Cork City v Sligo Rovers: Rebels Hope to Bounce Back After Waterford Loss
Sligo Rovers travel to Turners Cross to take on a Cork City side hoping to bounce back from a disappointing, if somewhat unfortunate, defeat in the Munster derby against Waterford on Monday night. Thanks to kbdphotos.com for the images of the game.
Missed chances, injuries to key players, and a debatable red card all conspired against Tim Clancy’s men at the RDC as they endured their first loss of the season despite taking the lead early on.
That same night, Sligo secured their first three points of the campaign, beating Shamrock Rovers 2-1 at the Showgrounds to end a run of three consecutive losses. The alternating fortunes and somewhat ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ nature of the two teams set up Friday’s clash as one of the most intriguing fixtures of the league’s fifth matchday.
The Build-Up
Cork City will be looking to build on last Friday’s home triumph against Bohemians, when Ruairi Keating’s winner granted them their first victory back in the topflight of Irish football. Following a commendable four points from their opening two home matches, the Leesiders will be aiming to make it seven from three against a team yet to earn a point on the road whilst also possessing the league’s leakiest defence.
Although nobody has scored more goals than Sligo (7), who sit 8th in the table ahead of Friday’s fixtures, they have considerably the worst defensive record after conceding 11 goals in their four games so far. To put this into context, this is four more than the second highest total (Derry with 7), while no other team has submitted more than five. Although several of Sligo’s conceded goals could be attributed to individual errors, an improvement in their overall defensive solidity will no doubt be a primary focus for manager John Russell, especially against a Cork City side who like to attack at pace.
Tim Clancy’s men will certainly seek to exploit this potential vulnerability in the opposition backline, with the City boss confident that the mutually attacking approach of the two teams will provide for “an exciting game.” In his pre-match comments, Clancy heaped praise on Friday’s visitors’ forward-thinking style and reiterated his belief that “the best version of Sligo is a very good team,” as they have shown on various occasions since Russel took over in May 2022.
Injury Concerns & Potential Starters
City’s attacking prowess will, however, be tamed somewhat on Friday night following an injury sustained by star man Sean Maguire early on against Waterford. It remains to be seen who Clancy will replace him with and whether or not the absence of one of his regular starting strikers will push him to move away from his usual 4-4-2. The expectation for Sligo to line up in Russel’s preferred 3-4-3 system may well tempt Clancy to opt for a like-for-like switch in order to occupy the opposition back three.
If so, it was Harvey Skieters who replaced Maguire in the 22nd minute on Monday night and was unfortunate not to have provided an almost immediate assist. The 19-year-old’s perfect through ball put it on a plate for Alex Nolan, who missed the target one-on-one with the goalkeeper. That said, Nolan had already made a positive impression on the game, having put City into the lead with an excellent finish fired into the roof of the net.
Tim Clancy granted 21-year-old Nolan and 20-year-old Kitt Nelson their first starts of the season at the RDC and the two midfielders may each get their second against Sligo, in part down to another City casualty from Monday night, Greg Bolger. The veteran midfielder was substituted at halftime against Waterford, and following a scan on Tuesday, Clancy confirmed he would be unavailable for Friday. The absence of Freddie Anderson (son of former Nottingham Forest European Cup winner Viv Anderson) will force City to rejig their centre-defensive pairing after the Stoke loanee’s rather soft sending off in the previous game. The young defender will surely have been spared a rollocking from his manager, not simply because of the quite unfortunate nature of his dismissal but because Clancy himself was shown a red card after the final whistle for, in his words, calling the referee’s performance “shocking.”
The perceived injustice of Monday night’s trip to the RDC may well light a fire under Cork City ahead of Sligo’s visit—a fire that will surely have its flames fanned by a Turners Cross crowd desperate to see their club continue an encouraging start to life back in the Premier Division. Sligo, meanwhile, will be travelling south buoyed by their first win of the season and looking to put a subpar start behind them. Given that these two teams are only separated by a single point in the standings and are expected by many to be competing for similar positions by the end of the campaign, Friday night’s encounter already has the makings of a six-pointer.
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