Victory over Rovers testament to Cork spirit, says Murray

CORK CITY skipper Dan Murray believes Tuesday night’s victory over Shamrock Rovers was a tribute to the spirit and unity of the players in the face of the recurring financial problems faced by the club.

“We’ve grown closer as the season has gone on, with everything going against us off the pitch,” he said, after City had come from behind to beat the title-chasers 1-2 in Tallaght.

“It’s a release for us to try and play a little bit of football and that was great for everyone.

“The enthusiasm and the effort was magnificent and I think the result showed that. The changing room was buzzing afterwards and that’s all we’re looking to do now.

“We’re looking to concentrate on the football until the end of the season and then what happens from there off the pitch happens. All we have to do is concentrate on the football, and if we finish in third place it will be a great, great achievement for everyone.”

City’s participation in the game was only confirmed seven hours before kick-off when payment of late wages by bank draft saw City player’s lift their threat of strike action and travel to Dublin. Murray said that a strike would have been a last resort.

“Nobody wanted to strike, not one player in that team wanted to strike,” he said. “To be honest, I believed they would come up with the wages. I didn’t think they would leave it so late but the only way we seem to get things done is by pushing it to the brink.

“We got paid and we had to put in a performance against Rovers because, if we’d let ourselves down again by losing a game, it probably gives people ammunition to knock us. So it was good.”

Having called on chairman Tom Coughlan to step aside earlier in the day, Murray softened his stance in the aftermath of the game in Tallaght.

“I think it was a bit heat of the moment,” he said of his earlier comments on television. “He’s come in when we were in examinership and tried to put the club in the right way. I think he probably needs some help now, that’s probably more important than anything.”

Manager Paul Doolin declined to be drawn on the latest controversy after the game.

“At the moment, I’m not going to comment,” he said. “I’d prefer to leave it until the end of the season. I think it would be wrong because of the performance. We’re trying to finish in third and we’ll see at the end of the season.”

Meanwhile, club officials last night sought to explain the cause of a power cut that impacted on a youth training session on Tuesday evening.

Paul Bowdren’s side, current FAI Youth Cup champions, went without showers as the Bishopstown training ground was plunged into darkness.

But this was due to a routine, if a little mistimed, maintenance shutdown aimed at downgrading the electricity supply from a so-called Phase Three or industrial supply to the more frugal Single Phase.

Phase Three had been in place since the days when the ground’s floodlights were in use and the switch is aimed at saving 80% on the monthly bill, down from €2,000.