City win out in goalfest at the Cross

Cork City 5 Shelbourne 3

Ciaran Kilduff scored four times to maintain Cork City’s excellent recent run as they beat Shelbourne 5-3 in a mistake-ridden game at Turner’s Cross.

Despite a bright start, Shels collapsed to a seventh defeat in nine league games to remain in desperate relegation trouble. John McDonnell’s Reds stay ahead of bottom side Bray Wanderers on goal difference but with a game more played.

Shels started positively with skipper Dean Kelly and Darren Tinnelly having early chances before they took a 22nd minute lead.

A bad mistake by Cork defender Gary Buckley, whose back pass fell way short, let Kelly in to calmly sweep the ball past ‘keeper Mark McNulty.

A blunder at the other end by Paul Andrews gifted Kildduff Cork's equaliser on 33 minutes.

Three minutes later, Shels failed to clear a cross from Daryl Horgan and Kilduff scored with a dipping right-foot volley from the edge of the box.

It got worse for Shels within a minute of the start of the second half when Shane Duggan played Danny Morrissey in to score their third from a tight angle.

Kelly got a second goal back for Shels when shooting home from Adam Hanlon’s pass on 66 minutes.

But Kilduff completed his hat-trick with a superb header from a Danny Murphy cross six minutes later.

Shels hit back again with Andrews scoring with a header from Hanlon’s cross on 83 minutes.

Kilduff was there again, though, to head in his fourth of the night - and 10th of the season - three minutes later from Gearoid Morrissey’s cross to give Cork a sixth win from their last eight in the league.