Cillian Morrison came close for Derry City against Cork City at Turner’s Cross
DERRY City picked up a vital point on their travels to the Rebel County last night in a scoreless draw.
That makes it four points from two games for temporary manager Paul Hegarty as he battles to keep the Candystripes out of the relegation dogfit.
Cork City dropped two further points in their pursuit of Airtricity League Premier Division leaders Dundalk as they failed to find the net.
Derry City were full worth for their point and might have claimed all three, creating the two best chances of the game in either half. Ciaran O’Connor’s shot shaved paint off Mark McNulty’s post with 21 minutes gone of the opening half.
Cork had their goalkeeper and defender Alan Bennett to thank as only last-ditch defending kept Cillian Morrison and O’Connor from breaking the deadlock with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Stand-in Derry boss Paul Hegarty was forced into three switches of his own. Shaun Patton came in for the injured Gerard Doherty between the posts while Barry McNamee and Rob Cornwall started in place of Patrick McEleney and Philip Lowry in midfield.
Despite exiting the cup at the hands of their opponents less than a fortnight ago, it was the men in red and white that started brightly in front of a crowd of 2,380 in Cork.
Stephen Dooley beat Bennett to fire an effort straight at McNulty in the fourth minute, and the goalkeeper had to be on his toes again less than a minute later as Rob Cornwall and Conor McCormack combined to allow the latter test City’s number one with another decent chance.
Cork might have taken the lead in the ninth minute. A mix-up at the back for Derry allowed Billy Dennehy to pick up the ball at the edge of the box but when the winger found O’Flynn with a superb ball, the striker took a heavy touch and lost the opportunity to be in one-on-one on Patton.
The visitors nabbed three valuable points from their last league outing and repeatedly found joy down the left-hand side as Dooley, in particular, caused problems. It was the midfielder’s run in the 20th minute that gave O’Connor a wonderful chance to score, only for Derry’s lone frontman to catch the ground and scuff his final shot.
O’Connor had a second opportunity to split the teams a minute later when he controlled a pinpoint ball down the right from the boot of Barry McNamee, before blazing an effort to the left and just inches wide of McNulty’s outside post.
Billy Dennehy responded on the half hour by planting a ball into Derry’s side netting and it was the home team that would have the final say at the end of a stop-start first half when Ross Gaynor’s cross found Garry Buckley at the back post – only for the midfielder to direct his header over the crossbar.
Two of O’Flynn’s three goals this season have come against Derry City, and the veteran attacker might have added to that tally when Gaynor laid on a fine cross into the box early in the second half. Patton was equal to the header though, and was also well placed to gather Buckley’s toe-poked effort from a Liam Miller corner two minutes later.
McNamee tried his hand at a long-range effort from 25 yards out with just over 20 minutes remaining but fired it straight at McNulty, who gathered with little difficulty.
Derry continued to try and pry an opening. A rare Dan Murray mistake almost allowed O’Connor in on 70 minutes but the centre-half regained position to get a vital block on the striker’s shot. Substitute Cillian Morrison then headed wide from a free-kick before a double save by McNulty and Bennet with time running out kept the former Cork City man and then O’Connor at bay.
Cork might still have snatched a goal at the death when substitute Steven Beattie found team-mate Danny Morrissey with a cross inside from the right. The young striker, however, headed back across goal and failed to hit the target with Patton scrambling to protect his goalmouth.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; Michael McSweeney, Dan Murray (Kevin O’Connor ’73), Alan Bennett, Ross Gaynor; John Dunleavy; Billy Dennehy, Garry Buckley, Liam Miller, Karl Sheppard (Danny Morrissey ’85); John O’Flynn (Steven Beattie ’65).
Derry City: Shaun Patton; Ben McLaughlin (Aaron McEneff ’54), Ryan McBride, Aaron Barry, Dean Jarvis; Rob Cornwall; Mark Timlin (Cillian Morrison ’69), Conor McCormack, Barry McNamee, Stephen Dooley; Ciaran O’Connor (Mark Quigley ’90).
Referee: Tomas Connolly.
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