City battle back and win late over Kerry in fiery contest

By Donncha Noonan | Photo: Kevin Barry Dorney

Coming off of a successful Bank Holiday weekend with wins over Finn Harps and Athlone, Cork City were looking to take one step closer to the First Division title as they hosted Kerry FC at the cross. In a week with plenty of words exchanged between Colin Healy and Barry Robson, it was the latter who had the last laugh as three second-half goals pulled City from a goal down to snatch the win.

It was just the one change for Robson’s side, as Greg Bolger came back into the starting lineup, replacing Niall O’Keeffe.

As for Colin Healy, he named an unchanged team from the side that beat both Cobh Ramblers and Bray Wanderers over the weekend.

Kerry came out fired up and looked the better side early on, but it was City who had the best chase of the game after fourteen minutes. The bounce off of a long diagonal ball caught Samuel Aladesanusi off guard, as the ball bounced over him and into the path of Conor Drinan. He barrelled towards goal, but a combination of Aladesanusi and Matthew Connor smothered the full-back’s shot.

Kerry continued putting pressure on the hosts, and almost took the lead eight minutes later. Vince Borden picked the ball up in midfield and sprayed it right to Cian Bargary on the wing. He whipped a ball towards the front post where Cian Murphy arrived and glanced a header towards the far corner, but Conor Brann did brilliantly to scramble and claw the ball away.

The poor City start would eventually catch up with them as a familiar face gave Kerry the lead in the thirty-third minute. A long ball towards the right hand side was won in the air by Bargary over Charlie Lyons. He chested it forward before unleashing a half-volley that looped over Conor Brann and in the left hand corner to give the finger-lickers a deserved lead.

The visitors sat back after taking the lead, leaving City the ball to try to find an equaliser, with City going close twice in quick succession on the stroke of half-time. A long ball forward towards the Kerry box was flicked on by Darragh Crowley into Ruairi Keating in the box, who cut in and fired a right-footed shot at goal, but Matthew Connor got in the way to deny the striker. The ball was then only half-cleared where it found Cillian Murphy on the edge of the box, who drove in and struck a powerful strike at goal, but Connor again was equal to the effort.

That was all for the first half, as a confident Kerry side dominated the game and came into the half-time break with an earned one-goal lead, and City’s performance leaving a lot to be desired. 

City came out of the gates knowing they needed to step things up to get level, and they missed a glorious chance to do just that in the fifty-sixth minute. Rory Feely stepped into midfield with the ball and slipped a brilliant ball down the wing for Harry Nevin to chase. He pulled a ball across the box where it met an unmarked Hans Mpongo, but he skied his effort over the crossbar from twelve yards out.

Mpongo had struggled so far in this one, and things didn’t get any better twelve minutes later. Head tennis in midfield eventually led to the ball looping towards Ruairi Keating, who flicked the ball over the Kerry defence where Hans Mpongo latched onto the ball. Clean through, Mpongo side-footed the ball past Matthew Connor, but also off the outside of the right hand post and behind for a goal kick.

City’s misfortunes could only last so long, as the hosts finally got back level in the seventy-seventh minute. Seani Maguire fired the ball out to the right wing, where it found Hans Mpongo who poked the ball first time down the channel for the oncoming Conor Drinan. He tried to guide the ball into the far right corner, but the sliding Ewan Lee diverted the ball between Connor’s legs and into the Kerry net.

This sparked life in the hosts for what seemed like the first time in the game, and it worked as the Leesiders completed the turnaround at the end of normal time. Drinan picked up the ball from Conor Brann at the back and marauded down the left hand side, all the way to the left wing, where he swung an inviting ball into the Kerry box. It was Seani Maguire who rose highest to meet it, powering a header on goal which was parried by Matthew Connor, but it was again Maguire who was quickest to react and slot the ball home at the second time of asking.

City weren’t quite done there though, as they capped off the night with a third two minutes into injury time. City countered off of a Kerry attack with Hans Mpongo leading the charge down the left wing. He cut inside and laid it off to Darragh Crowley, who hit the ball first time low through multiple Kerry defenders and past Matthew Connor to secure that the three points stayed Leeside.

In terms of City’s performance, it was pretty poor for seventy-seven minutes, both offensively and defensively. Kerry created chances too easily at times, and we seemed to struggle to break down the visitors for large periods after they scored, and just overall did not play particularly well. We didn’t have quite enough urgency, which visibly frustrated the crowd. That being said, they got it done in the end, which is something this side have been good at this season. Playing not at their best and still getting the win. It does worry me for next season though, as the same thing will not work in the Premier Division but, whilst twenty points clear, that can be solved.

My Man of the Match goes to Cork City’s Conor Drinan. Despite City being the second best side in the game for the majority, Conor Drinan stood out hugely throughout the game. He dominated that left hand side going both ways, and was a useful creative outlet when City looked to break Kerry down, a fact shown in his part to play in the first two goals.

City will have a break now with them being out of the FAI Cup, but when they're back in two weeks they will travel to Limerick to play Treaty United. As for Kerry, they’ll look to pick themselves up as they host UCD.