Win or wither for Cork City against Waterford

Cork City come back to Turner’s Cross tonight with Waterford on the ticket at 7.45pm and the memory of their cup win over the same opponents still carrying some warmth Two weeks ago, City stole it late, Kaedyn Kamara finding the net in the 80th minute after Waterford had pulled themselves level following Matthew Murray’s early goal. That 2-1 victory booked Cork City’s place in the FAI Cup quarter-finals and kept the season alive in one competition at least.

This is the fifth meeting of the sides this year. The pattern so far is simple: the home team wins. Waterford will want to be one to break it, at the last window of opportunity.

City have looked less out of sorts in recent weeks – just one defeat in their last four across all competitions – last Friday’s 3-0 defeat to Bohemians in Dublin.

The wider picture is less flattering. City have just three wins from 28 league games, 10 draws and 15 defeats, and a goal difference of minus 22 tells you what you need to know about where the season has gone wrong. But at Turner’s Cross there’s a curious contradiction. Only four of those 15 defeats have come at home, making it something of a fortress, but with too many nights ending in frustration.

EQUATION

The equation tonight is not complicated. Win here and they keep the candle burning, lose and the flame turns to smoke. It isn’t quite boom or bust but it is bust if they don’t win. And even then, they will need to win again. And again.

All while relying on slip ups from a Sligo that have found form in recent weeks, and a Galway that remain 11 points ahead of Nash’s team. City face both away from home in the final run in, two games that, if City are still mathematically in with a chance, will decide their fate.

Waterford arrive this evening in seventh, their season hardly a beacon of consistency either. They’ve lost half their league games, conceded 48, and have gone four matches without a win, the last on the road against Galway United, a 4-2 win.

Yet there’s more spark in them up front than City have shown. Only in one of Cork City’s last dozen league fixtures have City scored more than once, against Sligo, a game they still came away from empty-handed.

The injuries continue to cut deep. Harry Nevin was missed badly in Dublin last Friday. Alex Nolan and Charlie Lyons were named on the bench, the former being subbed on in the second half. Cathal O’Sullivan and Ruairi Keating remain out, while Fiacre Kelleher, Greg Bolger and Seán Murray are the short-term absentees.

Both carry the baggage of inconsistency. City cling to their home form, Waterford search for a way to end their away slump. The last time they met here it was decided by a single goal, and that is likely again.

If City are on the wrong side of the result and Sligo pick up the maximum haul of points at home to Bohs on Saturday, survival will slip from mathematics to miracle.

Cork City cannot afford another defeat.