CORK City manager Neale Fenn was pleased to see his team get off the mark with victory over Finn Harps on Friday night, but he’s not getting carried away.

Alec Byrne got the only goal at Turner’s Cross after City had lost their opening three league games. City’s largely new team got to experience a rocking stadium and Fenn is pleased to have something to build on

“Coming off, it was unbelievable, it felt like we’d won a league or something,” he says.

“We had to try and re-focus and calm the boys down a little bit, we had won just one match, but let’s not get carried away.

“We still have tough games coming up and there’s a lot to improve on, the first-half performance wasn’t acceptable, but it gives us a start now.

“We have the belief that we can keep a clean sheet, we can score goals, we can create chances, which has been the criticism we’ve had over the last couple of weeks.

“Obviously, we have the monkey off our back about not winning and not scoring, I think it was a good performance in the second half and, on balance, we probably deserved it.”

Fenn felt that Byrne’s goal, a header from a Dylan McGlade corner, was just reward for the midfielder.

“He did really well in the second half,” he says.

“That’s what we want from him. In the first half, he didn’t play that well but in the second half he was much better and capped it all off with a goal.

“I think he deserved it on his performance in the second half.”

At the end of the first half, it looked as if City had gone behind when Alex Kogler of Harps put the ball in the net, though he injured goalkeeper Liam Bossin in doing so. 

Having originally given the goal, referee Neil Doyle changed his decision and Fenn felt that it was the right call.

“It looked like a free kick to me,” he says.

“Obviously, the goalmouth down there was in bad condition and when you had a forward sliding in like that, to me it was always a free kick.

“I was surprised he gave the goal, to be honest, but not surprised he cancelled it.”

After going ahead, City held out to claim a first clean sheet of the season.

“If you’re going to win matches, you’ll have to ride your luck a bit,” Fenn says.

“I was glad we got that luck, but in the second half, it was a much-improved performance.

“We would have liked a second goal but we’re delighted with the 1-0 and it showed we can keep a clean sheet, which we hadn’t done yet.”