Ship Sunk

Pictures courtesy of Mick Ring at 'Blink of an Eye' photography


So yet another win against the Queenstown Rejects, even if it is only a pre-season friendly. Having been scheduled to take place at Bishopstown, the frozen pitch out there forced a venue chance to the all-weather pitch at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa on the Tramore Road. The club announced the change about 2 hours before kickoff on their facebook page and club website, which is fine if you happened to be online. But a good few fans were left stranded at Bishopstown, unaware of the kickoff change and unable to make it out to the new venue, bad planning CCFC!

Other then that though it was a successful first outing for the Rebel Army. I got in the gate with about five minutes on the clock to see all the regular faces there, battle hardened, freezing in the strong breeze but optimistic none the less. A slightly changed City side was on display, with only 4 members of last years team lining out. The four much talked about trialists were out, as were signings Timmy Kiely, Vinny Sullivan and the Cockney Rebel, Danny Murphy!

City got off to a very hot start, some good build up play down the left hand side led to a corner kick; and from the resulting short set-piece, two new signings linked up, Kiely to Sullivan who powered a header down beyond the helpless Stephen Deasy in the Cobh net. The side seemed to have an excellent understanding of each other, and trialist Ryan Gyaki (A former Canadian u20 player of the year no less!) was bossing the midfield alongside Gearóid Morrissey.

The Leesiders had an excellent chance to double their lead soon after their first, but another trialist, 6'7 striker Patrick Deane headed badly over when it seemed easier to score. As a matter of fact Deane was the only player on trial who disappointed during the game, looking sluggish and short of match experience. Vinny Sullivan however was having a fine (second) début, and his driving run and shot allowed Davin O'Neill to tap the ball home from the rebound. City were well on top at this stage, and O'Neill's shot from the left flashed past the opposite upright.

My half was viewed from behind the City dugout; the bench a hive of activity in the cold conditions with 6 lads trying to stay warm, and a number of others (Including Tommy and new First Team Coach Billy Woods) taking in the performances of the potential new players.

Half time came with the score 2-0, and the changes were rolled in. Shane Duggan, Alan Carey and 19-year-old Simon Holland all in. The game died down after the interval and was played at a sedate pace. One player who did impress was Holland, forming an excellent partnership down the left with Danny Murphy in a position City have traditionally always struggled to fill. Trialist (yet another!) goalkeeper Sebastian Krawiec came in to replace Mark McNulty, who had a few nervy moments in the game; and Deane limped off to make way for Rory Morrissey up front. The ex-Arbroath man not impressing one bit.

The game, and City, got the kick they needed on the introduction of Kieran (Kiwi) Kenneally, the youngster turned heads last season for the U20's, showing great strength, technical ability and a fine footballing nouce. He came on at right wing and provided the bright spark in the cold conditions. He set up Alan Carey, who crossed for Rory Morrissey; but the youngster couldn't get his header on target. City found their groove and had the ball in the back of the net for a third time. Wolfe ghosting into the box and meeting Danny Murphy's fine cross to head powerfully into the top left hand corner.

City were lucky to hold onto the clean sheet in the end though, some suspect defending from Kovacsevics almost allowed Jason Abbott to score, but when he shot wide the Hungarian could breath a sigh of relief. Shane Duggan also landed himself in a spot of bother with a badly timed tackle on Cian van Wijnen, but referee Alan Kelly decided to give the Limerick native the benefit of the doubt, only showing him yellow.

Kelly blew his full time whistle and most of the 250+ crowd left happy, already speculating about chants for the new players (Hungry Like the Wolfe has to be my personal favourite) Next up Shamrock Rovers come down to face City at Musgrave Park, a venue we haven't played at since the mid 90's!

Until then, see ya!
Kev

Egg Chasing

On the back of the two friendlies at Musgrave Park, we're now hearing that both Munster Rugby and CCFC would be open to the idea of sharing the ground on a more permanent basis, according to the Irish Independant.

There's been talk of such a move for years. The two grounds are within about 500 yards of each other and both hold about 8,000 people. But with Munster planning to extend the grounds capacity to about 22,000; and without the ability to fund the project, the partnership with Cork City is an enticing one for the Red Army.

For City it would be the same old story, renting a ground off a higher body; and surely a long term goal for the club must be the development of a ground to call their own. No doubt Munster hope by that pairing up with City then they'll entice help from the County Council; leading to a communal stadium like that of the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

It all sounds like a great idea. Plans to play in a 20k+ stadium reflect the City's ambition to play in the biggest games in the country. European football, league wins and cup finals. Also, a partnership between Munster brings the potential of major marketing bucks, perhaps a Musgrave season ticket, which would entice far more people to Cork City games.

In addition to sharing of the stadium would hugely reduce match traffic on the nights when both City and Munster play games in the Airtricity and Magners leagues respectively. While for City it would bring to an end competition between League of Ireland football and a far more popular alternative on the same night.

The return of the terrace would be a massive selling point for City fans. Since the demolition of the Shed and the installation of an all seated stand the atmosphere has taken a major dip. Why stand up for the entire game when you have a seat to sit on? Hopefully in the prospective plans will be a commitment to make these UEFA regulated 'safe standing' areas, like that of the Signal Iduna Park, home to German giants Borussia Dortmund.

So surely you're thinking the first question on City fans lips will be: 'Where do we sign?'

But hold on just a second. Ground sharing is all well and good, but what about four months when both teams are playing simultaneously? October, November, February, March; not exactly renowned for their good weather now are they? With Magners League games usually wars of attrition, fought between the opposing packs; it takes a heavy toll on the pitch. All too often we've seen football games ruined by a pitch left by the egg-chasers the week beforehand.

With the bones of a decent football team (Danny Murphy, Gearóid Morrissey, Shane Duggan etc) then City's move to Muzzer could have a dramatic effect on the standard of football one sees when going to a Cork City game. Hosting an attractive, entertaining, and successful brand of football is key to getting punters in the gate. What use is having a brand new stadium if nobody wants to watch your team?

Which brings me nicely onto my second point. What use is there playing an a 22,000 seater stadium; when your average attendance last season was just over 1,750. I mean it's all very well for the club to have ambition but even if they chose to move into Musgrave on completion of the first phase (Taking its capacity to 12,500) it still would be far greater than Turners Cross, a stadium in which we struggled to half fill even when competing in the top division.

Though this ground-sharing idea seems like a good idea, it has one major flaw. With Munster rugby in decline, and more people being drawn away from local sport towards the bright lights of 'The best league in the world' (According to Andy Gray), it's obvious that despite what members say within FORAS, there will be one group that will always have the largest vote, the punters speaking with their feet.

Kev.

The Return of Rebellious Teen!

Howdy y'all.

Well I've been reading over this for the best part of about five minutes; and I think it's time for a resurrection!

With a stable board behind the scenes it won't be as interesting (I was going to say entertaining but lets be fair....) but you might suck enough enjoyment out of it to continue reading and following. (Joining the facebook page, subscribing to the youtube channel, twitter account etc etc..)

So, so far Cork City Football Club have signed Alan Carey, Timmy Kiely and Danny Murphy back on loan. Currently there's talks of bringing another former player Denis Behan back to Turners Cross.

A good pre-season has been lined up. Out first game is next Saturday against Cobh, followed by premier opposition in the shape of Sprouting Fungas, and both Rovers'. The two Rovers games are to be played at the egg-chasing cathedral that is Musgrave Park (snigger).

The first away trip is to the RSC where City will take on Waaaaahurfur in the Quarters of the Munster Senior Cup (Remember Pike Rovers folks?) While the league season starts at home to Fan Hurps (Finn Harps in the Queens English)

Anywho that's it from me for the moment. In the meantime check out the podcast I'll be running for the season @ www.loifanspodcast.weebly.com [/shameless advertising]

Kev