24 March 2017
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Cork City welcome Dundalk to Turner’s Cross on Saturday, with a sell-out crowd expected at Turner’s Cross.
City go into the game on the back of five consecutive wins, with their latest outing a 2-1 win away to Shamrock Rovers last Friday. Their last two home games have seen John Caulfield’s side win 4-0 against Galway United and 2-1 against Sligo Rovers. The visitors come into the game with four wins from five; the only game where they have failed to win was a 3-1 defeat away to Derry City, their last away fixture.
The sides have met once already in 2017, with City recording a 3-0 win at Turner’s Cross in the President’s Cup, to round off their pre-season campaign. Last season, the sides met three times in the league, once in the President’s Cup and, lastly, in the FAI Cup final. City emerged victorious at the Aviva Stadium in the latter, after extra time, whilst they won two out of three in the league, with their only defeat coming in the last league encounter between the sides, a 2-1 reverse at Oriel Park in October.
Speaking ahead of the game, City boss John Caulfield said: “Every week is different and every game brings its own challenges, but it is the same three points on offer each time. I was disappointed with some aspects of our performance last time out, but we were solid defensively. We are fussy, we want things to be good and, sometimes, you get a game like last Friday where things didn’t quite click, but we came out with a fantastic result. That shows the strength of character and the resolve within the team, while things weren’t going our way, the lads dug in.”
“It’s good to be at home after being away for three of the first five games, so we are looking forward to that. The fact that it will be a sell-out is great, and the atmosphere should be fantastic.”
“The guts of their team has been together for the last number of years and have done very well. They are going for four in a row and I am sure they are relishing the fact that people are doubting them, but we haven’t taken our eye off the ball at all. We know how serious they are and how serious we have to be if we want to be challenging at the end of the season.”
John Caulfield will have to plan for the tie without the services of Greg Bolger who picked up a calf injury against Sligo Rovers. Johnny Dunleavy is being assessed after suffering a knock against Shamrock Rovers.
