Early stages but winger Dennehy feels return to Cork was right decision

A return to Cork City was always something Billy Dennehy envisaged.

The winger spent the 2009 season in Cork, which ended with the club under Tom Coughlan’s ownership being wound up, but re-signed after a successful four-year stint with Shamrock Rovers.

City go into tonight’s SSE Airtricity League Premier Division clash with Bray Wanderers at Turner’s Cross (7.45pm) seeking to make it seven points from their opening three games and Dennehy is delighted with the choice he has made.

“To be honest, I could see it myself after a week or two of pre-season,” he said. “I was thinking to myself that we have a really strong squad here. We’ve a great bunch of lads, a team that’s willing to work hard for each other.

“We’ve got a couple of good results and we just want to carry that into the next couple of games. You have the sense now that everyone is pulling in the one direction, which is a massive thing. Everybody in the club is trying to push it in the one way, it’s a collective thing and everyone is trying their best.”

That City are now managed by John Caulfield was a big factor for Tralee native Dennehy, who won a Munster MFC medal with Kerry in 2004.

“I knew that John was my type of manager, my type of guy,” he said.

“Himself and [assistant manager] John Cotter, they set the standards for us every day in training and it’s up to us to reach them.

“They’re at us every day demanding the best from us, nothing but 100%, and to be fair there’s a great bunch of lads that want to do that. We want to get better, we want to keep improving, I’m sure that we’ll all fight for each other.

“There’ll be times when things aren’t going our way, everything won’t always be great, but from what I can feel, everybody’s together and trying to do the right things. That will stand us in good stead when push comes to shove.”

The move back to Leeside has also afforded him the chance to play alongside his brother, centre-back Darren, for the first time in over a decade. Darren’s winner against Derry City last Sunday has put him ahead in the goalscoring stakes, but Billy is adamant it will be temporary.

“We haven’t played together since we were kids, U15 or 16 maybe,” he said. “We played against each other once or twice in England, which was unusual, but it’s great to be back playing together now in a senior side.

“It’s great for Darren because he had a difficult couple of years. People didn’t understand the extent of his injury, he was told by a lot of people that he wouldn’t be able to play again.

“For him to score and us to get the win was unbelievable, but once he doesn’t score more goals than me I’ll be happy!”