive one – following John Martin’s hat trick against Sligo last time out. Those goals brought Martin level with Ademipo Odubeku at the top of the Shels’ scoring charts, with the latter left on the sidelines a week ago. Against the Corkmen’s vulnerable rearguard, Duff may opt to start with both, leaving out Harry Wood, in a bid to build the confidence of his frontmen ahead of a crucial period.
The Dubliners arrive on Leeside with the aim of ending a five-game run without a win on the road, against a City team who, despite their struggles, have only lost twice at home this season. Building the anticipation for this fixture was the League of Ireland’s greatest marketing tool himself, Damien Duff, reminding everyone that “it’s Cork v Dublin, Turner’s Cross jammed, Shels v Cork City. It’s been like that for many many years… We know there’s fire coming…”
Prediction: Cork City 1-1 Shelbourne
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