POINTS GREEN PRIZES

Champions edge out Hoops to put the defeat to Dundalk behind them

SUCH has been Cork City’s rise to the top that talk of back-toback defeats seems alien to those directly involved with the champions.

But all eyes were on the Rebels here to see how they would respond to Friday’s chastening 1-0 defeat in Dundalk that could have been multiples of that.

Pretty well, is the answer. By no means were Cork foot perfect and they were second best until Kieran Sadlier’s winning penalty turned the tide after the half hour.

And Rovers mounted a charge in the dying stages that saw Luke Byrne’s header hooked off the line before bouncing over it amid a sea of bodies.

But the Hoops – who smashed 12 goals in their two games before this – had left it too late to salvage a reward they didn’t quite deserve.

Cork were workmanlike, nothing more. But John Caulfield will see this as a big three points against a team he insists are contenders.

Joey O’brien, the ex-irish international and West Ham defender who joined Rovers over the winter, started his first league game in 763 days after a series of injuries.

The 32-year-old hadn’t played a competitive game since the Hammer’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Liverpool in February 2016 – but in for injured Ethan Boyle, this was a rude awakening.

Booked after 10 minutes for a challenge on Conor Mccormack, he was targeted by the hosts once they found their swagger.

Up to that point, the Hoops were in control even though neither team created a great deal in the final third.

Dan Carr’’s shot might have troubled Mark Mcnulty had it not clipped Aaron Barry while Kevin Horgan raced 35 yards to thwart Graham Cummins who would have been clean through.

And the Rovers goalkeeper then became a central figure after conceding the penalty.

When Cummins flashed a header onto the post, he tried to reach the rebound only to be upended by the Rovers No.1 and Sadlier drilled the spot-kick down the middle.

By now, the Rebels were well in the ascendency with Sadlier and Barry Mcnamee both on song and they channeled their best work down O’brien’s flank.

Cork were close to doubling their lead before the break only for Horgan to block Karl Sheppard’s deft shot from a Mcnamee cross.

Rovers lost Ally Gilchrist to injury within a minute of the second-half starting and he was replaced by Roberto Lopes but the visitors remained under pressure.

Mcnamee was well placed in the box to bury Sheppard’s fine cross but looked up at just the wrong moment and sliced the shot wide.

Cummins was then guilty of passing up a scoring chance but, from Sadlier’s low cross, couldn’t get a true shot away from close range.

Little or nothing was coming off for Rovers and they needed a spark from somewhere so Trevor Clarke and Joel Coustrain replaced Brandon Miele and O’brien for the closing 20 minutes.

And it jolted them to life late on with Byrne close to an equaliser but Cork’s defence, with Shane Griffin impressing, ultimately stood firm.