Bennett rescues late point for City

Cork City 2 Shamrock Rovers 2

Two minutes of added time had elapsed when Cork grabbed a dramatic second equalising goal through centre-back Alan Bennett to deny Rovers the win their more constructive and more progressive football deserved.

Rovers were particularly impressive in the opening 20 minutes when their football was accurate and fast and it looked for a time as if they would dominate the home side.

But Cork came back with typical determination to dispute control of the game and although their football never flowed with the smooth balance of Rovers at their best, City battled with such persistence and such intensity that the visitors were fully stretched in the closing fifteen minutes.

The contest made for an entertaining night’s football before an estimated 4,000 fans and produced four splendid goals.

But none was greeted with quite the same exuberance as Cork’s second equaliser, a goal that stemmed from a move between Nigerian substitute Michael Nwankwo and Neal Horgan and ended with Kevin Doyle crossing for Bennett to head home.

In truth a second equaliser seemed unlikely for much of the game in which one of the chief talking points of a lively first half was the unconvincing performance of Dublin referee Eddie Barr. He was far too indulgent of players’ transgressions and inevitably an element of indiscipline crept into the play.

Typical of his lack of decisiveness was his decision to ignore a petulant reaction from Stephen Grant when he kicked the ball away after being whistled back for an infringement in the 37th minute.

Even less acceptable was his failure to award a penalty to Denis Behan when he was thrown to the ground by Stephen McGuinness in the 34th minute.

Rovers’ unease in the 20 minutes before half-time was surprising given their bright opening. They jumped in front after 14 minutes when Trevor Molloy cleverly back-heeled the ball down the right wing for the excellent Shane Robinson to cross to the far post.

Glen Fitzpatrick was unmarked as he steered the ball in with his instep.

The fervour in Cork’s come-back was reflected in yellow card bookings for Rovers’ Jason Colwell and Keith Doyle before half-time and in the midst of their growing concern, Cork scored a stunning goal.

Full-back Trevor Croly was under pressure from Liam Kearney when he got his head to a cross from Kevin Doyle and Neal Horgan snapped up the ball to drive a left-foot shot home from 20 yards.

Denis Behan stretched Tony O’Dowd with a powerful shot from 30 yards within five minutes of the start of the second-half but from there on Rovers gradually played themselves into a dominant position.

Robinson, who was always a problem for Cork, ran clear onto a glorious through pass from Rovers’ Moroccan midfielder, Samit Boughanem, in the 63rd minute and he carried the ball for 30 yards before finishing in style with a left-foot shot beyond Devine.

For so long it looked to be enough but Cork refused to concede and they earned a rich reward.

CORK CITY (4-4-2): Devine; Horgan, Coughlan, Bennett, Woods; Doyle, O’Grady (Nolan 78), K. Murray (Nwankwo 65), Kearney (C. P. O’Brien 78); Behan, O’Callaghan.

SHAMROCK ROVERS (4-4-2): O’Dowd; Croly, McGuinness, Palmer, Doyle; Robinson, Boughanem, Colwell, S. Grant; Fitzpatrick, Molloy (T. Grant 78).

Referee: E. Barr (Dublin).