Keane confident of agreeing O’Donovan transfer
Keane was speaking after his side came from behind to level matters through a sublime Liam Miller goal after Denis Behan had given City a 57th minute lead.
But City manager Damien Richardson conceded that it’s now likely that O’Donovan has played his last game for the Leesiders, but Keane didn’t want to elaborate on the ins and outs of the game.
“Talks are on-going at the moment,” said Keane. “We’ll all be happy by the end of the week; that is Roy, ourselves and Cork City. I’m sure it will be sorted out in the next day or two.
“I don’t really want to go into the situation. Like I said before until the player signs on the dotted line you never know.
“I spoke to Peter Walker and Niall (Quinn) and we like to do things properly and we certainly will do that over the next few days. The priority is to make sure that everyone is happy enough with the deal. I’m confident there will be.”
Keane also praised the resilience of the City side and believes the eircom League is on the way up. He also singled out Colin Healy’s contribution and believes he can still make an impact cross-channel.
“All credit to Cork. The League of Ireland is very, very good because players know how to tackle, their fitness levels have obviously improved over the last few years. We know it was going to be a difficult game, and then when you go behind I was delighted with our players reaction. We had more than enough chances.
“I thought it was very good workout for us. I was very happy with the team’s performance, especially the second half, not so much the first half. It was an ideal game in terms of our preparation and where we’re heading. I was delighted with the players, their attitude was spot on, we’ve enjoyed it and we move on to Galway.”
The large Sunderland following fell silent when Denis Behan knocked in the opening goal from a Liam Kearney corner 12 minutes into the second half. But the Black Cats upped the ante with the performances of new signing Glen Halford and captain Dean Whitehead were eye-catching.
Liam Miller’s 75th minute goal too was special as he cut through the Cork defence and dispatched with aplomb.
“I’m delighted for Liam. I spoke to the players at half-time, and I’m encouraging players all the time to go out and enjoy it and I don’t think they enjoyed the first half. They certainly did it the second half. I told them to go and out and enjoy it and they did that and we had plenty of chances.
“I was delighted for him and obviously Liam being from Cork it was nice to see him score.”
‘Keano’ was, as expected accorded a warm Cork welcome, chased by a phalanx of photographers as he tried to cut out a route to his dug out. The atmosphere, the humour, and the banter emanated mainly from the Shed End, though for a long period after the final whistle they sung passionately in tones and words that demonstrated their disregard for English football, and how important it is to support your local club.
A packed Turner’s Cross, a demand for tickets that exceeded expectations; if only all nights at the Cross could be like this.
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