THEY MAY NEED just eight more points to do so, but John Caulfield has warned his players to expect “a dogfight” in their bid to clinch the club’s first SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title in 12 years.
The Leesiders, who remain 17 points clear of champions Dundalk at the top of the table, suffered a 1-0 defeat to struggling Sligo Rovers at Turner’s Cross last night.
A stunning goal, which appeared to be intended as a cross, by Rhys McCabe early in the second half was the difference between the teams as Gerard Lyttle’s side climbed out of the relegation zone with their first win in eight matches, and their first on the road in the league this season.
Afterwards, Caulfield issued an apology to Cork City’s supporters for his side’s abject performance, from which they’ll look to rebound on Monday night away to Finn Harps.
“To be fair to the supporters who were great tonight, I apologise to them,” Caulfield said. “It was our worst performance of the season. In the first half we were really, really poor so we’re disappointed with that.
“But to be fair to Sligo they came with a gameplan, they sat in and hit us on the counter. It proved a difficult night for us. We didn’t create enough and overall a lot of the team played well below themselves.”
Having been undefeated domestically all season prior to the departure of Sean Maguire, Cork City’s form has taken a dip since their leading goalscorer joined English Championship club Preston North End last month.
Life after Maguire has brought three defeats in six games for City, who have also scored just twice in their last five outings. Bohemians ended their unbeaten run at Turner’s Cross before Caulfield’s team lost an EA Sports Cup semi-final to Shamrock Rovers after extra-time in Tallaght.
“At the end of the day, if you lose a striker who gets you so many goals, you don’t have to be a genius… but at the same time, Karl Sheppard is up there, Connor Ellis has got us goals, Kieran Sadlier got a goal last week, so at the end of the day, that happens,” Caulfield said, when asked about City’s struggles since Maguire moved on.
“Tight game tonight, we’re not creating that many [chances]. Sheppard is disappointed, he had two chances to score goals, didn’t score. It’s a bit like that at the moment, whereas Seanie might have been creating a bit of room for the lads.
“But there’s no excuses, we move on. I keep saying that this will go down to the wire. I’ve said it all year, no matter what rubbish talk is going on around the place. Every game is a dogfight now and that’s just the way is it.”
Insisting that the title race is not over yet, Caulfield added: “Cork is a big place and people are talking rubbish on the outside. Maybe guys get caught up in that so you just have to go back and get your concentration totally on what the job at hand is.
“As I said to everyone, if we said we’d be in contention for the league going into October at the start of the season, I’d have been thrilled. I keep saying that nothing is easy and, at the end of the day, every game between now and the end of the season is a cup final.”
