Cork City’s title dream fading fast

St Patrick’s Athletic 3 Cork City 1

If the ratings agencies did football Cork City’s title chances would most likely have “junk” status after this, their second defeat in a bitterly disappointing week. Mathematically, of course, there is still a way back for them but it would require a significant improvement on their performance here just to avoid the added disappointment of Dundalk completing their three in a row without having to kick a ball on Friday night.

“It’s gone, there’s no doubt about it,” said John Caulfield afterwards. “We knew that coming in to tonight but we got sucked into the lull of the occasion. We didn’t have the energy. Overall we were in control and we created enough chances in the first half but we needed to go ahead in the match and we didn’t. From our point of view psychologically the defeat of last Tuesday was enormous.”

Having given it their all but come up short in Oriel last Tuesday, City had certainly looked here as though they had run, mentally as much as physically, out of steam. They trailed through most of the opening half despite a strong start but having been the better side through those first 45 minutes and dragged themselves level before the break they seemed set to push on over the course of the second half. Instead, they were outplayed over the game’s closing stages during which Sam Verdon restored the home side’s lead before Conan Byrne wrapped things up in injury time from the penalty spot.

It was a slightly sad way really for a tussle with Dundalk that still promised so much only six days ago to be all but ended. City, to be fair, had come into the game looking like a team that didn’t reckon there were quite enough weeks left in this season for them but then their hosts have looked for some time now as though they reckon this particular campaign would never come to an end.

Most of their supporters had certainly found something else to occupy them. The few hundred who did come along tried their best to generate an atmosphere but when one local sought, slightly mockingly, to inform John Caulfield from the back of the stand that his side’s rivals were winning in Longford, he didn’t even have to raise his voice.

By then, the southerners were losing and Caulfield was anxiously pacing about his technical area wondering, perhaps, why it was that his players could not do more to put away their opponents. City had been the better team over the course of the first 15 minutes but had conceded in the 16th after Garry Buckley has coughed up possession inside his own half a little too easily and Michael Barker, Ger O’Brien and finally Christy Fagan combined well to make him pay for his mistake.

After Alan Bennett headed them level it seemed the more likely to go on and win but their finishing was poor and Sean Maguire was dominated here by Sean Hoare in much the way be had been by Brian Gartland a week ago with City’s top scorer scarcely ever seriously threatening Brendan Clarke’s goal over the course of the 90 minutes.

Ultimately, it seemed, the relentless recent run of games had taken their toll but steadfastly resisted their rivals’ suggestion that the season be extended by a few days to give everyone a bit of breathing space, they can have few complaints now that they, rather than Stephen Kenny’s side, have been the ones to hit the wall.

That might just make it all feel even sweeter around Dundalk if they retained the title this weekend.

St Patrick's Athletic: Clarke; O'Brien (Feely, 78 mins), Hoare, D Dennehy, Bermingham; Desmond, Barker (Verdon, 58 mins); Byrne, Kelly (B Dennehy, 89 mins), McGrath; Fagan.

Cork City: McNulty; Beattie, Bennett, Browne, O'Connor; Buckley, Bolger; Sheppard (Mulcahy, 70 mins), Holohan (Ogbenie, 73 mins), Dooley (O'Sullivan, 81 mins) ; Maguire.

Referee: B Connolly (Dublin).