Cork rue penalty miss in stalemate

Cork City 1 Dublin City 1

Goalkeeper Barry Ryan was the hero of the day for Dublin as he turned aside O'Callaghan's strike and his save was the catalyst that sparked Dublin to produce their most invigorating performance of the season.

It may already be too late for Dublin to save their Premier Division spot but their fans should enjoy more fruitful days if they continue to play with the same drive and initiative they showed before 2,500 spectators.

Their youthful and experimental side were far from cowed by Cork's challenge and after they had survived some scary moments in the opening half, they turned around to drive substantial gaps in a Cork defence that found it difficult to counter their quick-moving attacking players.

Dublin worked extremely hard off the ball and the result was they were able to put together some attractive passing movements to Cork’s discomfort.

Centre-forward Gary O'Neill was a case in point and he had a very productive game as his ability to time his runs effectively and take up dangerous positions regularly troubled Cork.

All of this was something of a surprise for manager Roddy Collins, searching for a first point in his third match and introducing three new signings - Keith Rowland, Shaun Byrne and Adam Rundle.

He had reason to feel well satisfied with his initiative for all three played effectively against a Cork side that failed to play with the desired passion or urgency until after they had fallen behind.

Cork were forced to compensate for the absence of the injured John O'Flynn once again and it gave manager Pat Dolan the opportunity to give Joe Gamble, who previously played with Barnet, his home debut. Gamble moved the ball effectively but Cork were slow to commit players in attack and too often left Neale Fenn and Kevin Doyle isolated.

Doyle, on more than one occasion, carried the ball deep into Dublin's territory only to find he was left with no option but to delay matters while waiting for support. While Cork played attractively, missing was the fire they needed to capitalise on the majority possession they enjoyed.

They knew they faced a difficult task when they failed to take advantage of their first-half scoring opportunities and Dublin jumped in front in the 53rd minute. Rowland's free from half-way bobbled about the goalmouth until O'Neill smashed a shot against the upright and substitute Robbie Farrell steered home the rebound.

O'Neill had been unlucky three minutes earlier when his header clipped the ball and flew over and Dublin always troubled Cork in dead-ball situations, principally because Mark Kenny's delivery was invariably swift and accurate.

Billy Woods should have equalised in the 54th minute but he headed over from Fenn's left-wing cross and Liam Kearney powered a shot from 18 yards against the butt of an upright as Cork finally stepped up the tempo to the desired level. They deserved their equalising goal in the 74th minute when Alan Bennett maintained his good run of goals by turning in Kearney's right-wing corner.

CORK CITY (4-4-2): Devine; O'Brien, Bennett, Murray, Murphy; Woods, Gamble, O'Callaghan (Behan 89), Kearney; Doyle, Fenn (Nwankwo 58).

DUBLIN CITY (4-4-2): Ryan; Henry, O'Connor, Friel, Rowland; Byrne, Kenny, Tierney (O'Connor 76), Rundle; O'Neill, Hynes (Farrell 46).

Referee: Mr. D. McKeon (Dublin).