Cork City  1 Derry City  1: Derry City stole a point from a game that was dominated by a shot-shy Cork City at Turner's Cross with the aid of a bitterly disputed first-half goal.

Derry's goal came when Gareth McGlynn took a free near halfway quickly and sent Mark Farren racing clear.

Farren raced on without challenge to beat the advancing goalkeeper Mark McNulty.

Cork complained the free had been taken when the ball was rolling and that Farren had run from an offside position.

Manager Damien Richardson waited on the sideline to voice his complaints to referee Damien Hancock at half-time.

The game was in keeping with recent disappointing performances from both teams.

Derry had reason to be thankful to goalkeeper Patrick Jennings for two magnificent saves that ensured Cork were scoreless at half-time.

He dived low to his left to turn outside an explosive left foot shot from 30 yards from Darragh Ryan in the 25th minute and he flung himself to his right to claw away a powerful volley from Joe Gamble five minutes later.

Jennings was never as stretched in the second half despite long periods of Cork supremacy.

He was beaten, however, in the 65th minute when Darren Murphy raced forward from midfield and after he failed to make clean contact with an attempted shot, the ball fell for John O'Flynn who scored from 10 yards.

Cork had chances to win it, especially when O'Flynn sent O'Donovan in on Jennings's goal in the 85th minute but his lob carried over the bar.

CORK CITY: McNulty; Horgan, Kelly (O'Callaghan 83), Murray, Ryan; Woods, Murphy, Gamble, Kearney (Behan, 80 mins); O'Donovan, O'Flynn.

DERRY CITY: Jennings; McCallion, Kelly, Oman, Rogers; McGlynn, O'Halloran (Higgins, 46 mins), Molloy, Brennan; Beckett (McHugh, 66 mins), Farren.

Refereee: D Hancock (Dublin).