Cork City FC V Slavia Prague post match analysis

here's what the papers say

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Richardson stays defiant
Emmet Malone at Turner's Cross




Uefa Cup first round, second leg / Cork City 1 Slavia Prague 2 (Slavia won 4-1 on aggregate): Just as his players had been over 90 minutes of football in which there had rarely been a let-up, Damien Richardson was defiant in defeat, with the Cork City manager declaring that the 2-1 loss by Slavia Prague was just another part of his side's education in the harsh realities of European football.

"Look, the reality is that this tie was lost in the away leg, but I think there was plenty to be positive about tonight," he said. "I thought we showed tremendous spirit out there from beginning to end. Slavia are a decent side and they deserve to be in the group stages of the Uefa Cup, but they had them on the back foot out there like nobody has before this season and they leave here knowing that they've been in one hell of a battle.

"In the end," he said, "you need to be a little streetwise to win games in Europe and we were just lacking in that department. It's about having good players certainly, it's about ability, but it's about footballing intelligence as well.

"You need to be able to take command of situations, and that's where we fell down. You could see the way they crowded the referee, made a lot of things and set the agenda. That comes with experience and we don't have it at this level, but I intend to ensure that we get it. Getting this far in the competition has been of huge benefit to us and it's vital that we don't allow that to go to waste now.

"I don't want this to be viewed as the end of something for Cork City in Europe, it's the beginning of something."

Richardson felt a draw on the night would have ben a fairer reflection of his side's contribution but had no complaints about the overall outcome. The Czechs had been strong and physical, but his players had matched them on that score even if they didn't quite have the know-how to make the required breakthrough early on when there was still the prospect of progression.

"When they were a goal behind in the second half our players knew that they could get ripped apart if they pressed forward in search of goals and got it wrong, but that's what they sought to do and that took courage. There was no attempt at damage limitation, they went for it out there and they very nearly got the draw that they deserved.

"To go as close as they did they had to assert themselves physically because that was part of Slavia's game but that's what they did. Every one of them imposed themselves in the second half and I thought they did themselves proud.

"We may have lost, but I thought we showed tonight just how far we have come in the 11 years since we last played them."



© The Irish Times

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From the indo

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Streetwise Slavia end Cork dream as inexperience tells
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independe...issue_id=13075

CORK CITY 1

SLAVIA PRAGUE 2

Slavia win 4-1 on agg

CORK CITY were given another glimpse of the gap they have to close if they want to reach the group stages of a major European competition.

Their European odyssey, which was teetering on the brink of extinction after they lost the first leg in Prague 2-0, was clinically extinguished at Turner's Cross last night.

Cork were put out of their misery early when Slavia scored in the 27th minute and they added a second just after the hour to put the tie firmly beyond Damien Richardson's side.

Cork also failed to do themselves a favour for next year's European campaign by failing to get the draw they needed to ensure that they are seeded in the preliminary round draw.

Richardson said before this tie that he changed his thinking on the game after Cork played Slavia in 1994 and after this tie he and his players now know what they have to do if they want to make an even bigger impact in Europe.

"Cork City are now a club of consequence and we stand of the verge of something," said Richardson.

"It is no good us leaving Europe this year and not learning the most valuable lesson of all that at this stage you have to be streetwise.

"You have to be able to command situations," he added. Roared on by 6,000 passionate and partisan fans Cork tore out of the traps and only a poor first touch from John O'Flynn prevented them from opening the scoring after six minutes.

Cork also had two early penalty appeals turned down and Slavia showed their extremely potent threat on the counter-attack by breaking on both occasions and putting the ball past Mick Devine - only to have both efforts disallowed for offside.

The goal that ended Cork's hopes of becoming the first Irish side to make it through three rounds in Europe came in the 27th minute when Dusan Svento cut in from the left and set up skipper Karel Pitak for a low drive from the edge of the box to the corner of the net.

They hammered another nail in the Cork coffin on 63 minutes when the excellent Stanislav Vlcek split the Cork defence by playing a one-two with Lukas Jarolim and although Devine parried his shot Vlcek scored from the rebound. To their credit, even after they went a goal behind, Cork never gave up trying and certainly kept Matus Kozacik in the Slavia goal busy.

Minutes after Fenn had a goal disallowed for offside Cork finally gained some reward for their efforts in the 66th minute when Martin Zboncak was adjudged to have pulled Fenn inside the box and George O'Callaghan drilled home the resultant penalty.

O'Flynn twice went close to grabbing a deserved equaliser but, in the end, although they showed plenty of spirit they weren't able to match a Slavia side that was as intimidating physically as they were technically.

And as news filtered through of Roy Keane's decision to quit Manchester United at the end of the season, Richardson immediately quelled any thoughts of a return to Leeside for Cork's favourite son.

"I would imagine Roy wouldn't be ready for Cork City and Cork City wouldn't be ready for Roy.It would be too small an area for someone like Roy. I think he has to go to a very big city where he can gain some privacy and even some anonymity, if that's possible.

"But Cork City are going we are going to attract big players because we have got a very good team."

CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy; O'Donovan, O'Halloran (Gamble 59), O'Callaghan, Kearney (Coughlan 77); Fenn (Bruton 68), O'Flynn.

SLAVIA PRAGUE: Kozacik; Krajcik, Latka, Suchy, Zboncak; Pitak, Jarolim, Hrdlicka (Cernoch 90), Svento; Vlcek (Kratochvil 90), Fort (Pesir 82).

REF: P Luba (Switzerland).

Gerry McDermott
at Turner's Cross

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From the examiner

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30/09/05

Battling City out, but not down
Cork City 1 Slavia Prague 2
S. Prague win 4-1 on aggregate)
CORK CITY’S European adventure came to a close in an incident-packed game at Turner’s Cross last night.

Slavia Prague registered back to back wins against the eircom League leaders.

The tie was effectively over by the half-hour mark, when Prague grabbed the away goal which meant that City had to score four times to turn the tie around.

But it could all have been so different if John O’Flynn’s touch hadn’t let him down after just six minutes. Neale Fenn, who was outstanding for Cork in the first half, picked out his strike partner with a beautifully flighted ball from the left. But with O’Flynn bearing down on goal, the ball bounced off his shin and ran harmlessly through to Kozacik in the Slavia goal.



A minute later, the visitors served notice of their threat on the counter-attack. Again, Fenn was responsible for the pass which seemed to see Liam Kearney impeded as he tried to make contact on the edge of the six yard area, but with Cork appealing for a penalty, Slavia broke down the right and only a linesman’s flag saved the home team as Pavel Fort drove the ball into the back of the net.

Then it was a case of déjà vu on 24 minutes. This time Fenn was flattened in the Slavia box but with an indulgent referee waving play-on, Slavia broke again, a clever backheel from Stanislav Vleck putting in Dusan Svento, who poked the ball home. But again, much to Cork’s relief, the linesman’s flag shot up.

Still, two disallowed goals illustrated that Slavia had not come to Turner’s Cross to defend, and so it hardly came as a shock when they broke Cork hearts by taking the lead in the 27th minute. Svento did well to cut in from the left and then laid off the perfect ball for Karel Pitak to quieten a crowd of 6,000 at the Cross with a cool, side-footed finish inside Michael Devine’s right-hand post.

And just past the half-hour mark, Slavia came close to making it two, but Liam Kearney on the line was well-placed to clear a near-post header from Fort after a corner on the right.

Yellow cards for George O’Callaghan and Pitak underlined the competitive nature of the game but, by the interval, it was clear to everyone in the ground that Cork were now playing mainly for pride.

Eight minutes after the re-start, Vleck showed his class with a terrific solo run from the half-way line but his shot from the edge of the area, though not powerfully hit, was flapped around the post by Devine.

As frustration set in for Cork, Greg O’Halloran picked up a yellow card for a late lunge and then, after a cynical bodycheck by Zaboncak, an incensed Roy O’Donovan retaliated by pushing the Slavia player. Both players received yellows, and from the resultant O’Callaghan free, Roy O’Donovan’s far post header was touched to the net by Fenn - only for the linesman’s flag to go up yet again.

Joe Gamble replaced Greg O’Halloran on the hour mark as, to their credit, Cork continued to rally the crowd with some fine attacking football and a fully committed performance.

But Slavia put the game completely beyond them with a second goal in the sixty-third minute, when Vleck broke through the middle and, after Devine had done well to block his first attempt, the striker was easily able to tap home the rebound.

But City refused to lie down and, deservedly, they gave the Cross something to cheer about a few minutes later when Fenn was held back in the box and George O’Callaghan stepped up to slot home the penalty.

As a hotly contested, rip-roaring game continued to swing from end to end, Dan Murray cleared off the line while Slavia’s Kozacik twice did well to deny O’Flynn from close-range. Tempers spilled over in the dying moments with a general melee in the Cork box but, more than a touch charitably, the referee let it pass and then, with more added time still to be played, wisely brought events to a swift conclusion.

CORK CITY: Devine, Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy, O’Donovan, O’Halloran (Gamble 59), O’Callaghan, Kearney (Coughlan 77), Fenn (Bruton 68), O’Flynn.

SLAVIA PRAGUE: Kozacik, Krajcik, Latka, Suchy, Zboncak, Pitak, Jarolim, Hrdlicka (Cernock 90) Svento, Vleck (Kratochvil 90), Fort (Pesir 82).

Referee: P. Leuba (Switzerland)

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30/09/05

Rico wants it to be a yearly adventure
By Liam Mackey
TONGUE somewhat in cheek, someone asked Damien Richardson last night if, with the news of Roy Keane's departure from Manchester United next season, there might be a role for the Irish international at Cork City.

City's boss smiled and said Roy would probably crave the anonymity of a bigger city but he did use the question as a basis for stating the scale of City's ambition, after their exit from the UEFA Cup one game short of the group phase.

"The way Cork City are going, we're going to attract big players. We're top of the table and in the semi-finals of the cup but rather than just thinking 'that's our European adventure' over I want to make this the beginning of a European adventure - and one that happens every year, and it gets better every year."

Richardson was especially proud of City's second-half performance last night.



"I was proud of the wonderful integrity of my players, who responded to my request at half-time to stand tall. We took the game to them, our fitness levels were extremely high, our passion was unquenchable and we really had the crowd behind us.

"I felt that on the second-half performance we deserved a draw. That would have been great to us in the co-efficients for next season but overall I have to say that we lost the tie out in Prague. That was where the damage was done and we were always facing an uphill battle.

"But this was a great night for us - the second half was something special with the players and supporters pushing as one. Not only did we get a lot of pride back in the second half but I think it was a commendable effort overall, and I was delighted with it."

Was he concerned morale would be hit with the league and cup still to play for?

"No, I think the second half performance showed the kind of players we have at Cork City now. It is now a club of serious consequence. We showed we can play against what is a very good team - street-wise, a team that can play football and fight and brawl when they have to, well-versed in the art of European warfare. We've a lot to learn from them. But my lads in the second half put it up to them. Slavia deserve to be in the league stages but they now know they've been in a hell of a battle.

"It shows the progress our league has made over the last 11 years. Now, we have to make sure that everyone who plays in Europe is as prepared as they can be. League of Ireland football needs the publicity and attention that European football brings with it. League of Ireland football stands poised. And if we all get our acts together and get the official help we need, we can push it to the next stage."

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Roy is heading for La Liga or Celtic but attracting players who are at their end of their contract in English clubs should be a target for Eircom League clubs in the future when / if things off and on the pitch improve.

Why was Gamble on the bench? I thought he was one of the main men this season?

Dunno, but you can't say O'Halloran didn't fill in quite nicely :)

O'Halloran was a great inclusion, the tackle after two minutes showed that, we needed someone to stand up to them after they waltzed through us in Prague. Dropping Gamble was a mistake IMO though, I think both should have played.

In place of who? Georgie wasn't very impressive last night, but I thought Fenn was fantastical!

fenns touch was amazing...i thought georgie did very well in the second half (he has a mad gay run though)...if roy the boy had a brain he'd be dangerous with that pace...the coughlan move was embarassing...my god hes massive...fell over himself and all...mistimed all the headers and flick ons he was supposed to make....o'flynn is so graceful....missed his early chance but took a ball from the sky in the second halg majestically and forced the keeper into a great save...bruton did very well...poorest game i ever saw murphy play...kearney never in it....got rough near the end...cork were lucky to finish with 11 on the field....great effort though over all and credit to all involved including the fans.

time to learn lessons and prepare for next year.

well done cork. you did ireland and the eircom league proud.

We certainly didn't play to our european potential last night. We have still made a very good progress in europe & if can continue to improve can do well.

Tne team is still very young & can learn from the experience. O'Donovan is in 1st season of senior football & if can mature quickly can be a real star.

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Originally Posted by pete

We certainly didn't play to our european potential last night. .

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i think some of that can be put down to slavia not giving us time on the ball.the other sides we've played have stood off us a bit but slavia got stuck in and their physical presence and advatage told also IMO.