JOHN CAULFIELD, a name synonymous with some celebrated reprieves for Cork City, again earned the gratitude of his team-mates in yesterday's Harp FAI Cup second round replay at Turner's Cross.

With Cork locked in an increasingly difficult tie, the striker produced the goal to earn them a place in tomorrow's quarter-final draw. Tony Connolly, a fledging talent at 20, produced a cross from the right and with Home Farm's central defenders for once hopelessly stranded, Caulfield made the decisive header from five yards.

His eighth goal of the season, and his first in five games, it was an important strike as Cork seek to salvage something from this demanding season with a protracted Cup run.

Having come within 60 seconds of winning the tie last Sunday, Home Farm will now focus the remainder of their season on winning promotion to the Premier Division. The level of their performance in both instalments of the tie suggests that they are capable of achieving their aim.

Yesterday, they sought to build on their performance of last Sunday with a re-built team which included Roddy Collins and Martin Duffy. While the end product was elimination, blame can't be attached to either of the men who came into the side.

Duffy, never less than dependable at left hack, was often the cool head under some sustained pressure in the opening half hour. At the other end, Collins quickly made his presence felt, troubling Hindmarch in the first 15 minutes before Dave Hill took over the marking job.

The visitors still came close to snatching a potentially decisive goal in the third quarter, at a stage when the game was still scoreless. Fran Hitchcock, largely ineffective in the opening 45 minutes, suddenly began to make his presence felt and came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Jody Byrne could not hold a firmly-struck shot by Collins and when the ball rebounded to Hitchcock, even the most optimistic Cork supporter must have feared the worst. Fortunately for them, however, the shot was miscued and instead of finishing in the net, it struck the post and was subsequently hustled to safety.

The escape had the effect of giving Cork fresh momentum and within another seven minutes they had stormed in for the day's only goal

As yet, however, they are still functioning some way below their full potential and the point is well made in the sub-standard performances of Pat Morley. At his best, Morley deserves to rate among the best finishers in Irish football, but he is currently in one of those spells when even the simple things are fraught with treachery.

A case in point was his miss in the 71st minute. Caulfield's cross on the right left him with the simple task of prodding the ball home from no more than two yards, but with goalkeeper Brian O'Shea on the floor and the nearest Home Farm defender some three yards away, he still failed to put the ball in the net.

Those kind of misses are difficult for any manager to accept and Hindmarch, who had again cause to thank the emerging talent of youngsters like Gareth Cronin and Colin O'Brien, is no exception.

"We persist in making life difficult for ourselves," he said. "We had a number of chances to make the game sale before and after Caulfield scored. but squandered them all. Fortunately, it didn't prove too expensive in the end.