| Bit O'Red humble the Leesiders |
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| Sunday, 13 May 2007 | |
 A simply stunning Sligo Rovers performance saw off a shell-shocked Cork City thanks to four memorable strikes tonight in The Showgrounds. Although masterminded by the tenacious Chris Turner and an on-fire Matt Judge, the plaudits were shared in what was a first class team effort.
eircom League of Ireland Sligo Rovers 4 - 1 Cork City The Showgrounds, Sat 12 May, 2007 City Alarms Man of the Match: Chris Turner  No-one could have foreseen what was to come following the defeat at the hands of Finn Harps in Monday night, but if this turnaround is a taste of what is to come for Paul Cook’s reign, then the future is more than bright. The first half intent was clear from the opening minute when a clever throughball by Matt Judge found Manson on the right but the Scot’s shot went wide of Devine’s goal. City countered immediately when O’Donovan raced onto a long clearance cutting inside from the right before forcing a good save from Arcaba which he gathered on the rebound. It was a pacy game with both sides looking to get the early goal, but despite the endeavour, chances were at a premium. Midway through the half though, the Bit O’Red camped in the final third with efforts from a Foy free and a jabbed Turner shot created with an instinctive Judge flick. The influential Turner almost put Rovers ahead on thirty three minutes when after some good interplay with Kudozovic and Foy, he spotted Devine off his line but his chipped shot went narrowly over. Turner’s quick thinking finally bore fruit in the thirty sixth minute when his low free kick found Judge on the edge of the box. Judge turned Murray on a six pence and slotted the ball to Devine’s left for the opener. The visitors were in disarray, their manager resorting to remove his overcoat but it was to no avail and soon after, Devine was called into action again pushing the ball out for a corner from a Turner strike. Rovers were on a roll, and with only two minutes left, Judge put the ball through to a running Kudozovic with only Devine to beat but he was upended by the Cork ‘keeper and who else but Chris Turner stepped up to put the home side two up at the break. For once, the script was being written in the stars and after only two minutes of the restart the home side were three up. Matt Judge putting a long ball into the box and Turner forced his way past Murray smashing Rovers into an unassailable lead. City were shell-shocked whilst the Bit O’Red turned the screw minutes later, this time raiding down the right, Kudozovic and Manson linking brilliantly, before the Bosnian shot low only to be denied by a brilliant Devine stop. It was the men in red that looked like title challengers - one touch possession football, letting the ball do the work, making sure every blade of grass bounced for the Bit O’Red. The inevitable substitutions slowed the game down and the next time the crowd got to their feet was on seventy minutes when an understandably tired Chris Turner made way for Conor O’Grady who was returning from injury. It was only two more minutes though before the home side got the fourth and it was another piece of Matt Judge magic, blocking an attempted Cork clearance before weaving and walking his way past a dumbstruck City defence to fire his second. The half-time entertainment was provided by the youngsters of Strand Celtic and it was fitting that a graduate of their ‘Colts’ programme, Brian McMorrow made his senior debut on the seventy seventh minute. Unfortunately the gloss was taken off the night somewhat in the first minute of injury time when Darren Murphy headed home at the back post, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Rovers faithful as they cheered off the team at the end of the ninety minutes. Sligo Rovers Tomislas Arcaba, Seamus Coleman, Keith Foy (Brian McMorrow 77 mins), Gavin Peers, Jamie McKenzie, Chris Turner (Conor O’Grady 70), Stephen Manson, Adam Hughes, Matthew Judge (Gino O’Boyle 83 mins), Fahrudin Kudozovic, Raffaele Cretaro Subs not used Richard Brush, , Zoltan Vasas Cork City Michael Devine, Neal Horgan, Darragh Ryan, Brian O’Callaghan, Dan Murray, Colin O’Brien (Billy Woods 58 mins), Joe Gamble, John O’Flynn, Roy O’Donovan, Admin Softic (Darren Murphy 66 mins), Denis Behan (Liam Kearney 54min) Subs not used:, Cillian Lordan, Mark McNulty Referee: D Hancock (Dublin) Bookings: Sligo Rovers: Keith Foy, Fahrudin Kudozovic Cork City: Michael Devine, Colin O’Brien, Joe Gamble |
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