25 April 2023
By Roger Kennedy
roger@TheCork.ie
Speaking of the Irish Premier Division, it has been a struggle for one of the teams that gained promotion into the division and that team is Cork City.
Cork City won the Irish First Division last year and secured promotion to the Premier League but it’s safe to say that halfway through the season, their campaign to stay up has not gone according to plan, at all.
They were double winners two years prior to their relegation in 2020 when they could muster only two wins in 18 games. They fought valiantly for two years against adversity on and off the pitch and finally got themselves back up to the top flight by winning the first division last season.
Their bad form and performances for a lot of this season has seen their manager, Colin Healy go as far as to blame the quality of the turf they play on. He may be right with this assessment but his team is not the only one that competes on those surfaces.
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What do the numbers say about their form this season?
After ten games played, Cork City currently sit in ninth place in the table. They are currently fie points ahead of 10th place UCD and three points from safety, a position occupied by Dundalk.
In the 10 games they have played this season, they have won only two, they have drawn three matches and have suffered the second most losses in the league with five.
Cork City’s recent form of their last five games shows that they have only won one of tier last five games. They have conceded 18 goals, which is the second most goals conceded in the League as well.
On the positive side of things, The Rebel Army City have scored 13 goals this season. That number ranks them at fourth among the top scoring clubs in the Premier League. When you compare this tally to the five goals scored by UCD behind them, it becomes apparent that their situation may not be hopeless.
Also, they have the fifth best home record in the league with two wins (their only wins this season) and seven points amassed at their home turf.
On the top scorers list, Cork city have the third highest goal scorer in the League with five goals in Ruairi Keating and the sixth highest in Darragh Crowley with three goals. They are a team capable of scoring goals and have players that can find the back of the net.
So far this season, even the positive aspects of Cork City, that has recently been purchased by businessman Dermot Usher, have not been enough for them to get out of trouble, but with eight games to go, nothing is impossible.
What do they need to do to get better?
Improve on defensive deficiencies
Cork City have conceded 18 goals in the league, which is an average of nearly two goals conceded per game and have a goal difference of -5. If they are going to make their offensive firepower count, they will need to shore up their defense.
Their tally of two clean sheets is the joint lowest in the league and must be improved on. When Cork City secured promotion to the Premier League, they only conceded 22 goals in the 32 games they played, an average of less than a goal a game. Though there is a difference in quality between the divisions, they have proven that they can be solid defensively in the past.
Keep the forwards firing on all cylinders
As mentioned earlier in the article, Ruairi Keating and Darragh Crowley have a combined nine goals to their name and have proven themselves to be decent in front of goal for Cork City. If they continue to create chances, those two will score goals but they also need goals to come from other members of the squad as well.
There have only been seven different goalscorers on this team and five of them have only scored once. In order for them to push the teams in front of them and climb to safety, they will need more players to score more goals.
For them to score more goals, the supply line has to improve as well. Ethan Varian and top scorer Ruairi Keating are the two top assisters on the team with two assists so far this season. They will need the likes of Cian Murphy to come up with more creative involvement which will definitely be of huge help to their cause this season.
Improve their Away Form
Cork City’s away form is the second worst in the Premier Division, with only two points, two draws and no wins to their name on their travels this season. They have scored six goals and conceded 13, with a goal difference of -7.
If they want to have any hope of staying in the division, they need arrest the situation and improve on their away performances. Their defense needs to be more solid than it currently is in order for them to pick up more points on their travels.
How good Can Cork City be?
With 26 games still to play, this team still has a lot of growth to undergo. There will be hurdles in front of them that they need to overcome and lessons they must learn but as nine time champions, they will feel a sense of belonging in this division and with that comes with more confidence.
They have already shown their ability to find the back of the net in order to win games but they are yet to put it all together as a team. Their defensive woes are currently the biggest issues they need to address, and it is something that can be overcome over the course of a long season.
Cork City may be in the relegation zone at the moment, but they have the potential to make a climb up the table and remain in the division. The two wins they have secured in this campaign were agaist Dundalk above them and UCD below them. In order to survive, they need to beat the teams around them and they have proven they have that ability.
