Free flowing City beat Douglas Hall to progress

📷 KBD Photos

It was an all Cork affair at the cross, with Cork City hosting Douglas Hall in the first round of the Women's FAI Cup. 

City came into this fixture off the back of a 1-1 draw in the league against Shamrock Rovers. They were hoping that they could carry last week's second half, where they showed huge improvements from the first half of that game, into this cup tie.

Their opponents, Douglas Hall, had plenty of ex City players in their ranks, including Maggie Duncliffe, Ciara Desmond and Nathalie O’Brien who all won this competition with City back in 2017. However, of the three, only Duncliffe and O’Brien were available to face their old club. The Hall have already picked up a trophy this season, lifting the Munster Cup at the end of June and were hoping that they could cause an upset in this competition, something they had done a few times before.

City came out firing early on, and managed to take the lead eight minutes in. Kiera Sena made a great run down the left and managed to win a penalty when she was upended on the left hand side of the box. The winger dusted herself off and calmly slotted it into the left-hand corner to give City the lead.

Sena got hers and City’s second of the game four minutes later. She picked up the ball out wide on the left and began charging towards the box, she cut inside, before shifting it back onto her  left foot and brilliantly curled it into the top right corner to double City’s advantage.

Douglas Hall almost got themselves a goal back, when a brilliant free kick was delivered into the box by Nathalie O’Brien. The cross was volleyed first time by Maggie Duncliffe, but she put her effort  just over Clodagh Fitzgerald’s goal from ten yards.

City didn't take their foot off the gas, and earned themselves two quick goals in the space of eight minutes, with Becky Cassin grabbing her first and then second City goals since re-signing two weeks ago. Both goals were tidy finishes from inside the box, to extend her side's lead to four with twenty minutes gone in the tie.

Douglas Hall found a bit of stability for the next twenty minutes, keeping City at bay and showcasing some defensive quality from their backline, with keeper Jessica Kavangh making some solid saves.

City eventually found their fifth with five minutes left in the half, through their captain Eva Mangan. Barret Eidson carried the ball down the left hand side, before pulling it back to Mangan. City’s skipper took control of it in the box, and guided a left footed shot into the bottom left corner to give City a five goal lead going into half time.

Cork City came out for the second half flying and showcased the superior quality and fitness levels that would be the difference between the two sides.

They made it six just eight minutes into the half. Freya De Mange played a ball into Eva Mangan, who was at the edge of the box, Mangan turned right and faked a shot, before releasing a powerful effort across the goalkeeper and into the top right corner to bag herself her second of the game.

City made it seven six minutes later. A troubling cross from Chloe Atkinson found Kiera Sena at the back post. Sena took it down, and fired a half volley up and off the crossbar, the ball came off the under side of the bar and bounced on the line, before it was put home by Colleen Kennedy-O’Connell for probably the easiest goal she’ll ever score.

Douglas Hall then found a bit of defensive rhythm, restricting Cork City to very few clear cut chances for the next twenty minutes. Any chance City did have, was well dealt with by Jessica Kavanagh in the Douglas Hall goal.

City did eventually find their eighth with ten minutes of normal time to play. A soft back pass from Amy McCarthy was latched onto by Chloe Atkinson, who headed towards goal on the right hand side. Atkinson calmly tucked her shot into the near post at a tight angle to score the host’s eighth of the day.

City scored their ninth and final goal two minutes later, and this ones might have been the best of the lot. Chloe Atkinson picked up the ball in midfield, and powered forward before laying it off to Heidi Mackin on the edge of the box, Mackin took a touch before sending a twenty five yard strike flying into the top right corner with her left foot, to put city nine to the good to finish out the game.

City showed their sheer quality all around the pitch, and were very clinical up top, which ultimately gave them the edge over Douglas Hall. The visitors were quite solid for spells of the game but struggled to keep up with City’s fitness and movement throughout the game. That being said, they can hold their heads up high having put in a hard working performance.

My Player of the Match goes to Eva Mangan. Mangan was a handful for Douglas Hall all game long, as she dominated the midfield and created chances that caused the Douglas Hall backline all sorts of trouble. Mangan got two well taken goals herself, and was very comfortable on the ball and showed exactly why she has been included in two senior international squads.

Cork City will be hoping to bring that performance into next Saturday's game, where they take on Shelbourne at 5pm in Turners Cross.