BIG MATCH PREVIEW
ST. PATRICK'S ATHLETIC V CORK CITY
Friday 7th 7.45pm, Richmond Park, Inchicore.
Cork City Boss Liam Murphy is nearly in the same situation Pat Dolan found himself in at the start of last season. Cork have quite simply had a nightmare start to their league campaign. The opening day drubbing at the hands of Longford took many pundits by surprise. On the strength of their excellent form shown at the tail end of last season, when they qualified for the Intertoto spot and beat both Bohs and more memorably Shels in Dublin, many tipped City to be a good outside bet for the league. However as they go into Friday's game at Inchicore they find themselves second from bottom in the Eircom League and Liam Murphy has openly blasted his squad:
"I have 23 players in the squad and I am looking to get my best 16 out of that. They have two matches to prove themselves now - otherwise, they are free to go," said Murphy.
Who added "It wasn't good enough. I will not accept that level of performance. I will decide after the next two games who wants to play for me - and the rest can go. It was dreadful stuff and the supporters deserve better."
Testing times indeed for the City Boss. Sides like Cork City will always find their form eventually, but Pats fans will be hoping that the Cork recovery starts after Friday's game and not during.
Editor of the Official Cork City FC Matchday Programme, Gerry Desmond gives IS Online the lowdown on the likely Cork City dangerman for Friday night, James Mulligan........
James Mulligan. A somewhat surprising signing by Derek Mountfield in August 2000, James found it difficult to settle in a City side that struggled for long periods of an unhappy season at Turners Cross. Having started out with St Joseph’s in Sallynoggin, he was soon whisked away to Stoke City and later moved on to Bury. He returned to Ireland in December 1995 when he signed for Sligo Rovers. By January 1997 he had joined Finn Harps and he arrived on Leeside last autumn for a reported £15,000.
Failed at first to convince sceptical Corkonians that he was a worthwhile investment, but has gradually won them over with his tremendous work rate. James was in hot goalscoring form pre-season, including a well-finished strike against Celtic. His competitive goals may still be trickling rather than flowing but, in fairness, this owes more to City’s ongoing inability to string two passes together than to any particular deficiency on his part. Increasingly, he has been forced to operate more as a forager and provider instead of being used as a poacher or finisher. Thus he is not playing his natural game but, ominously for St Pat’s fans, he did make the scoresheet on his last visit to Richmond Park in November 2000.
Cork may have started slowly and been shy in front of goal, but most City supporters would agree that Wee Jamesie has given his all for the cause in each game so far.
My thanks to Cork City Fans, Gerry Desmond, for his piece on James Mulligan and Peadar O'Sullivan for allowing me to use some of his photos of the recent game between Cork City and Longford. Check out peadar.net for more of examples of Peadar's football photography.