Cork City 1-1 Sligo Rovers: Rebels Left Reeling After Drawing to 10-Men Sligo Rovers
Cork City left feeling hard done by after being held to a draw at home against 10-man Sligo
With Sligo Rovers leading 0-1 at Turners Cross heading into the half-time break, many Cork City fans may well have jumped at the prospect of a 1-1 draw. As it turned out, when the final whistle blew an hour or so later, it felt like two points dropped rather than one gained for the Leesiders. Friday night’s encounter was an archetypal game of two very distinct, very differently paced halves of football. Thanks to kbdphotos.com for the images of the game
A stilted, tetchy first 45 in which Sligo just about had the edge was counterposed to a second half that comprised sheer domination from a much more determined-looking Rebel Army. In the end, it was a story of missed chances, a dubiously disallowed goal and the temporary disappearance of the handball rule that will have left an uncomfortably bitter taste in Cork mouths as they failed to capitalise on the chance to secure back-to-back home league wins.
The effect of Monday night’s results looked evident in the two teams early in the first half as Sligo, buoyed by their first win of the season against Shamrock Rovers, started more confidently and assuredly in possession compared to an injury-ridden City side coming to terms with a frustrating, if unlucky, defeat in Waterford four days previous.
The aftereffects of the Munster derby loss were visible on the team sheet as Tim Clancy was forced into making three changes to Monday’s line-up after the first-half injuries to key players Sean Maguire and Greg Bolger, while centre-half Freddie Anderson was serving his suspension for a somewhat unfortunate sending off. Neither was Clancy himself in the dugout against Sligo after he too received a red card in Waterford for the constructive criticism he directed at the referee post-match.
It was assistant coach Jamie Hamill sharing the touchline with Bit O’ Red boss John Russell and it must be said that the former showed immense discipline and restraint both during the game and in his post-match interview to ensure that City have a full coaching compliment again next week when they travel to champions Shelbourne. That is because the narrative of this match for Cork City will no doubt focus on the officiating and referee Eoghan O’Shea’s collection of ‘decisions’ which a neutral observer could politely describe as, at best, ‘bizarre’.
The first of these came when Ruairi Keating was brought down on the edge of the Sligo penalty area, having made a gut-busting run from the halfway line to latch onto Malik Dijksteel’s threaded-through pass. One could argue that City #9 should have let fly before giving defender Reece Hutchinson time to get back on the cover but he succeeded in flicking the ball around him before having his ankles clipped. It was to no avail as O’Shea was unresponsive, much to the ire of the home fans, who would only become more infuriated by these sorts of incidents on an ascending scale as the game went on.
That had been City’s biggest opening of the game’s tight first quarter, in which the visitors asserted themselves well. Sligo would soon get their reward for a promising start when right back Harvey Lintott swung in a pinpoint cross for Owen Elding. The 19-year-old, who started on the right of midfield, found himself in the penalty area and capitalised on the inviting delivery with a delightful header that looped past the outstretched arm of ‘keeper Tein Troost into the top left corner. Rovers’ lead was not undeserved, although much like against Bohemians last week, it took Cork City to fall behind before they would pull themselves together and gain a foothold in the match.
Owen Elding 🌟🌟🌟
— Irish Football Blog (@BlogIrish) March 7, 2025
pic.twitter.com/yuCJqNQuUZ
They responded swiftly and should have drawn level when the ball dropped in the box to Keating from a corner but the hero of seven days ago could only blaze it over. A sustained spell of pressure did culminate in the ball going into the Sligo net only a few minutes from the break. However, as the Leesiders were beginning to realise, neither luck nor the officials were on their side and the referee blew for a foul on Rovers shotstopper Connor Walsh.
A Milan Mbeng cross had bounced off the head of a Sligo defender and looped towards goal for what should have been a regulation catch. Under pressure from City skipper Charlie Lyons and two of his own players, Walsh misjudged the trajectory of the descending football and batted it into his own net. Any contact from Lyons was minimal and took place before the ball entered the goalie’s orbit but his blushes were spared by the referee’s whistle, much to the immediate annoyance of the home team.
The reason for the goal being ruled out appears to be Lyons’ insistence on existing in the form of solid matter and not a gas-like substance, which would have lessened the impact of his sheer presence on the goalkeeper’s perception of time and space.
This is what happens when they send Stephen Bradley down to ref us pic.twitter.com/ELJQJcmnuJ
— The Other 3 Amigos Podcast (@TheOther3Amigos) March 7, 2025
The next meaningful whistle signalled halftime, and, although both teams had scored the same amount of perfectly legitimate goals, Sligo Rovers entered in front. If the opening 45’ could be described as an even contest, the second half was anything but. Tim Clancy’s men (in the custody of Jamie Hamill) were much improved right from the restart and would continue to dominate for the rest of the match. It took less than three second-half minutes for another penalty claim to be waved away after Keating’s cross struck the stray hand of Hutchinson.
Neither the referee nor his assistant, who appeared to have a perfect sight of the incident, deemed it worthy of a spot kick. But then again, nobody had committed any acts of grievous bodily harm, which seemed to be the threshold established for this game.
In fairness to the officials, that particular handball fell more under the category of “seen them given” rather than “Thierry Henry,” so it was far from an egregious error. It would be another eight whole minutes until there was one of those. The next penalty claim was less Thierry Henry 2009 and more Alisson Becker vs. PSG. As the ball pinballed around the box, Sean Murray’s shot was blocked before falling to Keating, who struck at goal from around 10 yards.
His shot was met with a brilliant diving save by Rovers captain John Mahon. Unbelievably, the referee, positioned at the edge of the penalty area, appeared to be the only man in the ground who did not see this piece of goalkeeping excellence from the centre back. Often it felt like Sligo were playing a different sport tonight, namely, basketball.
57' – ANOTHER handball in the box!!
— Cork City FC (@CorkCityFC) March 7, 2025
⚪️ 0-1 🔴#CCFC84 🇮🇹
City continued to rally, however, and on 63 minutes they got their reward as 20-year-old midfielder Kitt Nelson popped up in the box to sweep home an equaliser. Via a slight deflection, his effort found the bottom left corner and granted the Preston loanee his first goal in Irish football. In the minutes that followed, The Rebel Army raised their intensity further, in tandem with the noise levels in Turner’s Cross, as the crowd sensed the potential for another valuable three points.
The prospect of victory was becoming palpable, especially when just five minutes after equalising the scores, Sligo were reduced to ten men. Conor Reynolds, who had only been on the pitch for less than 90 seconds, was shown a straight red card for a cynical late tackle on Dijksteel, sending the Dutch winger flying into the advertising hoardings after he had skipped past him on the left flank. The painful impact of the challenge forced Dijksteel off to be replaced by Joshua Fitzpatrick, who impressed with his energy and creativity after coming on.
A man down, Rovers unsurprisingly chose to sit deep for the final 20 minutes and shut City out in the hope of holding onto what was quickly seeming like a precious point. To their credit, they maintained their resolve and restricted their opponents to very few clear-cut chances. The expected Rebel Army barrage only really arrived in stoppage time when Conor Walsh was forced into a number of vital saves, amidst Bit O’ Red defenders throwing themselves at increasingly desperate City attempts.
The Leesiders finished the game with 23 shots to Sligo’s eight, although it will be the shots from 12 yards they were not given the chance to take that will really stick in their craw in the coming days. Tim Clancy will aim to channel this frustration and sense of injustice into a galvanising response from his team next week when they travel to reigning champions Shelbourne. Paris-based paper L’Équipe’s front page on Thursday morning read “Braquage à l’Anglais” (English Robbery) after Liverpool’s win at the Parc des Princes. Given the continued growth of the League of Ireland abroad, tomorrow’s may well (and should) be “Braquage à l’O Shea”.
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