Flying Cork City travel to Bray Wanderers hoping to extend unbeaten run to 11

With the unbeaten run still intact and only two draws from Cork City’s first 10 games this season, at this rate, promotion is a formality. A Premier Division return in 2027 already looks very likely.

To keep their strong run going, though, Barry Robson’s side head to the east coast this evening where they’ll take on Bray Wanderers. The Seagulls have fallen to sixth, outside the playoff places, after failing to win any of their previous four games.

However, besides Cork City – who have won all of their home games this year – Bray are the only other team yet to suffer a First Division defeat on home turf in this campaign.

On Monday night they took on Drogheda United in the Leinster Senior Cup quarter-final at the Carlisle Grounds, making 10 changes from the 2-1 away defeat to Athlone Town last Friday, and Bray came away with a 6-5 penalty shootout win after a 1-1 draw.

The last time the two teams met at the Cross a couple of months ago, became Bray’s first defeat of the season. They went on to win three of the next four, before then losing form in recent weeks, suffering three defeats in four.

In fact, not only are City the only team still unbeaten in the First Division, they’re also the only club to have lost fewer than three games at this early stage in the season.

Cork City’s lead at the top of the table is at eight points, though they remain with a game in hand following the postponement against Treaty United. In recent years when tonight’s opponents have met City the results have been overwhelming in favour of the Rebels.

LONG WAIT

Bray Wanderers have not beaten Cork City since 2016, and following the 1-0 win in February, City’s unbeaten run against the Seagulls stretched to 20 games. The aim for Paul Heffernan’s side will be ending that run, and they’ll be hard-pressed to do so.

City arrive tonight in a strong position after last week’s win at home against Wexford, where they stretched ahead in the second half to win, following Jamie Wynne’s first-half equaliser.

Robson feels that, while his team could do with being more clinical in games, the attitude that the players have shown so far this year leaves them in a great place.

“I think that's the mentality of the team,” he said after last week’s win. “And the one thing, we as a team, and it's all of us, we should have knocked teams out a lot quicker with the chances we've had and we've all spoken about that.

“Tonight again was another sign of that when we could have been two or three up, but I can name numerous games where we could have done that. That gives the opposition a lift and that lets them try and get back in the game.

“But eight wins or whatever like that isn't easy at any level of football, and you've got to give that players credit in there,” he explained. 

That is a really good achievement, I don't care what levels or where you're playing that. But what we need to do is we need to build on that we need to keep going.” 

It was another night where young prospect Cillian Murphy shone, with the 16-year-old already cementing himself one of City’s most crucial players.

“Yeah he's a terrific talent,” said Robson. “And you'll notice the positions we're putting him in, it's causing the opposition problems.

“We're letting him drift in the number 10 areas, the wide areas, then sometimes we tell him to go and play high and right on the touchline. So he's going to cause problems, but he's still got his duties on the other side of the game to do, and he does them well. He presses in the right angles, he presses at the right times.”