CORK CITY continued their impressive march up the league table when they outscored Home Farm/Everton in an abrasive contest at Turner's Cross yesterday.

Cork stretched their unbeaten run to six matches and condemned Home Farm to at least one other week at the foot of the premier division table, thanks to a bright performance by their front running players.

Had they taken their chances, they would have won more convincingly. One of the interesting asides to the contest was John Caulfield's quest for his elusive 100th league goal. The Cork City captain has been stuck on 99 for two weeks, but was desperately unlucky not to reach the target, for he had two great scoring opportunities denied by goalkeeper Brian O'Shea, then had the ball in the net only to be whistled back for an obscure infringement, before winning a penalty which earned victory for his side.

Caulfield was tripped in the penalty area by John Coady after 72 minutes - a transgression that was greeted with ironic cheers from the home fans who had been frustrated at Coady's repeated attempts to waste time in the second half. Although some fans called for Caulfield himself to take the penalty, it was instead struck home by Kelvin Flanagan for a deserved lead.

Cork had gone in front after 23 minutes when full back Declan Daly fired a shot home from a narrow angle. That lead was cancelled after 35 minutes, when Karl Gannon picked up a deflection by Flanagan on the edge of the penalty area to shoot powerfully home.