FAI Cup

Carlisle Grounds
04 Oct 2015

Cork City booked their spot in the 2015 FAI Cup Final with a single-goal victory in the Carlisle Grounds.

Once more, the Seagulls have faltered at the second last fence, and the seaside town will have to wait another year at least to welcome the FAI Cup again.

Cork City were favourites to succeed, though the pundits were surprised they weren't further fancied, at just better than odds on.

The game, however, showed why, as the visitors never looked like dominating a game they had a constant edge in.

It took them an hour to get past the Bray defence, and at that it was a fortuitous defensive error that combined with a fine goal-kick, nodded on for Danny Morrissey, who beat an unusually slow Alan McNally to fire low past Peter Cherrie for what proved to be the only goal of the afternoon.

The Seagulls never really looked like equalising, though substitute Emeka Onwubiko's 88th minute volley brought a fine reaction save from Mark McNulty, and he and Chris Lyons both had late chances.

Bray's Hugh Douglas had to concede an early corner, and Billy Dennehy looked like the man to mark for the home side, just caught offside four minutes in and Cherrie claiming his seventh minute cross into the goal area.

But Ryan McEvoy headed to the target, diving low to reach the ball, and McNulty had to stretch to claim.

Morrissey returned the compliment a minute later, bringing Cherrie into action again.

On the quarter hour, Graham Kelly floated a cross in front of the Cork goal, Alan Bennett heading clear, and visiting fans were outraged by what they saw as Douglas's upending of Ross Gaynor, though in truth the Cork winger's momentum had carried him up and over the Bray defender.

While neither side was looking particularly dangerous in the opening passages, it was Wanderers who seemed to have the busiest attack, Adam Hanlon finding Lyons from the right twenty minutes in, and Bennett keeping hold of the striker as he tried to contrive a shot.

But it was Douglas who went into Neil Doyle's book for a challenge on Garry Buckley, having been warned about an earlier clash.

Billy Dennehy took charge of a 25m free which Cherrie claimed by way of insurance, as it was flying right of the far post in any case.

And midway through the period, a well-worked move started with Darren Dennehy at the back, his cross finding Liam Miller and the latter feeding Morrissey, who however couldn't keep his effort straight.

Bray's defence was succeeding in disrupting most of the Cork attacks, even if they had difficulty in keeping possession thereafter.

Karl Sheppard was also busy, but spectacularly off target just before the half hour when he should have scored. Billy Dennehy passed to Gaynor whose shot was blocked by the feet of Cherrie. Gaynor then fed the rebound closer to goal past the prone keeper, but the attacking left-back skied his effort well over the bar.

A minute later, Adam Wixted's run allowed him to feed McEvoy, who was unable to keep his shot down. Shortly after that, the Bray midfielder's flag-kick was only partially cleared to where he himself was returning to his position. He duly fed back into the area, but McNulty was well-placed to claim.

Cork were to net four times during the encounter, and the first, an offside effort, came after Sheppard crossed for Morrissey to pull the trigger.

Seven minutes before the break, Graham Kelly fired a 25m free off the heads of the Cork wall, but a goal-kick was the award.

Alan McNally blunted the Cork counter-attack with a backpass that looked dangerously short, but Cherrie was able to reach it in time.

And when Cork came back again, John Dunleavy's touch was a little heavy and he was unable to reach to keep the ball in play.

With time running out, Hanlon robbed Gaynor and fed Lyons who felt he was too crowded to achieve anything and spread for Wixted, but the winger could only force a corner, and that attack fizzled out after McEvoy's lofted ball following a Bray throw.

Neither side looked especially revitalised by the break, and if anything the game fell a little flat for a time, until Morrissey's run seven minutes in, but coming under pressure at the end he could find only the side-netting.

Things got a little livelier approaching the hour, Miller keeping the ball in play at the end line and crossing to Gaynor, but Cherrie managed to stop his poke.

McNally's free following another foul on Lyons was too long and flew out for a goal-kick.

Then following a Bray counter-attack, McNulty's long ball was headed forward by Buckley, and Morrissey managed to get behind the Bray skipper to side-foot home as he was falling backwards.

Twice in the next five minutes Cork came close to doubling their lead, Buckley flashing one just right of the target and then, following a rare Cherrie error, the same player finding the net from Miller's free as Doyle blew for a free out.

Lyons was caught by an un-noticed high boot from Darren Dennehy, but there was little for either side to complain about in the players' discipline throughout.

Cork substitute John O'Flynn was lively when he entered the fray, flighting a nice ball goalwards with twenty minutes to go, and bringing a good touch behind from Cherrie, who then punched away Billy Dennehy's right-hand corner.

The second flag-kick, by Miller, was partially cleared and the ball eventually kicked high over the target by Billy Dennehy, who had the same result from a free two minutes later.

O'Flynn then became the third and last Cork player to net from offside, before Bray produced a little flurry of resistance.

Kelly was narrowly wide from distance at the end of a good move that also involved Douglas, and a minute later Bennett deflected an effort by Lyons for a corner taken quickly and from which the unfortunate Michael Barker saw his shot skew wickedly towards the corner flag.

Two minutes from time, McNulty produced a first-class stop to deny Onwubiko when he volleyed Peter McGlynn's cross powerfully towards the net, and Lyons produced a good effort over the Cork defence a minute later.

Onwubiko had a second go two minutes into time added, and a McEvoy free for a foul on Lyons was cleared in the last action of a highly entertaining Semi-Final.

Compiled by Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers: 1 Peter Cherrie; 2 Michael Barker, 20 Hugh Douglas, 5 Alan McNally (c), 12 Niall Cooney, 20 Hugh Douglas; 11 Adam Hanlon, 24 Graham Kelly, 22 Luke Fitzpatrick, 10 Ryan McEvoy, 9 Adam Wixted; 18 Chris Lyons
Subs: 4 Daniel O'Reilly, 6 Adam Mitchell, 7 David Scully (for Fitzpatrick 75), 13 Peter McGlynn (for Wixted 66), 14 Luke Gallagher, 19 Emeka Onwubiko (for Hanlon 80), 50 Seán Fogarty (gk)
Cork City: 1 Mark McNulty; 4 John Dunleavy (c), 3 Alan Bennett, 5 Darren Dennehy, 11 Ross Gaynor; 22 Liam Miller, 6 Dan Murray; 26 Garry Buckley; 20 Billy Dennehy, 15 Daniel Morrissey, 19 Karl Sheppard
Subs: 8 Gavan Holohan (for Miller 82), 9 John O'Flynn (for Morrissey 60), 14 Kevin O'Connor (for B Dennehy 75), 16 Alan Smith (gk), 18 Michael McSweeney, 23 Mark O'Sullivan, 30 Liam Kearney
Referee: Neil Doyle