Waterford United 2 Cork City 2: The traditional cut and thrust between these two sides was evident again at the RSC last night when the Munster rivals treated a packed house to a pulsating game.
Neither side deserved to lose a battle that raged to the final whistle and the draw kept intact United's unbeaten home record while also preserving City's unbeaten away run.
City opened the scoring five minutes before half-time when Neal Horgan floated over a cross from the right. No Waterford player addressed the danger and the well-placed Kevin Doyle sent a looping header over goalkeeper Wayne Russell's head into the roof of the net from six yards.
United were reduced to 10 men six minutes into the second half when their captain, John Frost, was sent off after being shown a second yellow card by referee David McKeon.
But seven minutes later United were level when, 15 yards out from goal, David Breen headed home a Kevin Waters free-kick.
City took less than three minutes to regain the lead. Again, the goal came from a well-placed header, this time by Dan Murray following a free kick by George O'Callaghan.
United refused to be intimidated and surged forward at every opportunity. The pressure paid off on 78 minutes when Alan Bennett fouled Colm Heffernan in the area and Vinnie Sullivan sent Michael Devine the wrong way with a perfectly placed penalty.
In a fast-paced first half, both sides created a number of scoring opportunities. On 13 minutes, George O'Callaghan put Roy O'Donovan through but, after rounding goalkeeper Russell, the former Coventry City player hit the side netting from a difficult angle.
A classy one-two between Doyle and O'Callaghan set up Denis Behan on the half-hour but, unmarked, he dragged his shot wide from 15 yards.
WATERFORD UNITED: Russell; Andrews, Frost, Reynolds, Breen, Purcell, Yelverton, Mulcahy, Doyle, Sullivan, Waters. Subs: Heffernan for Doyle (57 mins), Grant for Sullivan (93 mins).
CORK CITY: Devine; Bennett, Murray, O'Brien, O'Callaghan, Woods, O'Donovan, Doyle, Behan (Fenn, 90 minutes), Horgan, Kearney. Subs: Fenn for Behan (90 mins).
Referee: David McKeon (Dublin).
