Cork City's John Caulfield praises Sean Maguire as Preston move confirmed

Cork City will lose their leading scorer Sean Maguire at the end of July after it was confirmed this morning that the striker has agreed a deal to join Preston North End.

The confirmation of a move that was long flagged came after Maguire had scored his first hat-trick for City as they beat reigning champions Dundalk 3-0 at Oriel Park to open up a huge 18-point lead at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

As a League of Ireland export, Maguire follows in the footsteps of Dundalk’s Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle to the Championship club where the strong Irish contingent also includes Aiden McGeady, Greg Cunningham and Alan Browne.