Advertisement
Cork City manager John Caulfield. Morgan Treacy/INPHO
Reaction

Caulfield forecasts open title race as Cork City move ahead and Dundalk falter

The Leesiders got the better of Sligo last night, while Derry City overcame the champions in Buncrana.

JOHN CAULFIELD PRAISED his team’s character after they came from behind to defeat Sligo Rovers 2-1 at Turner’s Cross last night in the SSE Airtrcity League Premier Division.

It was Cork City’s first win against Sligo in four attempts. The Leesiders could only manage two away draws, as well as a loss at home, against the Bit O’Red last season.

City looked set for more disappointment at the hands of Dave Robertson’s side when Kieran Sadlier dispossessed John Dunleavy in the 64th minute to give the visitors the lead. But Steven Beattie equalised within a minute before Sean Maguire netted the winner, scoring his fifth goal of the season with 13 minutes remaining.

The FAI Cup holders have now won four out of four this season, while Sligo remain rooted to the foot of the table after picking up just one point so far.

“I keep saying in this league every week there’s no easy games. You look at Sligo and you’re saying they’ve only one point, but they’ll feel disappointed,” Caulfield said afterwards.

“But overall it was a real character game for us. Obviously we deserved to win because we had a lot more chances but at the same time it was still a night that we could have left points behind.”

Caulfield believes that results elsewhere provide evidence that this season’s push for the Premier Division title could be more complicated than a two-horse race between Dundalk and Cork City, which has been the case for the past three years.

Derry City were 3-1 winners at home to Dundalk last night. That result leaves both of those sides on nine points, three behind Cork City, although Derry have a game in hand. Bray Wanderers, who recorded a 2-1 victory over Drogheda United, also have three wins on the board.

“It’s different to last year,” Caulfield insisted. “I think you’ll have more draws. How many points teams can afford to drop, I’m not sure at the moment until things settle down. But I think definitely you’ll have a lot more draws.

“I think there are teams out there who can take more results than maybe in the last number of years. From that point of view I’d expect that there’ll be more teams in there.”

However, the Cork City boss was quick to point out that it’s still early days in the 2017 campaign: “Nothing is going to be won at this time of year. It’s just really about driving on and trying to get a good start. Obviously as I keep saying, the league will be decided in the last three or four games of the season.”

Maguire scores for the sixth game in a row as City are forced to come from behind

Derry maintain perfect start with stunning comeback win over champions Dundalk