VIDEO: Cork City tormented by Towell

SSE Airtricity Premier Division

Not for the first time, Cork City were unable to do so at Turner’s Cross last night, as a capacity 6,900 crowd — and the watching TV audience — saw exactly why Stephen Kenny’s team are not only champions but a side committed to retaining its crown.

And the Lilywhites had to do it the hard way too, coming from behind through two more goals from Richie Towell to end City’s unbeaten run and open up a five-point lead atop the Premier Division.

In a pre-match boost for the home side, injury worries Karl Sheppard, John O’ Flynn and skipper John Dunleavy had all passed late fitness tests — though the optimism for the captain would, unfortunately, prove premature — while Dundalk were back to full strength with the return of goalkeeper Gary Rogers after serving a one-match suspension for his red card against Shamrock Rovers.

City boss John Caulfield deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Colin Healy and John Dunleavy sitting and Liam Miller — flanked by Karl Sheppard and Billy Dennehy — in the central playmaking role behind striker John O’Flynn.

And the attacking look to the side was given substance in the first minute when, after a sweeping move forced a corner, Sheppard got free in the box only to nod Healy’s set-piece over the top.

Full-backs Ross Gaynor and John Kavanagh also needed no second invitation to get forward but they had to be careful not to allow space for Dundalk to exploit, especially with Chris Shields a powerful presence at the heart of the team and the mercurial Daryl Horgan looking well up for it on his latest return to the Cross.

With the game zipping along, Mark McNulty was forced into his first save, from Ronan Finn, in the 14th minute as, true to manager Stephen Kenny’s word, the champions showed they had no intention of coming to the home of their nearest rivals and trying to park the bus.

Cork suffered a major blow minutes later when John Dunleavy fell awkwardly and had to be stretchered off, Gary Buckley coming on as his replacement, with Miller now forced to drop deeper.

And just short of the half-hour, the home side were within a whisker of going behind as Dundalk upped the pressure and Horgan rattled the bar with a drive from 25 yards.

But, in the 32nd minute, City turned the tables and took the lead in freakish fashion, as Billy Dennehy’s in-swinging cross appeared to elude friend and foe alike — though Andy Boyle may have made a slight contact — before ending up in the Dundalk net.

The goal might was against the run of play but, inspired to try his luck again, Dennehy then forced Rogers into a full-length dive to turn away the winger’s low drive, after he’d been neatly set up by the increasingly influential Healy.

But Dundalk are not champions for nothing and Mark McNulty’s weak attempt to punch clear a Darren Meenan corner landed at the feet of the last man he’d have wanted the ball to fall to. And in-form Richie Towell controlled the ball before driving powerfully into the roof of the net to end Cork’s run of home clean sheet.

It was just about the worst possible time for the home side to concede and, with Dundalk’s tails up, Towell tested McNulty right from the restart.

Then, barely a minute later, the visitors were in front, Towell this time converting from the spot — for his ninth goal in six games — after a terrific run by David McMillan was ended only when Darren Dennehy chopped him down in the box.

Roared on by the crowd, and Billy Dennehy leading by example, Cork responded with spirit and no little skill but, though the bulk of the game was now being played in the visitors’ half, Dundalk were always a potent threat on the counter, as when the hugely impressive McMillan thumped a shot off the post in the 65th minute.

Cork now went with two upfront, Sheppard joined by Mark O’Sullivan — on for O’Flynn — in search of the equaliser. Miller too was again into advanced areas as the green shirts poured forward at every opportunity.

Yet, for all the pressure and, with it, helter-skelter moments right under the noses of The Shed, Rogers’ goal was rarely directly threatened until Sheppard headed narrowly wide in the game’s very last act, as Dundalk’s defence proved to be as solid as their attack was clinical. The stuff, in other words, of champions.

Cork City: McNulty, Kavanagh, Bennett, D Dennehy, Gaynor (Lehane 83), B Dennehy, Healy, Miller, Dunleavy (Buckley 20), Sheppard, O’Flynn (O’Sullivan 66)

Dundalk: Rogers, Gannon, Boyle, Gartland, Massey, Meenan (Mountney 74), Towell, Shields, Finn (O’Donnell 62), Horgan (Grimes 79), McMillan

Referee: Rob Rogers (Dublin)