Disputed goal sinks City

Shamrock Rovers 2 Cork City 1

Cork goalkeeper Mick Devine complained that he was impeded as he attempted to save and colleague Alan Bennett complained to the referee’s assistant. But in the absence of a video referee, there was no question of disallowing it.

“I was blocked off as I went for the cross and I could not believe it when the goal was allowed stand. I felt I should have had a free out,” Devine said.

Shamrock Rovers’ manager Liam Buckley commented: “In fairness the ball took a deflection going into the net and to be honest I didn’t really see it.”

Cork City manager Pat Dolan was not so happy, however. “We lack that bit of cuteness. I said to the referee that our goalkeeper believed he was impeded and the referee said he may have been but nobody complained. That’s the sort of cuteness I mean and we’ll have to look at it on TV to see whether it was a mistake or not.”

It had looked as if Devine was unbalanced by a challenge from Trevor Molloy as he attempted to reach the cross from Lacy. Substitute Tony Grant got his head to the ball and Cork substitute Robert Hedderman deflected the ball over the line with his knee as he attempted to clear.

It was a dramatic end to the match, for 89 minutes had elapsed on the clock when Rovers claimed their winner. Cork had looked capable of winning for much of the game after the prolific John O’Flynn had contributed another cracking goal to their cause as early as the 22nd minute.

One could not complain at the result, however, for Rovers came back very strongly in the second half when they controlled the game.

But, in truth, no team could afford to defend as deeply as Cork did for 45 minutes and hope to survive.

Rovers were the more constructive team and their second half grip on the game in midfield was decisive.

Grant scored Rovers equalising goal in the 59th minute when he headed home another Lacy cross and his powerful running made him a difficult opponent for Neal Horgan.

Said Manager Dolan: “It’s a disappointment to lose our unbeaten record after maintaining it for about ten matches since the start of the season. I cannot fault the players for effort but we lacked a little quality on the ball in certain areas.”

Liam Buckley reckoned that, on their second half performance, they deserved to sneak it.

“It was a big result for us to beat the League leaders and we’ve had a fairly good start even though we drew three matches."

Buckley predicted a good season for Cork as well and, while generously conceding that they had been favoured by the bounce of the ball as regards the winning goal, he added: “The fact is we deserved to get more from our drawn games. When I look at last week’s result with Bohs (1-1) I will gladly take this.”

Cork’s disappointment should stem from their inability to control the ball with a greater degree of composure in the second half. In the first half their approach was excellent and they were the superior team.

Their goal came when O’Callaghan sent O’Flynn sprinting down the inside-right channel and his right-foot shot from 25 yards was low and precisely measured wide of Barry Ryan’s searching right hand.

But the strikers suffered in the second half when their supply was choked off in midfield where Greg O’Halloran alone played with any consistency.

Lacy was the one to hit the trigger point for Rovers by crossing for Stephen Grant to head the equaliser in the 59th minute and to create the situation that produced the winner.

Teams: Shamrock Rovers (4-4-2): Ryan; Gough, Palmer, Byrne, Keddy; Lacy, Colwell, Reynolds, S. Grant; Molloy, Kelly (T. Grant 82). Cork City (4-4-2): Devine; Horgan (C. P. O’Brien 89), Bennett, Murray, Cronin; Doyle (Warren 80), O’Grady, O’Halloran, Woods (Hedderman 72); O’Flynn, O’Callaghan. Referee: Mr. H. Whoriskey (Dublin).