CORK CITY WERE keen to deliver an emphatic response to Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley last night at Turner’s Cross.
That’s according to City defender Ryan Delaney, who chipped in with two goals in his side’s 4-1 victory over the Hoops, which keeps the Leesiders 15 points clear of Dundalk at the summit of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
In the build-up to last night’s game, Bradley told The Irish Sun that City — in spite of their dominance this season — haven’t yet matched the standards set by the Dundalk side that won the last three titles.
The Rovers manager also said that nullifying the threat of Sean Maguire, who was held scoreless last night, is the key to getting a result against John Caulfield’s side.
Afterwards, Delaney admitted that Bradley had inspired the City players to prove that his comments were wide of the mark.
“It did, massively,” said the on-loan Burton Albion defender. “Seeing things in the paper, I wouldn’t say they were slating us but he was putting us down a small bit so we knew straight away that we were going to give our all here, show him what we’re made of and see what he thinks after that.”
While Delaney was willing to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt lest his comments were taken out of context, the 20-year-old felt the Hoops manager had been disrespectful.
After City defeated Rovers 2-1 in Tallaght back in March, Bradley also insisted that his side “battered” the Leesiders and didn’t deserve to lose the game.
“I think it is [disrespectful],” Delaney said. “At the same time, you’d never know if that was the actual way he came across. He could have just been genuinely thinking that they were a better side and not being disrespectful. But you’d never really know. It could have been, 50/50.”
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Delaney reckons Bradley’s comments are symptomatic of a wider belief among managers in the league that the gap between Cork Cty and their rivals in the chasing pack isn’t as wide as the table suggests.
He said: “There are a lot of coaches saying ‘Cork, they haven’t played us’ or ‘They haven’t seen us on our day’. That’s not our fault. All we have to focus on is playing our best. It doesn’t make a difference to us what the other team do. That’s their problem.”
