Cork City 2
Bohemians 0
Paul Dollery reports from Turner’s Cross
GOALS FROM EACH of their central defenders gave Cork City a first home win of 2019 at the expense of a Bohemians outfit who were beaten for the first time this season.
Conor McCarthy opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games midway through the opening period, before Dan Casey proved to be a thorn in the side of his former club with a ferocious strike early in the second half.
Having struggled at Turner’s Cross so far this year, City delivered an overdue victory and a much-improved display in front of a 3,016 attendance, as Bohs’ impressive unbeaten run ground to a halt in their seventh game of the campaign.
The visitors started with a side that showed three changes from last week’s draw with Derry City. Keith Buckley and Danny Grant came into Keith Long’s team to replace Scott Allardice and Luke Wade-Slater.
Fresh from his appearance as a contestant on Channel 4 game show Countdown, Dinny Corcoran — the SSE Airtricity League Player of the Month for February — led the Bohs attack, with Ali Reghba dropping back down to the bench.
Cork City manager John Caulfield replaced Dan Smith with striker Graham Cummins in the only amendment to the side that ran out 4-3 winners at Finn Harps seven days ago.
A competitive and entertaining first half had been relatively even before City hit the front on 23 minutes. After Shane Griffin’s good work down the left was rewarded with a corner, McCarthy rose highest in the six-yard box to head home Dáire O’Connor’s delivery.
Operating on the right side of City’s attack, O’Connor’s trickery caused problems for Bohs on several occasions. Shortly before the opening goal arrived, the former UCD winger brought a good save out of James Talbot after robbing Darragh Leahy of possession.
The Gypsies wouldn’t have been sorry to see the back of O’Connor when he was forced off just before the interval. He was replaced by James Tilley, having appeared to dislocate his shoulder when he landed awkwardly after jostling for possession with Leahy.
The visitors, who were playing into a stiff breeze for the opening 45 minutes in greasy conditions on Leeside, failed to test City goalkeeper Mark McNulty. However, they did enjoy a couple of promising moments in the final third, with both of their best opportunities in the first half falling to Daniel Mandroiu.
In the 21st minute, Leahy’s cross was headed straight into Mandriou’s path by Conor McCarthy. From the edge of the box, the former Brighton & Hove Albion youngster couldn’t keep his effort down.
As Bohs later searched for an equaliser, Keith Buckley switched the play from the right and found Mandroiu unmarked in the box. However, the attacking midfielder — who has been named in the Ireland U21 squad for this month’s game against Luxembourg — skewed his shot wide at McNulty’s near post.
Graham Cummins thought he had scored City’s second on the stroke of half-time but his header was ruled out for offside. Cummins had been picked out by a cross from Conor McCormack, who produced a man-of-the-match performance from his defensive midfield role.
Nevertheless, the home side’s advantage was doubled just four minutes into the second half. After being fouled by Danny Grant, Tilley used the free-kick to tee up Casey, who drilled the ball to the net from 25 yards with a strike that deceived Talbot with a wicked swerve.
As he was congratulated by his team-mates for scoring his first goal for the club, Casey muted his celebrations. The former Sunderland trainee has looked impressive for City recently, having moved south in the winter following an 18-month spell at Dalymount Park.
With the benefit of a two-goal buffer John Caulfield’s side sat much deeper throughout the second half. Bohs did all the pressing as they looked for a way back into the contest, but — much to Keith Long’s frustration — they asked no questions of Mark McNulty.
CORK CITY: Mark McNulty; Colm Horgan, Conor McCarthy, Dan Casey, Shane Griffin; Conor McCormack, Gearóid Morrissey (Garry Comerford, 90); Dáire O’Connor (James Tilley, 43), Garry Buckley, Karl Sheppard (Kevin O’Connor, 90); Graham Cummins.
BOHEMIANS: James Talbot; Derek Pender, Rob Cornwall, James Finnerty, Darragh Leahy; Conor Levingston, Keith Buckley (Robbie McCourt, 76); Danny Grant (Luke Wade-Slater, 58), Danny Mandroiu (Ryan Swan 66), Keith Ward; Dinny Corcoran.
Referee: Robert Hennessy.
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