Keating pounces at the death to secure vital point for City
POACHER: Ruairí Keating of Cork City, right, celebrates with teammate Barry Coffey after scoring. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Chants of ‘we are staying up’ rang out from the away section after Ruairi Keating’s stoppage-time equaliser snaffled Cork City a precious point.
Title-chasing St Patrick’s Athletic looked set to complete a hat-trick of wins over City – and accumulate their 31st point from 39 under the reign of Jon Daly that began with a win on Leeside – as Jack Mulraney’s pinpoint curler had them in command by the break.
It was also the left foot of Keating that found the same net; his predatory skills were there to admire by making space on the left side of the box and driving his eight goal of the season low into the far corner.
Having followed a four-match winning run, with two defeats and last week’s scrappy draw at home to Drogheda, City needed points to reignite their push to escape the relegation playoff berth.
Liam Buckley has long awaited the transfer window since he was first headhunted, initially, as Director of Football, and laterally as caretaker boss until the end of the season.
That opened on Saturday, allowing him to recruit Conor Drinan and Tiernan Brooks, with the latter one of five changes to the side he felt underperformed against their closest rivals for that dreaded shootout with First Division promotion hopefuls.
The new goalkeeper will certainly recall his debut, one that lasted only 55 minutes. It soon became apparent the Saints were targeting the newcomer, an Ireland U21 international signed from Notts County, with corners lobbed right into the six-yard box to test him under pressure.
Those examinations were passed, as was his first real shot to repel from Jamie Lennon’s 25-yard thunderbolt but two late challenges while in possession, the first costing Mulraney a booking, left him in the wars.
Medical treatment was administered on each occasion and, try as he did to soldier on, a stopper hobbling on a wounded ankle was of no use to the Rebel Army.
He could at least take solace from the fact he was helpless to avoid crowning his bow with a clean sheet.
There was reason for St Pat’s to revel in beating Shamrock Rovers and Derry City to the capture of Mulraney, for his pace and precision he possesses are vital commodities in a congested 10-team league.
Oscillating across wings since returning from the Major Soccer League, it was from the right flank that he inflicted damage on City this time.
Teenager John O’Donovan, one of the quintet drafted in, was game in his assignment of tracking the tricky winger but six minutes before the interval he was unsighted from Chris Forrester’s pass into Mulraney’s feet.
From there, the ex-Ireland U21 winger still had work to do but executed his trademark manoeuvre to cut inside to the edge of the box and find the top corner with his lethal left foot.
City were, by then, still reeling at Scottish referee David Dunne for penalising Tunde Owolabi for a shove on his way to smashing the ball past Dean Lyness.
Frustration upgraded to exasperation during a glut of first-half stoppage time minutes when Cian Bargary’s cross struck the arm of Anto Breslin, without the guest official shrilling his whistle.
The Saints, who travel to Luxembourg next Wednesday to face Dudelange in the Conference League, were thankful to Breslin for rescuing them two minutes after the break.
Ally Gilchrist and captain Cian Coleman were both surprise exclusions from the team but the latter made an instant impact upon being introduced at the break by connecting with a right-sided corner, only for his header to be cleared off the line by Breslin.
Buckley tried various alternatives, including the springing of Cian Murphy off the bench, and while substitute stopper Jimmy Corcoran touched Conor Carty’s shot onto the post at one end, Dean Lyness also turned away one from Keating with 10 minutes left.
The man wanted badly by Derry City would get another opening for redemption, gobbling it up to at least keep the buffer to Drogheda at a mere two points.
Enough of a celebration for City fans to find their voice.
D Lyness; H Brockbank (D Norman 63), S Curtis, J McGrath, A Breslin; J Lennon, B McCormack (T Lonergan 75); J Mulraney, C Forrester (T Timmermans 90+2), M Doyle (A Murphy 63); C Carty (E Doyle 75).
T Brooks (J Corcoran 55); K Čustović, J Häkkinen (C Coleman 46), J Honohan; C Bargary, A Bolger (A Gilchrist 83), B Coffey, J O’Donovan (C Drinan 55); J O’Brien Whitmarsh; R Keating, T Owolabi (C Murphy 67).
David Dunne Attendance: 3,945.
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