Derry City dominant in Cork as Colm Whelan gets off the mark!

Cork City 1

Derry City 3

Colm Whelan scored his first goal for Derry City to help his new team to a comfortable victory over Cork City at Turner's Cross. 

The striker came on as a second half substitute for Cian Kavanagh and found the net within minutes to seal the three points and only City's second league win in seven games. 

After a poor start, Derry City took the lead on 38 minutes. Ryan Graydon won a corner for the visitors and Michael Duffy swung the ball in towards the near post where Boyce arrived to glance a header past Jimmy Corcoran and into the net. It was Boyce’s first goal in 364 days and his 11th for the club overall.

Derry City doubled their lead just after the hour mark thanks to some tenacious work by Ben Doherty. The wing-back rescued the ball from going out after a poor touch on the left wing, and managed to find Michael Duffy in space. Duffy took the ball in his stride, and with no challenge incoming, tried his luck from 20 yards with the ball flying under the dive of Corcoran and into the net to make it 2-0.

Derry City were cruising but Cork almost grabbed a goal when Matt Healy’s free kick was met by a glancing header from Ruairi Keating, but a sensational save from Maher, diving fully to his right, somehow kept the ball out of the net.

The home side then struck the bar as they tried to get back into the game, with Hakkinen’s cross met by Barry Coffey but his header hit the top of the crossbar and stayed out.

The game was then held up as Maher went down injured and was then struck by a bottle thrown by Cork City fans in the Shed End behind the goal with the stadium announcer warning that the game would be abandoned if the behaviour continued.

The Derry City players got their revenge by adding a third goal to seal the points shortly afterwards and it was a brilliant moment for Colm Whelan who scored his first Derry City goal. Ryan Graydon was sent through on goal, and his effort was stopped by Corcoran before he set up Ollie O’Neill. The midfielder’s shot was also blocked but the rebound fell for Whelan, just on the pitch as a substitute, and he hammered the ball into the roof of the net to end the game as a contest.

The home side did get a consolation deep into added time at the end of the game when substitute Tunde Owolabi outmuscled Cameron McJannet before drilling the ball past Maher at his near post. But it came too late to make any difference as the Candystripes picked up a comfortable victory.

Teams

CORK CITY: Corcoran, Coleman, Healy, Gilchrist, Bolger, Keating, Coffey (Owolabi 76’), Honohan, Varian, Murphy (Krezic 51’), Hakkinen.

DERRY CITY: Maher, Boyce, Doherty, S McEleney, McJannet, Diallo, O’Reilly (Patching 84’), O’Neill (Ward 84’), Graydon (B Kavanagh 84’), Duffy (Whelan 74’), C Kavanagh (Coll 74’).

REFEREE: Rob Harvey.