Ger Nash: Clean sheets key as Cork City fight to the finish

With nine league games to go, Cork City still trail Sligo Rovers by a worrying margin in the Premier Division table.

For now, league pressure pauses as City turn their attention to the FAI Cup, with Waterford visiting Turner’s Cross this Friday.

The run-in will need to be exceptional if survival is to be achieved, but Ger Nash’s side have shown in recent weeks that they are improving – despite a mounting injury list. Whether that improvement comes too late remains to be seen, but their last two league outings suggest they will fight to the end.

“We want to be a team that can create and score goals,” Nash said after their 0-0 draw with Derry City. “We are a team that can do that. I think tonight, a really important factory is their pitch.

“Lots of players in the team haven’t played at The Brandywell before. The pitch really is a very different pitch to play football on. For them, they're used to it. I think that's a big advantage for them, a huge advantage.

“We came here to try and play, that's for sure. Do we need to be better with the ball? Yes, we do.

“I think for a neutral watching the game, they’d probably go and say, ‘well there weren’t lots of really clear-cut chances from either team’ and that’s a fair assessment. But I can only speak highly of the staff and the players and give them a lot of credit for how they worked this week.” 

It was a hard-earned point. City were under pressure for long spells but held firm – their defensive shape never buckling.

“We limited them to very few opportunities, very few good opportunities, certainly,” Nash explained. “Really committed performance from the players, they put their bodies on the line and [I’m] really pleased with the defensive aspect.

“We probably didn’t play as much football as we would have wanted, but we also had some success going into the final third, especially in the second half.

“We probably just need to do some work on that and improve in those areas, to turn a good away point into three points, which is what we were really after. But in terms of the performance, really pleased with all the players.” 

IMMENSE

One of the standouts was centre-back Rory Feely, who barely gave Derry’s forwards an inch.

“I thought Rory was especially immense, you know an 18 year old kid [Freddie Anderson] alongside him, the pair of them are a really good partnership. Conor Brann, this was his fourth game in goals, so look all over the pitch the efforts of the players and the commitment from the players was really high.

I can’t commend them enough.

“Derry are looking at qualifying for Europe as their bare minimum. They’ve got a really different squad to us in terms of the makeup of our squad compared to theirs.

“So yeah, I think it's a good point. It's fair to say that. We didn’t come here to take a point, we came here to try and win the game.

On another night, with better quality in the final third we could have done that.

“But also, I think you have to take every game on its merits. I think tonight's game is one where, overall, we get back on the bus and we travel back to Cork and we say it’s a point gained, a good point.

“But we also know that going forward we want three. But I think what pleases everybody the most maybe, is that’s four in six in terms of clean sheets, which is really important.

“When I first came to the club that was a big issue. I think we’re seeing improvements in that area so four in six is good.

“We want to be better, obviously again, but I definitely think there's some confidence that players can take from this game.”

Waterford will be a different test – and while defeat won’t impact their survival hopes, City will still need to be at their best.