MARKY: CORK CITY'S FOLK HERO

Cork City's Mark O'Sullivan demonstrated just why he is one of the League of Ireland's finest strikers with a brace at Turner's Cross in a 4-0 win against Bohemians last night, a dominant performance. He may not be the most glamorous of players, but for Cork City fans, he is their local hero.

D. Ray Morton, 1st August 2015.

Like last season, Mark O'Sullivan has forced his way into first-team football to the delight of the Cork City faithful

He may be in his thirties, has played amateur football for most of his career and is nothing like a fashionable "false 9" but in Mark O'Sullivan, Cork City have themselves a folk hero. City lie second in the SSE Airtricity League and are six points adrift of defending champions Dundalk and if they are to close the gap and provide a true title challenge, Mark might be their man. Direct, strong in the air and incredibly brave, since O'Sullivan forced his way back into City's starting XI, their form has improved considerably.

They hit a low point some weeks back after being eliminated from the Europa League by KR Reykjavik. After the final whistle went in a disappointing 1-1 first leg draw, O'Sullivan, having come off the bench, got stuck in winger Billy Dennehy who had been particularly wasteful on the night. The tension was evident and such matters should not spill out in public but the passion was definitely there. Dennehy has since been dropped, has looked for a move away and may end up sitting on the bench for the rest of the season. City played their best game of their campaign last night with new right-winger Steven Beattie impressing in Dennehy's stead.

But this game was all about O'Sullivan, the fan favourite. A roofer by trade who was playing for local club Avondale two years ago, manager John Caulfield took a chance on him and when given a run of games, he has consistently delivered. He opened the scoring after only two minutes with a beautifully improvised close-range finish thanks to good work from Beattie out wide. He extended the lead before half-time with a placed indirect free-kick that flew through the shoddy Bohs defensive wall. On top of this, he hit the woodwork twice and was unlucky not to come away with a hat-trick.

There is a tendency in Irish football to look at the elite level of the game and to try and copy it. O'Sullivan is quite the opposite of this. He is very much the traditional, old-fashioned centre forward. A player that kind of does everything. He is neither a target man or a poacher. A grafter, a battler and a goal threat. More Alan Shearer than Alan Patrick and that is what City fans like about him. At the beginning of the season, without Marky (as he is affectionately known), it was too intricate and it did not work. Now they look dangerous again and could feasibly catch Dundalk with twelve games to go. O'Sullivan should be at the heart of that title assault.

CORK CITY FALL OFF THE TOP BUT HAVE REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

D. Ray Morton, 2nd May 2014.

Dundalk's Oriel Park was the scene for Cork City's heavy 4-0 defeat tonight

Cork City's undefeated streak came to end tonight thanks to heavy 4-0 away defeat to Dundalk. City fall into third, level on points with St. Patrick's Athletic as Dundalk go top . City and Pats have a game in hand each, however. A tough result to swallow for a side that, against expectations, have had a great start to the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division. As the season kicks into the business side of things with most teams having played ten or eleven games, what next for the Leesiders?

City fall off the top but can go joint 1st with St. Pats if they get back to winning ways

City's start to the season has been one of relative over-achievement. With a small squad, they have had to use a rigid 4-5-1 formation and play direct football which has been especially effective at Turner's Cross where the small playing surface can frustrate opponents more used to playing an expansive game. Defending champions St Pats learned this early on the opening day of the season when their short passing game was stifled by City's aggression and fast breaks.

They have something of a striker crisis in that they have had to field third choice striker Mark O'Sullivan in most of their games. New signing Anthony Elding failed to impress on his debut and found his playing time limited due to his injury problems and lack of form. The Englishman had been expected to lead the line for City this season but has failed to impress thus far. O'Sullivan offers a better aerial option but perhaps isn't of the requisite quality for City to launch a serious title push.

Indeed, the side are now starting to suffer through injuries and suspensions and will need to turn this slump around quickly in order to revitalise their title challenge. They were very unfortunate last week to have a late winner ruled out against Bohemians and such points lost could be crucial at the end of the season. Billy Dennehy has had a flying start, usually playing as a right midfielder and sometimes switching wings with Liam Kearney, scoring seven goals so far. City are heavily reliant on the explosive Kerryman, however, and must ensure that he maintains his fitness and form for the rest of the campaign.

Winger Billy Dennehy has been City's stand-out star thanks to his seven league goals so far

There are positives City fans can draw out of this robust beginning of the season. With a thin budget, new manager and City hero, John Caulfield has managed to get the best out of his small squad on very limited resources. The club's legendary former striker is animated and passionate on the sidelines and will surely be furious with tonight's result. At this level, keeping motivation levels high is essential as the League of Ireland can be a rather brutal mistress when a campaign starts to lose its meaning. Dennehy's form is another positive and at 27, City can hope that he won't be lured across the Irish Sea as many younger prospects have done.

Going forward, there's a lot of optimism around Cork City. Wherever they finish, they can build on this promising start to the Caulfield era. They have one of the nicest, all-seater grounds in the League of Ireland and have a strong support base. Being a one-team city is an advantage over their Dublin rivals in the long run. Perhaps they should consider expanding the club at youth or reserve level. Of the teams in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division, City are in as good a shape as any other team to set up a "B" team like the one Shamrock Rovers will enter into the second tier next season.

As manager, "Johnny C" brings determination and a sound working knowledge of the club

A "B" Team would offer many advantages. It would allow inexperienced players to be blooded in with less pressure, would provide back-up for their stretched first team squad and players would likely play for either very little or for free. An amateur base feeding into a professional club on a limited budget could end up being a workable structure. Therefore, though City's strong start to the season has hit a snag with tonight's heavy defeat, the overall future of the club looks good compared to the financial mess they found themselves in some years back.

CORK CITY HOLD BRITTLE ST PATS

CORK CITY HOLD BRITTLE ST PATS

D. Ray Morton, 8th March 2014.

 

The Airtricity League of Ireland got under way last night with champions St. Patrick Athletic's visiting Turner's Cross to face Cork City. Played in front of a full house, the action was fast-paced and unpredictable as early season matches tend to be. There were crunching tackles aplenty from the home side who went in as 3/1 underdogs for the win. City racked up several yellow cards with their aggressive approach against a Pats side that couldn't find any real rhythm to their game. They struggled to create chances and their only real threat came from lofting set pieces at goalkeeper Mark McNulty who didn't appear to have the best of games. His distribution and catching was questionable throughout.

Despite this, City managed to look like more of a threat in the first half and managed to take the lead shortly before half-time thanks to a headed goal from midfielder Gary Buckley. Colin Healy floated a cross which was helped on by captain John Dunleavy and Buckley nodded home from close range to give the home side a good platform for the second half.

They didn't manage to hold on to the lead for very long after the restart. Lee Lynch crossed from the right to find Chris Fagan, one of the smallest men on the pitch, who somehow managed to escape City's centre halves and headed home to make it 1-1.

The game was changed as a contest several minutes afterwards. Dunleavy picked up a second yellow card and City were reduced to ten men forcing them to sit back and soak up pressure. Striker Anthony Elding was removed in favour of Mark O'Sullivan who made more of an impact aerially but at this point City were just hanging on. Despite ceding a lot of possession to the visitors, no real threat was evident as it seemed both sides were willing to settle for the draw.

All in all a good spectacle as a season opener. Turner's Cross was packed to the rafters and hopefully, City's performance was good enough to draw people back and keep attendance up for the rest of the season.

Cork City 1-1 St. Patrick's Athletic (Buckley 42'; Fagan 60')

Attendance: 5,000 approx.