Sport

Lazy Cork made to pay by a confident Waterford

Cork City - 1 Waterford Utd - 1: Cork City's title drive hit a bump in the road at Turner's Cross last night

Sat Aug 06 2005 - 01:00

Cork City - 1 Waterford Utd - 1: Cork City's title drive hit a bump in the road at Turner's Cross last night.  They played possibly the most lethargic 90 minutes of their season to date as the visitors made them look anything but title contenders.

Cork's biggest strength has been the pace at which they play, but that quality was sorely missing last night.

Instead we got a lazy performance from the home side as Waterford collected a valuable point on the road.

After a poor opening 30 minutes, Cork looked to have breathed life into the game when Liam Kearney opened the scoring. Greg O'Halloran won a great ball on the right wing, fed George O'Callaghan who, in turn, laid off to Neal Horgan.

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The full back cut along the dead-ball line before cutting back to Kearney and the winger turned brilliantly before dispatching to the back of the net.

It was just the lift the game needed, but instead of spurring Cork on to better things, the goal galvanised Waterford.

They came back at Cork, and while their goal on 45 minutes was somewhat fortuitous, it was no more than they deserved.

Colm Heffernan won a free from Danny Murphy, and after sending the ball in himself Dave Mulcahy got minimal contact.

As Cork goalkeeper Mark McNulty came to claim, George O'Callaghan raced across his line of vision and swung a leg at the ball. The midfielder failed to make contact, and with McNulty unsighted the ball squeezed into the net.

On the resumption Cork tried everything to force the pace of the game, but their final product was lacking, and the longer the game progressed the more confidence United gained.

Waterford continued to force the pace of the game, and even when Cork stuck big Derek Coughlan up front, it had little effect.

For Brendan Rae, the Waterford manager, it was a night to celebrate as he claimed his first point of his managerial career, but for Cork there was definitely a sense of under achievement.

This is, make no mistake, a dent in Cork's title challenge, one they will be hoping they can bounce back from before the wheels come off their challenge.

CORK CITY: McNulty, Horgan, Murphy, Bennett, Murray, Gamble, O'Callaghan, O'Halloran, Kearney, O'Flynn, Fenn. Subs: O'Donovan for O'Halloran (21 mins), Bruton for Fenn (77 mins), Coughlan for Horgan (90 mins).

WATERFORD UNITED: Holden, Breen, Finn, Mulcahy, Doherty, Purcell, Waters, Grant, Sullivan, Andrews, Heffernan. Subs: Hayes for Doherty (inj 27 mins), Lester for Sullivan (77 mins).

Referee: I Stokes (Dublin).