Beleaguered Cork City boss John Caulfield cut an exasperated figure at the conclusion of his side’s fifth defeat of the season, 2-1 to U.C.D. at the Belfield Bowl. “We’re just going through a very, very difficult spell at the moment. We were 1-0 up
Beleaguered Cork City boss John Caulfield cut an exasperated figure at the conclusion of his side’s fifth defeat of the season, 2-1 to U.C.D. at the Belfield Bowl. “We’re just going through a very, very difficult spell at the moment. We were 1-0 up. UCD, to be fair, had a bit of possession, (but) never looked like scoring.” Caulfield viewed the 77th red card to his midfielder Garry Comerford as the game’s pivotal moment. “Obviously Garry gets sent off. It was one of those nights. Frustrating, we’re down to ten men and they kept the ball.” The Leeside manager felt his men were comfortable up to Comerford’s dismissal and then an unexpected error from one of his mainstays. “Credit to U.C.D., they won the game but Mark makes a mistake, a very soft mistake, for the goal. An uncharacteristic mistake and it brought them back into the game.” In time honoured fashion, the City bench didn’t have a clear view of the injury time incident that led to Gary O’Neill’s 93rd minute spot kick that won the game but Caulfield had no real complaints. “The penalty at the end was soul destroying. In the box if you touch somebody….” Having dominated the first half on possession, Cork City led from the 35th minute when Sean McLoughlin slotted home a Shane Griffin corner. “We went one up, had chances to get the second, didn’t get it. It was a frustrating type of night. We could have won it at one-all” Garry Buckley netted but the whistle had already blown for a free out. Looking ahead to the next match against Waterford on Friday, Caulfield mused, “Unfortunately, at the moment we on a very bad run and we need to get out of it. We need to get players back. We have a number out - Conor McCormack, ‘Shep’, Daire O’Connor. We’ll assess it in the next day or two. (It will be) Another very difficult game.”
