Seven consecutive wins the target as Cork City host Treaty United

Cork City return home for tonight’s First Division clash with Treaty United, as Barry Robson’s depleted side target a seventh straight win at Turner’s Cross at 7.45pm this evening.

Despite the lengthy list of injuries Cork City’s form remains strong, with the Leesiders remaining 12 points ahead of UCD at this stage of the season. Barry Robson confirmed that the injury load will be eased this evening after their win over Wexford, but long-term concerns linger and will make this third-quarter phase of the season a challenge.

“We’ll have Darragh Crowley back and hopefully we'll have Seani Maguire back,” he said last Friday. “But the rest of them are going to be long term. I mean, this is what I've said all along.

“This is not injuries or problems we've got from overloading or underloading, the problem is we've just been unlucky with tackles.

It gives other players opportunities. But in my managerial career, I can't really remember having six starters out in a game, and that's difficult to cope with.” 

They had coped very well up until the brief summer break, but last week’s win over Wexford was a worrying performance. The 2-0 result was crucial and hard earned, but for the vast majority of the contest they were under real pressure.

The hosts were a dominant force last Friday, putting City under considerable pressure and denying them any meaningful chances. It was Wexford’s own failure to create sufficient opportunities that meant they were caught out when City struck the two late goals to secure victory.

City will have to be better this evening, that much is certain. In front of the home crowd they should be – they have been on many occasions this year – but with such a thin squad it is proving more challenging with each passing week.

Treaty United’s form hasn’t exactly been off the charts, though. They failed to win their last outing against Bray Wanderers, drawing 2-2 at home, but that result marked the end of a three game winless run. They had suffered defeats to Longford Town and Cobh Ramblers either side of their home defeat to Cork City, which was another result that the Leesiders got away with.

After the postponement earlier in the season, their last match was refixed for a Monday evening at the end of May, and City got over the line with a Ruairi Keating penalty.

It was a sluggish City performance in the heat but the Rebel Army got over the line, preserving their winning streak at Treaty’s expense. They remain rooted to the table, two points behind ninth placed Finn Harps.

Treaty’s record against City is disappointing too, not since August 2022 have the Limerick club picked up a win over Cork City. Tonight’s hosts are unbeaten in the last nine meetings between these teams and have won the last three consecutively, though not by more than a goal. They haven’t beaten Treaty United by two goals since July 2023.

Even with Maguire and Crowley returning to the selection picture, City’s bench options are still very limited, as they have been for almost the entirety of the season, even without any injuries to be concerned with.

“We're making lots of debuts at the moment, aren't we!” Robson said after the Wexford win. “We've got a team, we've got a nursery on the bench there.

“And even on the pitch, Big Donal [O’Connor]'s 18, Cillian [Murphy]'s 16. Nobody can hide the fact that we've got six regular players that would normally be starting out there tonight, you’ve got Seani Maguire and so many missing.

“But I'm just really pleased for the younger ones that have come in and won this game tonight.

“The break probably came at the right time for our injuries, the problems that we've got, but it came at the wrong time for the flow that we had.”