DAVID SNEYD
Cork’s McNulty taunts Dundalk
CORK City goalkeeper Mark McNulty has kicked off a week of buildup to this Sunday’s Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup final with Dundalk by goading their great rivals with an expletive-laden song.
The veteran stopper turned 37 earlier this month but his passion, and clearly his penchant for mischief, remains undiluted. The rivalry between the two clubs won’t be underplayed over the coming days as players and management begin the publicity drive but the talk will be of mutual respect and admiration.
Indeed, just over a week ago, when Cork were crowned Premier Division champions, McNulty spoke in far more magnanimous terms about the Lilywhites.
‘It’s all about getting over that line. And looking back over the last couple of years at Dundalk winning leagues, you realise how hard it is to get over that line,’ he said.
‘A lot of credit goes to them this year, they pushed us all the way, they didn’t make it easy for us but at the end of the day, we’re champions and a double is on the horizon.’
On a balcony in a bar full of adoring Cork fans at the weekend, McNulty had the crowd dancing to an altogether different tune.
‘Does anybody want to hear a speech from Mark McNulty?’ the MC said, before the Ballincollig native took the microphone.
‘F*** the Lilywhites... they’re s***,’ he bellowed, before retreating to the shadows.
Not that he was hiding. A year earlier he was on the same balcony with a similarly boisterous speech after Cork had beaten Dundalk in the Cup final.
The Lilywhites earned national plaudits for their exploits in the Europa League, not to mention a third league title in a row, and McNulty questioned why the Leesiders had not earned the same level of respect.
‘There’s wasn’t one pundit in this country that gave us a chance. Everyone’s saying Dundalk this Dundalk that,’ he said in so many words.
‘They’re doing well in Europe. We went three rounds in Europe! There’s no one saying anything about Cork!’
This season John Caulfield’s charges have been praised, especially for the way in which they steamrolled everyone before them with a blistering 21-game unbeaten run which effectively ensured a first league title in 12 years.
They stuttered following the departures of top scorer Seán Maguire and first choice left back Kevin O’Connor to Preston North End while captain John Dunleavy’s season was ended by a knee injury.
Still, despite needing just 11 points to get over the line from the start of August and only managing it earlier this month, Cork set a standard no one else could match over the whole campaign.
Now the FAI Cup offers Dundalk a chance at redemption at the end of a difficult season, and Stephen Kenny had the benefit of starting Dane Massey, Stephen O’Donnell and Patrick McEleney in their final league fixture away to Galway United last Friday.
‘I was not going to parachute somebody straight into the final having not played for a month or five weeks.
‘There is competition for places — obviously Seán Hoare was suspended while John Mountney and Chris Shields had injuries. Hopefully Chris will train during the week,’ Kenny explained.
‘The main thing for us is that, number one, we won the game and scored four goals. Second thing, all of our players came through without any injuries. The third thing is that four or five of our players had not played in weeks and they played.
‘It’s not been a perfect lead into a final with players not being playing recently so they needed to play and with those 90 minutes get that rustiness out of them.’
McNulty’s words will only boost their recoveries.
McNulty took the mic and goaded Dundalk with an expletive-laden song in front of a packed bar in Cork