Another busy week for Cork City

Following the recent successful staging of friendlies against Watford and a Manchester United selection, Cork City face into another busy weekend next week. Up first is, unusually, a Sunday afternoon match versus Blackburn Rovers, a fixture that had been arranged before the announcement of the recent Man Utd crowd-puller.

That’s followed on Monday evening by the serious business of a league match versus St Patrick’s Athletic, with City desperate to string a few wins together and climb up the table a few places.

Sunday afternoon matches are something of a blast from the past and it might seem strange to again have a competitive fixture just a day after a friendly involving cross-channel opposition.

This situation has come about as a result of circumstances, and results, outside the control of the club. Originally, the St Pats match was meant to be played on Friday night with the Blackburn friendly two days later, filling the gap on Sunday afternoon.

St Pat’s results in Europe, however, have forced the postponement of the original fixture until the following Monday. That is one of the hazards of a ‘pre-season’ friendly with opposition from across the water when it’s not our pre-season. As in the case of the Watford and Man Utd matches, the match programme will be a double issue, so expect the same €4 price.

On the field, it’s been a frustrating time for City, with victories hard to come by, though defeats seem pretty rare too. Manager Tommy Dunne has on a few occasions complained about what seem to be obvious penalty awards not being given, most recently in Dundalk last week. While City fans are, obviously biased, the fact that Dundalk fans acknowledge that the claims are justified would seem to lend weight to the allegation that City have often been unlucky as regards decisions by match officials.

City’s problem, however, is not so much whether a referee does or does not give a decision in their favour, but the team’s inability to hold a lead, even from an apparently commanding position.

Since the departure of Tadgh Purcell, City have nobody who can hold possession of the ball long enough to take the pressure off the defence, particularly during the closing stages. An ability to hold onto the lead, even in just a few of those ten drawn matches, would mean City’s position in the league table would look significantly better.

Off the field, the club is currently working at making itself, and a night at the Cross, more attractive to the corporate sector. As almost everybody knows, sponsorship in sport is vital in the modern era and League of Ireland clubs aren’t often very attractive to potential sponsors. Any measures that can help to improve the financing of the club, and indeed the league as a whole, must be welcomed.

We can’t leave That Other Sports Event grab all the cash!