PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
Waterford United 0 Cork City 7
Matt Keane reports
A Waterford United team which consisted of trial, underage and fringe players were run ragged by Cork City at the RSC on Friday night last.
The Leesiders are expected to make a bold bid to win the Premier League this season and they paraded all of their first choice players in the first half and led five nil at the interval. The home side did not field signed players such as Philly Gorman, Roddy Collins ‘Jnr’ and Sean Byrne and as a result there was only going to be one outcome.
The Blues had the first chance of the game on five minutes when Aaron O’Connor picked up possession of the ball on the left side of the penalty area but his low right-footed shot was well held by Cork City keeper Mark McNulty.
Cork City struck the front on 12 minutes when Ian Turner took a pass from Gary Buckley just outside the penalty area and he beat keeper Kevin Burns with a delightful left-footed finish that found the bottom left corner of the net
Gary Buckley was denied a second goal by a brilliant block from Blues defender Shane Mackey two minutes later before Cork City’s goalscorer Turner struck the top of the crossbar with a cracking left-footed strike from 14 yards on 29 minutes.
City doubled their lead four minutes later when Turner sent in a corner kick from the left to the near post where defender Alan Bennett was on hand to flick a close range effort past keeper Burns at the front post.
A third goal arrived for the visitors from Leeside on 39 minutes when Ian Turner was brought down inside the penalty area and he stepped up to take the resulting penalty that beat keeper Kevin Burns as the Blues failed to live with the City dominance.
Turner completed his hat-trick two minutes later when he raced through the Blues defence after a great through ball from Sean Beattie before placing a left-footed shot under the body of Waterford keeper Burns from just inside the penalty area.
Seani Maguire was fouled inside the penalty area by Blues defender Dean Reidy on the stroke of the half time whistle and the former Blues striker stepped up to the spot kick himself that he tucked the ball past keeper Burns.
The second half saw both sides make a host of changes with John Caulfield’s still pressing the game in an attacking sense with Mark O’Sullivan off target with an effort on 65 minutes before Kyle McCleod notched a sixth goal eight minutes later.
Cork scored a seventh goal with four minutes remaining when Jonathan Hanrahan sent over a corner kick from the right that found the head of Mark O’Sullivan and he powered a header past a helpless Kevin Burns from close range.
WATERFORD UNITED: Kevin Burns; Dean Reidy, Shane Mackey, Jabba Garabaldi, Jimmy Dermody, David Osorio, Darren Murphy, David O’Leary, Aaron O’Connor; Marcelo Norton, Yohan Fellihurt.
SUBS: Roy Butler, Thomas Croke, Dylan McGuire, Richard Tobin, Colum Nugent, James O’Brien, Robert Buckley, Robert Birdsall
CORK CITY: Mark McNulty(Alan Smith 45)Steven Beattie (Kyle McLoud `45) Mark O’Sullivan(Jonathan Hanrahan `45) Greg , Bolger,Gary Buckley, Gavin Holohan,Ian Turner, Seanie Maguire Karl Sheppard, Steven Dooley (Colin Healy `45)
REFEREE: Andrew Mullally assisted by Adam Tszample and Patrick O’Connor
