Penalty nightmare as City's dreams shattered

Cork City 1 Bohemians 1

The cards were all stacked against them and they had to win last night and hope arch-rivals Shels lost. It was not to be.

A resolute Bohemians, missing several regulars, eked out a draw thanks to a dodgy refereeing decision and City's inability on the night to score more than one goal, but it was the results elsewhere which ultimately mattered most.

Nevertheless, with just six minutes gone at Turner's Cross, the capacity crowd could see their title aspirations vanishing in front of their eyes after referee Ian Stokes' hugely contentious decision to award Bohemians what was at best a dubious penalty.

The wily Tony Grant was found in space wide on the left and Devine, alert to the danger in the Cork goal, rushed out to challenge the Bohs' striker. To even the most impartial observer it appeared that Devine not only tackled Grant and won the ball but appeared to do so outside the area. The tackle had, in fact, been effected just inside the area, but Devine certainly won the ball without touching the onrushing forward.

Grant, however, buckled under the challenge in the most dramatic fashion and, despite the fact he landed at least three feet outside the area, the referee did not see the tackle the same way as the majority of the home team and fans.

Mr Stokes immediately pointed to the spot to the incredulity of the entire Cork team and most of the attendance. After several minutes' wrangling, during which time the referee yellow carded Devine, but did not send him off - indicating further to the home crowd that a major injustice had been perpetrated - Grant had to be removed from the pitch for treatment.

Kevin Hunt then stepped up to take the penalty and hit it low and hard to Devine's right. The goalie got down magnificently to save it, but the ball rebounded off his hands and Bohs' Stephen Caffrey was the first to react, slotting the ball home comfortably.

The collective shock at Bohs' taking the lead filtered through the ground and there was an air of unreality about the proceedings as everyone now realised that what had been an uphill challenge at best was suddenly a Himalayan experience.

It took a long time for both sides to re-gather their concentration and the play was quite broken and uncoordinated for long spells.

For the remainder of the half, goal chances weren't exactly thick on the ground and the game was becoming notable for the tension it was generating rather than any memorable football.

Into the second half, it was not looking good for City, particularly as the news from Dublin indicated that Shels were on course for the draw they needed.

Then, more or less out of the blue, Billy Woods equalised. Lopes controlled the ball in midfield and found Danny Murphy who in turn fed a lovely ball through to Woods on the edge of the Bohs' area and his low shot to the bottom left corner beat Gregg.

However, as the match unfolded, it seemed City were not going to be able to climb this Everest. Then the news filtered in that Shels had got their draw and the City faithful realised they were going to have to wait for another year for a title they so desperately desire.

CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan (Fenn 84), O'Halloran, Murray (Capt.), Murphy (Behan) ; C.T. O'Brien (Lopes, 66 mins), Gamble, Kearney, Woods; Doyle, O'Flynn.

BOHEMIANS: Gregg; Lynch, McNally, Oman, Heary; Rice, Caffrey, Hunt (Capt.), Keddy; Cooney, Grant (Bracken, 23 mins).

Referee: I. Stokes (Dublin).