Cork City 2

Derry City 0

Derry City fell to their fourth league defeat of the season tonight as Peter Hutton's reign got off to a losing start at Turner's Cross.

First half goals from Billy Dennehy and Gearoid Morrisey did the damage for Cork, and it was more of the same for the Candy Stripes who failed to score for the seventh time in 13 league games this season.

However, that was not due to a lack of effort as City’s young players showed some decent passages of attacking play throughout, but their best chance came and went when Ryan Curran crashed a volley off the upright in the early stages of the second half.

It all went very wrong very quickly for Hutton and Derry however. There were 14 minutes on the clock when a cross into the area was headed up into the air and Shane McEleney got on the wrong side of Dennehy as the ball dropped out of the sky. McEleney won the header but in doing so he was adjudged to have fouled his former team mate and referee Rob Rogers immediately pointed to the penalty spot.

Dennehy himself opted to take the kick and he sent Gerard Doherty the wrong way from the spot to give Cork an early lead.

But Cork were not done and they doubled their lead within 90 seconds of the restart.

A free kick into a packed penalty area was cleared by Ryan McBride but only to Morrissey 30 yards from goal. The centre half was not closed down by any player in black so he opted to shoot, and his shot flew past Gerard Doherty and into the net off the inside of the post to make it 2-0.

Stunned by that, Derry City’s response was sluggish but they should have found a way back into the game on 25 minutes. Michael Duffy won a free kick 30 yards from goal and Patrick McEleney swung the ball into a crowded penalty area where he found Aaron Barry six yards from goal. Unfortunately for Derry, the defender miscued completely and sent his header wide.

It took a magnificent save from Doherty to keep the Cork score down as the hosts came so close to a third as he tipped O’Sullivan’s header onto the crossbar. The rebound bounced back into play for Dan Murray who headed the ball back into the net but the Cork celebrations were cut short by a flag for offside.

Nine minutes into the second half, Derry should have had their goal. Patrick McEleney began the move which saw Ryan Curran exchange passes with Michael Duffy, and the young striker was through but his volley beat McNulty and hit the upright and somehow stayed out of the net.

Derry did their best to get back into the game but Cork held firm and it is once again back to the drawing board for Peter Hutton and his players.

Teams

Cork: Mark McNulty, John Dunleavy, Darren Dennehy, Gearoid Morrissey, Colin Healy, Dan Murray, Brian Lenihan, Billy Dennehy, Mark O’Sullivan, Iarfhlaith Davoren, Liam Kearney (Gary Buckley 79’).

Derry: Gerard Doherty, Shane McEleney (Tony McNamee 79’), Ryan McBride, Cliff Byrne, Aaron Barry, Danny Ventre, Ryan Curran (Nathan Boyle 74’), Barry Molloy, Barry McNamee, Michael Duffy, Patrick McEleney.

Referee: Rob Rogers

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