Cork City head to Limerick chasing third Munster derby win on the trot

IT’S the third Munster derby in a week for Cork City who travel to the Markets Field to take on Treaty United tonight.

City head into the game on the back of a superb victory over Waterford which put them on top of the table so confidence will be high.

And so it should be. With 10 points from 15, manager Colin Healy is happy with the start of the campaign, but he knows there is still a lot to come from.

“I am delighted we’re in the position we are in at this time but we’re only a few games into the season and there is a long year ahead,” Healy said.

“Our aim is to try to win every game and thankfully the lads have put in some great performances and long may that continue.”

City climbed above Waterford in the First Division table after victory over their Munster rivals at Turner’s Cross on Monday night. A game that excited the huge support but one which also proved disappointing from a football perspective.

While many expected a better performance from Waterford, Healy believes City’s performance outshone anything they had to offer.

“Waterford are a good side, they always are. People say Waterford weren’t great on Monday, I think that’s down to how well our lads played.

“We had a plan heading into the game and we executed it perfectly which made it difficult for Waterford to play.

“I thought we had a solid team performance. We pressed, we held on to possession, and we played some great football.

“The two lads up top Ruairi Keating and Cian Murphy were fantastic defending from the front while our midfield was aggressive in every challenge and defensively I thought we were solid. So overall it was a great team performance.”

City have a great chance of making it four games unbeaten on the trot.

It will be a tough test against Treaty who had a great performance against Galway, however City should have the edge over their Munster rivals.

City are playing with confidence. They look solid defensively with four clean sheets already, and at the other end they’re starting to gain more composure in front of goal. Ten scored and one conceded, Healy’s side will hope to take that form into tonight’s game.

The last time these two met it finished level at the Markets Field. However, Treaty had secured two earlier wins in the season (3-2) and (2-1) so there’s no doubt that tonight’s game will be another tough test.

Munster derbies always add that extra bite but that won’t phase Healy’s men as we have seen twice already this week.

A huge positive for Healy is that his side have cut out individual errors that cost them last season.

Good performances weren’t enough when individual errors were punishing them and already this season we have seen that sloppy errors are no longer common which should make a real difference to this year’s campaign.

It was frustrating last season in games which City were dominant, but sloppy errors proved detrimental.

An extra year in the job for Healy, and another year’s experience working with most of the lads has proven to be a huge learning curve and thankfully the supporters have already seen massive improvements.

These improvements have had a knock-on effect as less errors have led to better performances and because of this, the superb crowds are returning to the Cross. Over 8,000 supporters were at the Cross at the weekend which was fantastic to see and this will only continue and get better, if the performances continue.

Healy has assembled a really strong team and we have seen the strength in depth with injuries picked up in recent weeks.

Cian Coleman, Dylan McGlade, Gordon Walker, George Heaven, Alex Byrne, and James Doona are all sidelined with injuries, so for City to be able to get results and be at the top of the table without these lads, is very promising.

It makes it a very exciting season. Let’s hope City can continue their great run of form tonight and pick up three points which would set them up nicely for their home fixture to Athlone on March 25.