The league leaders return to league action live in front of the Setanta Sports cameras, as they welcome Tommy Dunne's Cork City to Inchicore. Kick-off is at 8pm
St.Pats
After their disappointing run in Europa League, The Saints were back in action on Tuesday night in the EA Sports Cup, but they were eliminated by Shamrock Rovers after extra time in Tallaght. Many Saints fans feel that without the distractions of Europe, Liam Buckley's men will be able to capitalize on their lead at the top, and deliver the club's first league title in 14 years.
The Saints are unbeaten in 7 at home, and have only conceded 4 goals in Richmond Park in the league so far this season.
Buckley reports that he has a full squad to choose from. Anto Flood, Greg Bolger and Ian Bermingham all return from suspension. The 53-year old Dubliner spoke to www.stpatsfc.com ahead of the game, and indicated that he was pleased with his sides performance in Tallaght
“I thought we played well on Tuesday against Rovers and were a bit
unlucky not to get to penalties in the end. But we’re focused on Cork
now and we’re looking forward to the game which should make for a good
game to watch.”
Buckley also recalled about how Cork caused bother for many of the Dublin sides
“Any time Cork City come to Inchicore it’s always great as games
between the two clubs are always big occasions. There’s a typical
Dublin-Cork rivalry there and it goes back to those huge games between
our clubs back in the late 90’s. Richmond Park was packed out for those
nights and hopefully we’ll see a good crowd at the game on Friday''
Cork City
There was a familiar feeling for Cork City fans as they left Turner's Cross last Friday. They had just seen their side concede another late goal to throw away 2 more points,this time to Dundalk, to add to the 11 that had been blown previously late in games.
Inconsistency has rocked the Rebel Army. They are unbeaten in their last 3 home games, two of which came against sides in the top 3, but this is a sharp contrast to their last two away games in the league. Against UCD and Shelbourne, the Leesiders could only score once, and conceded five, leading to a section of fans voicing their disapproval of manager Tommy Dunne
Cork's missing list doesn't show any signs of shortening . Defenders Kevin Murray (groin) and Darren Dennehy (foot)
are ruled out through injury. Colin Healy (knee) is
unlikely to be available, while Adam Rundle (virus) and John Dunleavy (knee)
are also rated as doubts. Family commitments mean Denis Behan may
miss out, while John Kavanagh is definitely ruled out for the same
reason. However Shane Duggan will return having served a suspension.
Dunne told www. CorkCityFC.ie that he feels his side have a big
performance in them, but will need to be at their best
“Pats
have been the most consistent team in the league over the last two
years. They were probably the best team we’ve played this year. Going to
Richmond Park, you know the pitch will be perfect and it will be a good
game of football.”
“We have to try and get a result. It will be a big ask for us, but I
do think we’re capable; the group we have, on their day, can get a
result against anybody. We were very good against Dundalk at times, and
if we can marry all the sections of our game together, then I think
there is a big result in us.”
This will be the third time in the last month that Cork will have been televised. Home games against Sligo and Dundalk were also shown on Setanta Sports.
Prediction: Despite not winning in a month, St.Pats will be eager to widen the gap between them and second placed Dundalk. Cork put in a good performance last week, but I don't think they'll have enough to topple the Saints. St Patrick's Athletic 3-1 Cork City
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