City settle for St Pats stalemate

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Cork City were coming off the back of a late draw with Drogheda on Monday, and Ger Nash’s side were looking to go one better live on Virgin Media as they hosted Stephen Kenny’s St Pats. This followed the midweek news that City signed former Aston Villa Striker Charlie Lutz on a permanent deal until the end of the season. Going the other way, it’d be the last game for three City players, as Rio Shipston and Tein Troost would return to Sheffield Wednesday and NAC Breda respectively, and Djenairo Daniels has activated his get out clause out of his contract and will reportedly be departing also.

Nahs made just the one change to the team that started on Monday, with former Pats winger Alex Nolan coming into the side to replace the outgoing Djenairo Daniels.

Stephen Kenny named an unchanged side to the team that lost 1-0 to Derry in Richmond Park on Monday.

Neither side started particularly brightly with both sides being off-form, but it was the home side who had the first chance seven minutes in.  Greg Bolger picked the ball up and midfield and played a brilliant ball out to the right hand side to the oncoming Milan Mbeng. The Frenchman whipped a ball across goal aiming for Seani Maguire but Sean Hoare got a toe to the cross to put the ball out for a corner and away from the path of Maguire.

Pats had the next chance of the game after twenty five minutes. The visitors won a free kick on the right hand side which was delayed by toilet paper being thrown onto the pitch from the shed, along with the black smoke and banner all in protest of the owner. Once it was sorted, Brandon Kavanagh whipped the free kick into the box where Mason Melia rose highest to get his head on it, but his header flew just over the bar.

Pats came even closer five minutes later. Jay McClelland received the ball off Barry Baggley in his own half at the left touchline and sprayed a brilliant ball crossfield to Zach Elbouzedi. Elbouzedi took on Matty Kiernan before cutting inside and whipping a low shot towards the far corner, but the shot went just inches wide of the post.

Pats continued to aerially threaten the City backline and almost made it count with six minutes to go in the half. An unmarked Mason Melia got on the end of another well delivered Pats corner, but the Tottenham-bound striker’s header soared over the bar again.

The best chance of the whole game fell to the home side on the stroke of half time. Brandon Kavanagh poorly controlled a throw in just outside his own box and was dispossessed by Seani Maguire, which gave the Kilkenny man a two on one chance with Kitt Nelson against Joe Redmond. Maguire advanced before sliding the ball across to Kitt Nelson, who took a touch inside the box but sent his shot flying over the bar from close range to the dismay of the home crowd.

That was the last chance of the half as both teams went into the break at a deadlock. Pats were the better of the two teams in the first half but neither team covered themselves in glory as quality in the final third was generally lacking from both sides.

The hosts kicked on in the second half and had a chance five minutes in. Milan Mbeng sent in a cross that was cleared by the pats defence. Darragh Crowley picked it up and shifted it left to Charlie Lyons who advanced and sent a powerful shot from thirty yards towards goal that was deflected into the path of Joey Anang who held the shot well.

Pats struggled to threaten City in the second half as the home side kept the pressure on the visitors and almost broke the deadlock with six minutes of normal time to play. Evan McLaughlin sent a good ball into the box from a corner where Freddie Anderson met it and sent the ball goalward with a header, but his effort was too central and Joey Anang kept it out.

A minute later Pats had their best chance of the game despite their shortcomings in the second half. A cross field free kick from the left just inside the Pats half was sent towards the far right corner of the pitch where it was picked up by Jake Mulraney. Mulraney pulled it back to the corner of the box to Brandon Kavanagh who let fly and forced a brilliant fingertip save from Tein Troost to keep the game level.

City kept persevering into added time and a minute into it Cathal O’Sullivan almost had his first goal of the season. Rio Shipston picked up the ball in midfield and dinked a brilliant ball over the top to play through Cathal down the right channel. Joey Anang came out to meet him and Cathal tried to dink it first time over Anang from a tight angle but his effort ended up looping over the bar.

Pats also had a final chance of their own a minute later. Jay McClelland whipped a ball into the City box that was headed away by Darragh Crowley. The ball came to Aidan Keena at the edge of the box, who took it on the chest and fired a volley towards goal, but he dragged his shot wide of the left hand post.

That would be the final action of the game as City kept their first clean sheet of the season. It was a game where neither team showed the quality to be able to get that much desired goal. City were the slightly better team overall in my opinion, mainly down to their dominance over a very lackadaisical Pats side in the second half. To be honest though, neither team played particularly well and it wasn't a game for a neutral, which is unfortunate as it was the live game on Virgin Media. I thought the performance from City had a lot of desire and passion, more than usual, which is interesting as Nash decided to bench all outgoing/soon to be outgoing players bar Troost. Pats made life easy for the City backline to be fair as they were very unthreatening and made it clear as to why they've been struggling as of late. Being the team to give a side their first clean sheet in 22 games isn't a good little to have. It was the final game for Daniels, Troost and Shipston who each clapped off the fans at full time after their spells at the club. More protesting occurred against the owner, in wake of a reported meeting between Usher and a group of fans to discuss issues around the club. I don't expect this to be the last of the protest from the fanbase unless an upturn in form occurs. I think it's beneficial to see protests like this, but I think fans should separate their opinions on off the field things and they're on the field support. Supporting the team should be number one priority at a time like this but I have no issue with protests as long as they go hand in hand with backing the team.

My Man of the match goes to City’s Greg Bolger. To be honest there was no real standout for either team as it was a fairly drab game but Greg Bolger was the engine in the City midfield and controlled everything in that area while he was on the pitch. Even in 2025, Bolger showed his quality and was central to everything that City did on the night, both going forward and defensively.

It’s the first game of the new look Cork City next as City’s new signings are eligible to make their debuts on Friday night against Shelbourne in Tolka Park. As for Pats, they'll look to finally get back to winning ways as they host Bohs in a Dublin Derby.