The list of things that seem to faze Conor McCarthy appears to be getting shorter. The young defender remained unnerved when asked to step in to replace the injured Alan Bennett earlier in the season and unmoved when facing the experienced Dundalk s
The list of things that seem to faze Conor McCarthy appears to be getting shorter. The young defender remained unnerved when asked to step in to replace the injured Alan Bennett earlier in the season and unmoved when facing the experienced Dundalk striker Patrick Hoban during their top of the table clash at Turners Cross on Friday night. A narrow 1-0 win earned Cork City a crucial three points to move them clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division ahead of the Lilywhites. But a fearless display from McCarthy, which helped the Champions to keep their fourth consecutive clean sheet in the league and their eight in the last 11 games in which the twenty-year-old has started, was enough to earn him the man of the match award. And shortly after full time, the youngster also dealt with the gathered press with a similar swagger to how he has handled the league’s top attackers. “Bennos been a great player but it’s up to us now, it’s our time and we want to push on,” enthused McCarthy when asked about the clubs young defence. “It’s a testament to us lately that we haven’t been playing the best but we’ve been grinding out the results and keeping clean sheets but yeah we're happy enough overall. “We’re only young fellas but we work hard in training and Caulfield has us well drilled. I think they were trying to hit Hoban a lot, he’s an animal of a man, but yeah he didn’t really have any chances so we were happy enough as a back four. “I know that might come across a bit confident but I think I always had the ability, it’s just a matter of getting in and establishing myself really. “I played with the under 19’s for four years so I knew what the club was about and when I was given my chance I was happy to step up.” That step up from youths football to senior football has been made easier for McCarthy this season as he has had to opportunity to form a partnership in the heart of the Leesider’s defence with his friend Sean McLoughlin. “We’re the best of friends so we talk away to each other and we have that understanding even tonight with Hoban we were chatting away to each other and stuff like that,” he added. “I was with Sean at the under 19’s so when I was 16 I came in and he was already there. We played a year together and then he went to U.C.C but we always kept in contact. “We were always good buddies. We just gelled from day one really, we just hit it off and I would consider him a good friend of mine. “But it is a big jump and I underestimated it big time. With the 19's the intensity isn’t really there. “Fighting for results week in week out and having titles on the line and having crowds on your back but it has definitely helped me make my step up.” But while the duo played their part in the defeat of Dundalk, it was ultimately Gearoid Morrissey’s well-executed volley in the second half that won the game for John Caulfield’s side. And McCarthy admitted it was nice to gain revenge following their narrow defeat at Oriel Park in his first start of the season back at the beginning of March. “Yeah, it’s nothing new to us. Chops (Gearoid Morrissey) does that every day in training,” stated the former Blarney United player. “I think Bucks (Garry Buckley) was unlucky to hit the crossbar but yeah what a finish by Chops. “It was bittersweet when they beat us 1-0 up there. They were parading around Oriel Park so it was nice to do it in front of six and a half thousand here as well. “Everyone was buzzing in the dressing room. Everyone congratulating each other. It’s just great to get the three points really but we move on now.”
