28 March 2019, Thursday
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Cork City are on the road again this Friday, as they make the trip to Oriel Park to face Dundalk
City head into the game having won their last two league games, as well as having retained the Munster Senior Cup last Friday evening. Dundalk come into the game in similar form, having also won their last two league outings.
Speaking at his weekly press conference in Bishopstown, City boss John Caulfield said: “The one thing about Dundalk is that they’ve been consistent. They’ve more or less kept the same team. If you look at their back five – Rogers, Gannon, Gartland, Hoare, Massey, they’ve had the same back five now for the last two to three years, which certainly helps. Up top, they’ve Duffy, Hoban, Mountney. You look at that and you’re saying they’ve a lot of boys who have been with them for four years. That stability helps, they all know each other’s game.”
“We know how difficult it is going up there. There’s no doubt that we’ve changed things around but at the same time, over the last four or five weeks our form has improved. We’ve kicked on from the start of the season. We know that nothing but a top performance from us will give us any chance of a result. We’re working very hard, the lads are doing well and when you get a number of wins over four weeks, that helps the confidence.”
City have a number of injury concerns, Dáire O’Connor is unlikely to feature, while Alan Bennett, Gearóid Morrissey and Karl Sheppard will be assessed, with Caulfield hopeful that they may be available. James Tilley misses the game through suspension having been sent off against Midleton last Friday.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
Injury News: Matty Gillam, Dáire O’Connnor, Alan Bennett, Gearóid Morrissey, Seán McLoughlin.
Suspended: James Tilley
Last game: City 3-1 Midleton
Last league game: City 2-0 Bohemians
Last meeting: City 1-2 Dundalk (President’s Cup)
League Form (League, most recent game first): W W D W L
