– Paul Dollery reports from Genk
CORK CITY WERE 11-1 underdogs going into last night’s meeting with KRC Genk in Belgium, yet just a single goal separated the sides at the end of the 90 minutes, which means the Leesiders are in with a very good chance in next week’s second leg.
A 30th-minute goal from Leon Bailey gave Genk a 1-0 win at the Luminus Arena, with the return fixture in this Europa League third round qualifier set for Thursday night at Turner’s Cross (7.45pm).
Despite eliminating Swedish Cup holders BK Hacken in the previous round, few expected City to progress at Genk’s expense. They’ll still need to come from behind on home soil in order to do so, but last night’s away display suggests that John Caulfield’s side will have nothing to fear.
When asked if he was surprised by how well Cork City played, Genk boss Peter Maes insisted: “No, I was not. I’ve seen a lot of games and I see a team which is very organised. They have some players with experience, good players who lead the game and they keep a lot of clean sheets. That’s very important.”
Genk squandered a 2-0 lead in the previous round when they lost by the same scoreline in the second leg away to Buducnost Podgorica, before coming through via a penalty shootout. To that end, Maes would have been planning on taking a bigger lead than 1-0 to Cork.
“We’ll go there to win the game,” he said. “We will do everything. I saw their game against Hacken. Hacken had the initiative in the game but lost it. I’m sure they will play with great heart, with 7,000 supporters behind them. It’s a difficult game but we’re going to do everything.”
A crowd of 7,765 watched last night’s game at the 21,500-capacity stadium in Limburg, and although there will be a similar attendance at Turner’s Cross, the Curragh Road venue will be packed to the rafters and it could make for an intimidating atmosphere for the visitors.
“It’s important that you play your own game and you don’t go with them in the fight,” Maes said, when asked about the challenge of playing in front of a hostile crowd in such a compact ground.
“It’s important that we try to play better, that we stay working hard and also that the focus is good. If the focus is good, we’ll have a good game there. But anything can happen.”
