Unbeaten Cork City look to shake off Cobh blip against winless Longford
THREAT: Seani Maguire of Cork City in action against Jason Abbott of Cobh Ramblers at St Colman's Park last Friday. Picture: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Unbeaten but not unscathed, Cork City remain the last team yet to taste defeat after just four rounds of action in the League of Ireland First Division.
Last week’s result – a 1-1 draw with Fran Rockett’s Cobh Ramblers – was City’s first blip in Barry Robson’s tenure.
It was a result that Robson felt was undeserved given City’s control of proceedings, but given they also failed to produce clinical performances in the wins over Treaty United and Bray Wanderers, they were bound to get caught for it eventually.
This evening, City take on Longford Town at home – one of three teams yet to pick up a victory – and they will be heavy favourites to extend the unbeaten run to five.
Not since October 2015 have Longford Town picked up a win over Cork City. A late goal from Kevin O’Connor on that occasion saw out the Longford victory at the Cross in the Premier Division.
The last time that the Rebel Army played First Division football they won 11-3 on aggregate across the four games.
Last year was Longford’s best in recent years – they finished in sixth and leapt past Wexford on the final day – improving upon their 2023 and 2024 finishing positions. The expectation heading into this season was that things would improve further, especially after keeping hold of Aaron Doran. But his and Dean George’s absences against Kerry and UCD were felt, and the team have failed to make any mark so far.
They have managed to recruit Andy Paraschiv from 2025 First Division champions Dundalk, who has featured in every game so far, but under Wayne Groves, they have struggled to put results together early in the year.
Robson will want his side to improve greatly on last week’s outing against Cobh. Seani Maguire’s headed goal his fourth of the campaign – and the third to be assisted by young starlet Cillian Murphy.
The 16-year-old has been absolutely exceptional in the early parts of the season. For a player so young and so fresh to senior men’s football, Murphy has looked at home alongside the rest of City’s attacking players in Maguire, Ruairí Keating and Hans Mpongo. If the aforementioned four stay fit for the season, there is no doubt that City will return to the Premier Division.
But that is the key for the Leesiders. The squad is quite thin this season and while really strong, City have yet to submit a complete bench for either of their first four league games. Against Treaty United on the opening day, only seven substitutes were listed. Any injuries will put them under pressure.
So far under Robson, City’s starting 11 has changed only once across the opening four games. Conor Drinan was replaced by Cillian Murphy for the second outing against Wexford, and the team has not been tweaked since. That could differ this evening though, should Fiacre Kelleher not be fit following his clash with Cian Coleman last week.
Harry Nevin has not made a competitive start since the FAI Cup final defeat against Shamrock Rovers last season, but looks most likely to come in at centre-half to take Kelleher’s place, unless Robson opts for a shift from the 3-4-2-1 to a 4-3-3, which would likely see Conor Drinan or Matthew Kiernan come in.
Cathal O’Sullivan’s move to Preston North End was hardly a surprise, particularly given he was already out of contract at City
The 19-year-old’s time at the club came to quite an unceremonious end, given how exceptionally he had performed for the club. The anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained in July last year made City’s task of Premier Division survival all the more difficult.
But this season offers promise.
Charlie Hanover, another young forward, is currently sidelined with injury.
He will be hoping for the opportunity to make an impression once he returns, given how few minutes he received under Ger Nash last year.
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