Cork City chase 10th straight win as Longford visit Turner's Cross

Turner’s Cross awaits Cork City this evening as they’re back in action on home soil, taking on Longford Town in the First Division at 7.45pm.

The Leesiders win streak currently sits at nine – victory tonight will see that tip over into double digits – while their clean sheet run is at eight consecutive games. That City have been so overly consistent despite facing internal challenges with injuries and not always performing well in every game can only be a good thing. The longer they continue winning without a slip up, even when it is challenging, the more likely they are to hang on and win the title.

There was one new signing announced midweek, Chrisnovic N’Sa was picked up from Malta outfit Gzira United. The Canadian – a product of Montreal Impact’s academy – is Barry Robson’s first summer signing and provides some badly needed depth at the back.

The 27-year-old brings experience, having played with Östersunds FK in Sweden, Halifax Wanderers and York United and Canada, as well as Huntsville City and Nashville SC in the United States of America.

His spell in Malta only lasted half a season, prior to that he was with Östersunds for two years. There’s been one departure from the group too, as academy product Dara McCormick has made the switch to Cobh Ramblers in search of game time. He had recently captained the Cork City side that regained the Munster Senior Cup earlier this year, winning the competition for the first time since 2019.

Whether new signing N’Sa will feature this evening remains to be seen, though with Charlie Lyons absent and City without a natural right back, he’ll certainly have a role to play.

Tonight’s opponents arrive in search of a second straight win after they defeated UCD at home, a result which helped to extend Cork City’s lead at the summit to 18 points after 22 games.

The Students remain two points ahead of Bray, and a further four ahead of Longford, who have no climbed to fifth and into the playoff spots following their win last week.

Inconsistent

Should they win here they could climb as high to fourth if Cobh suffered a defeat, but De Town’s form has been wildly inconsistent during 2026, with the club winning back-to-back games only once – last month when they defeated the Ramblers and Treaty United at home.

They have not managed a clean sheet since April, when they defeated Kerry at home, which means in their previous 10 they’ve failed to avoid the concession of a goal. Couple that with City’s incredible form, and the fact that Longford have not beaten Cork City since October 2015, means that this could very easily be a one-sided affair.

If Longford are to get something from tonight’s game, they’ll need to hope for another evening where City struggle to convert chances – which has happened a touch too often, something which has frustrated manager Barry Robson – but they’ll also need to bring their very best and get a goal or two against a team that have only conceded 11 all season, while scoring almost double which De Town have managed.

Despite struggling to perform at their best on occasion this year, Hans Mpongo and Ruairí Keating have been scoring plenty. They'll be a real threat this evening.