Recalling Cork City’s four greatest European successes

Dave Ludzik looks at four of City’s best wins at Turner’s Cross...

Cork City 1 Bayern Munich 1 (18/9/91)

Will anyone ever forget Dave Barry’s first half goal as Cork City held the mighty Bayern Munich to record what remains the most famous result in City’s European football history?

Nobody gave Noel O’Mahony’s City a prayer going into the Uefa Cup first-round tie against the German aristocrats, and their star player Stefan Effenberg was dismissive of any notion City could cause an upset before the game.

However, Effenberg’s comments seemed to rile the City players, who turned in a magnificent display at Musgrave Park and Barry smashed home the opener from outside the box to send the home support into dreamland.

German international Effenberg did equalise for Jupp Heynckes’ side, who escaped with a draw before two late goals in the second leg at Munich’s old Olympic Stadium saw the German’s advance 3-1 on aggregate.

Cork City 2 Cwmbran Town 1 (1/9/93)

One of the most exciting finishes ever at Turner’s Cross as City recorded their first European win in dramatic fashion to advance to the Champions League second qualifying round.

Damien Richardson’s side were fully expected to account for the Welsh champions when the draw was made but found themselves 3-0 down at half-time in Wales before John Caulfield and Anthony Buckley scored in the second half as it finished 3-2.

Cwmbran again took the lead in Cork and led 4-2 on aggregate with only 16 mins left.

However, Pat Morley pulled one back and Johnny Glynn got the winner five minutes from time as a packed Turner’s Cross erupted and City advanced on away goals.

City narrowly bowed out in the next round to the might of Galatasary, who had a side packed with internationals and knocked Manchester United out in the following round.

Cork City 2 CSKA Kiev 1 (13/8/98)

Another fantastic home performance saw City defeat the Ukraine’s CSKA Kiev in the first leg of the European Cup-Winners Cup preliminary round tie.

Dave Barry’s City shocked the visitors as Kelvin Flanagan scored from the penalty spot and a Derek Coughlan header saw them race into a 2-0 half-time lead.

However, CSKA did score an important away goal right at the death and followed that up with a 2-0 win in the Ukrainian capital.

Cork City 1 0 NEC Nijmegen (14/6/07)

Another capacity crowd at Turner’s Cross saw City advance to the quarter-final stages of the Intertoto Cup as they shocked Dutch side NEC Nijmegen 1-0.

After drawing the first leg 0-0 in the Netherlands, City fancied their chances of upsetting their more illustrious opponents at home and Kevin Doyle headed home what proved to be the winner two minutes into the second half.

Unfortunately, Pat Dolan’s side couldn’t go further in the competition as French side Nantes proved too strong in the quarter-final.