Cork City captain John Dunleavy praised the side's character after the 1-0 win over Finn Harps. The FAI Cup holders battled against a resilient Finn Harps side and tough conditions to come away with all three points after Sean Maguire's strike. Cap
Cork City captain John Dunleavy praised the side's character after the 1-0 win over Finn Harps.
The FAI Cup holders battled against a resilient Finn Harps side and tough conditions to come away with all three points after Sean Maguire's strike.
Captain Dunleavy was delighted to get off the mark in the first game of the 2017 season and will be taking the season one step at a time.
Dunleavy said: "We're just delighted to come away with all three points. We knew tonight would be tough, they don't make it easy for you.
"We had to dig deep and it's a great result for us. It's going to be a long season and every result counts whether it's on the first day or the last.
"We've got to take it one step at a time but if we can keep our level of performance high, then we'll be up there again.
"Our keeper only had one shot on target to save tonight so it's shows how solid we were against tough opposition."
Dunleavy went on to say that Finn Park is always a tough place to go and shows that the quality of the league is always improving.
He added: "You never enjoy it up here. The home support and the way the team are set out, you know you're in a game.
"We face the long trip back down to Cork now but we can do it knowing we've got the three points.
"It was great for me to me back out there after the injury spell. It was difficult to come back from but to get back for the start of the season was great."