26 September 2020
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Cork City are back on the road this weekend, making the long trip to Ballybofey to take on Finn Harps on Sunday afternoon. City, currently sitting bottom of the Premier Division, head into the game knowing that a win would see them leapfrog Harps, who sit in 9th place, one point ahead of the Rebel Army.
It was a difficult week for everyone at Cork City, after the passing of John Kennedy, and City boss Neale Fenn paid tribute to him ahead of this week’s press conference: “It’s been a tough week, his passing has been felt by everyone. John did so much for the club and he meant so much to everyone. The fact that he won’t be there and won’t be watching us will be felt by all of us, but I’m sure he’ll be looking at us and hoping we do well.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s game Fenn said: “It’s definitely a must not lose game. I don’t think it will end the season either way, if we win or lose it. It’s certainly a game we will go up and do our best in. I’ve listened to a lot of people say that Finn Harps are better equipped to win these types of games than us, so they’ll be looking at it thinking that Harps will be expected to win it, so it’s nice for us to not have the pressure on us.”
“The performance in the Rovers game wasn’t up to the standards that we expect at this club, but instead of looking backwards, we’re looking forwards and focusing on Finn Harps. Training has been good, we’ve done a lot of work on how we’re going to play and we’ve done a lot of work on Finn Harps. Not having a game last weekend gave us a little bit of time to some more bodies available to us.”
Cian Coleman also spoke to the media this week, saying: “It’s a massive game for us. Every game until the end of the season will be huge, but this one is massive because of the position that both teams are in. After the Rovers game, we had a good discussion in here about where we are at and what we need to do. Since that, training has been good, everything has been positive and upbeat so we’re ready to go now.”
On the injury front, Fenn will be boosted by the return of a number of injured players: “Kit Elliott is back and has almost finished his quarantine period. He probably won’t be fit enough to feature on Sunday, but it’s great to have him back. We will have to wait and see how his fitness is by the weekend. Joseph Olowu has been training all week so hopefully he’ll be available. We’re hoping to see Alan Bennett train this week, we’re not sure about Uniss yet, Cian Bargary is also back training, which is another body for us.”
The match will be broadcast live on the SSE Airtricity League’s brand-new streaming service, #WATCHLOI! Supporters can purchase a Half-Season Pass for just €39, which will ensure access to streams of all remaining SSE Airtricity League Premier Division matches for the rest of the season, as well as select FAI Cup ties. Alternatively, you can purchase Match Passes on a game-by-game basis, priced at €5 per game. Sign up here.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
Injury News: Kit Elliott, Alan Bennett, Joseph Olowu, Uniss Kargbo, Cian Bargary
Suspended: Henry Ochieng
League form: L D W L D L