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An unfortunate late howl from Shelbourne goalkeeper Colin McCabe gave Cork City a point at Tolka Park to lift Neale Fenn’s side off the bottom of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table.
And while a mistake by Mark McNulty between the posts at the opposite end led Shelbourne to take the lead, the City goalkeeper produced a series of stops in the second half to frustrate the Dubliners.
A late goal from Ciaran Kilduff was all that separated the teams at Turner’s Cross on the season’s opening night in February.
And it was the Real Reds who started on the front foot here, forcing a corner in one minute and punishing the terrible defense to take the lead three minutes later.
McNulty’s sloppy punt went straight to Shelbourne midfielder Sean Quinn some 40 yards in the form of goals.
Dayle Rooney gives @shelsfc the advantage against @CorkCityFC in Tolka Park #RTESoccer pic.twitter.com/EZjWGWjD8d
– Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) September 5, 2020
With plenty of time and space, Quinn stepped forward to pass a ball through the visiting defense for Kilduff’s run.
The big striker reached the baseline to cut a cross for left winger Dayle Rooney, who crossed with veteran defender Alan Bennett to head for the net.
Shels may have worked the goal well, but City Manager Fenn will have been furious at how easy his defense made it.
Cork settled into the game to enjoy a good possession streak, though he struggled to create something in the final third until the 20th minute.
Dylan McGlade was the architect on the right, working a double with winger Dale Holland. The deep center found forward Scott Fenwick, who planted his header wide.
While Cork still had much of the ball, it was Shelbourne’s direct approach to the fast break that nearly brought them a second goal just before half an hour.
This time around, Cork’s defense held firm as, first, Bennett did well to block a shot from Shels captain Gary Deegan. Moments later, Cian Coleman put his body on the path of a journey from Kilduff.
Redeeming his early error, McNulty then went down well to reject a Dan Byrne header after Rooney was given too much room to throw a cross from the right.
Rooney’s alertness, pace and control continued to worry Cork. And the efforts of the 22-year-old on the left prepared Ryan Brennan, who squandered a real opportunity to extend Shels’ lead by going over the top from 12 yards.
Fenn featured Connor Simpson at halftime when he went 4-4-2 in the chase of the game. The trade almost paid a dividend eight minutes into the second half when the forward’s header brought a good lead over McCabe’s save after Fenwick had hit captain Gearoid Morrissey’s diagonal ball.
A good goalkeeper on the other end rescued Cork on the double.
Brennan stole a slow Deshane Dalling to cross through Kilduff, who managed to pass to bring in a good save from NcNulty with his feet.
A minute later, Kilduff re-entered the arc thanks to Rooney’s impressive pass to McNulty, once again, equal to the effort of making a dive.
Cork finished strong, earning his reward in the 74th minute, albeit to a howl from a goalkeeper.
Dalling appeared to lose his center from the left. But McCabe seemed to divert his attention from the falling ball and simply helped cross the line from his right post.
McNulty then saved well from Jaze Kabia and Aaron Dobbs later when Cork kept his point.
Shelbourne: Colin McCabe; Georgie Poynton, Dan Byrne, Luke Byrne, Alex O’Hanlon; Denzil Fernandes (Mark Byrne 79), Sean Quinn, Gary Keegan, Dayle Rooney; Ryan Brennan (Aaron Dobbs 69), Ciaran Kilduff (Jaze Kabia 79).
cork City: Mark McNulty 7; Dale Holland (Ronan Hurley 83), Alan Bennett (Jake O’Brien 45 + 1), Kevin O’Connor, Rob Slevin; Cian Coleman, Gearoid Morrissey, Henry Ochieng (Connor Simpson part time); Dylan McGlade, Scott Fenwick (Ricardo Dinanga 87), Deshane Dalling.
Referee: Rob Hennessy (Clare)
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