City 2-1 City

An absolutely brutal game to watch.
I'll be fair and say that City kept trying the passing game that is working recently - but it just didn't come off tonight.
It's ironic that the worst two players on the pitch for most of the game scored the goals, but we'll take 'em!

Colin T and to a lesser degree George and Danny can hold their heads high, Fenn faded, but is definitely doiing better than a few weeks ago.

This performance was as poor as the 0-2 v Shels earlier in the year and Dolan's only response was to replace Greg with Mucka at right back. Greg was poor, but that change didn't seem like a match-changing one..
But Mucka did well, bar one positional error..

Makes up for the late one against Shels last Tuesday.


For those who weren't there - Kearney and Behan started.
Nwanko, Doyle and Flynn all out.

i don't know how you thought Kearney was one of "worst two players on the pitch" SSS :confused:

I thought, like xtreme rebel, that he was one of the few highlights in a pretty crap game.
The distribution from defence was shocking, with Greg, Dan and even the Cockney Rebel culpable. Having Behan up front (and i'm not blaming him) seemed to result in us trying to lob the ball up on his head for most of the first half. Against a giant Derry CB who cleaned up.
MOTM for me was Colin T (again :) ) for sheer attitude.
I was impressed also by Kearney..he had some good runs, drew some fouls, got the goal, and won two defensive headers :eek: in the final few minutes.
Billy and Fenn did OK in patches.

Finished on high, but we are lucky to be second.

Absolutely shocking game! No team deserved to win! I think Citys only two shots on target were the goals in the 2nd half! :confused: Anyhow, 3 points are 3 points and Im happy to take them! :) Liam Kearney played well, but my motm has to be the" Cockney Rebel" Danny Murphy. Fair Play to the Derry fans who travelled down, Long journey home for them though. :)

That is the single most guttin' defeat of the season, but hey from a Cork fans point of view it shows that yis have the character to get reults when it looks least likely...like I say thats a good thing for yee lads. I dont know what we're gonny do though :eek: .

Many people have been slagging us for "choking" at the end of games - nice to see, with a very understrength team, we can keep plugging away and grind out a win. We've played way better and lost or drawn games like this in the past.

The spirit was there tonight to keep plugging away which is good.

No way was Kearney poor tonight. He grafted and was a threat ..... and what a goal. One of the best IMO.

Devine 7 - one great save at the start. Nothing much else really. Could not be faulted for the goal.
Greg 6 - Passing was poor tonight. Think he picked up a knock.
Dan 6 - Overall not too bad. Made some good runs. Think he and Benno could have done a lot better for their goal.
Benno 6 - As above for Dan. Always get nervous with his back passes. Goes back to the Cup vs $hel$ last year.
C Rebel 8 - Excellent as expecteted. Made some great runs. Raised the tempo of the game at crucial time towards the end. Inspiring is the best way to describe him. Another yellow card though.
Woodsie 5 - Thought he was out of it tonight. Great run and pass for Behan's goal though. Looked jaded ( also looked tired towards end of Pats game last week ). We missed those mazy runs.
Colin T 7 - Very good game again but there were times when there were gaps in midfield that a beter team would have punished.
George 7 - Missed several passes and got frustrated. He is going to have to realise that when the chips are down we depend on the likes of him to pull the big games out of the hat. Still class though and there were times when his control was super.
Kearney 8 - For a small guy he really got stuck in as the game developed. Tackled, ran at players, drew fouls ( lost count to be honest ) ..... and what a goal. Fcuk TV3 for going off the air with their program. The whole country deserves to see that goal.
Fenn 7 - Played well IMO. His control was v/good. Missed Flynny's runs badly. No one opening up or breaking into space.
Behan 6 - Needs to put himself about more. Watch Flynny and the darting runs he makes. Looks lazy and as a result people get frustrated. Had a couple of good chances in the first have. Great finish for his goal though. Showed real strength and is definately not afraid to go in where it hurts.

Mucka 6 - Really didn't do anything wrong.

Hope we have a full strength team on Saturday as we lost a bit of shape tonight and could be severely punished if we repeat this next week.

We mustn't forget though that these are the type of games we need to win and the team kept going to the end to do just that............fair f**king play.

BTW what happend to Nawankwo?

Why wasn't he on the team?

Kearney's goal should be seen on Chorus sport Monday at 10:30pm AFAIK.

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Originally Posted by Druss

Finished on high, but we are lucky to be second.

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But then again, aren't Shels farely lucky to be on top :rolleyes: .

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Originally Posted by Counting Crow

BTW what happend to Nawankwo?

Why wasn't he on the team?

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was chatting to mickey................he was sick


but must be the most disgusting game of football ive ever seen

but then again thats what win titles,playing sh!t and still getting points


but for the season so far,,,,we have 2 players...colin t and cockney rebel...awesome

dont mean to jump on the bandwagon of greg again but he was sh!t...fault of the goal


that was 2 stinkers in a row

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Originally Posted by thecorner

dont mean to jump on the bandwagon of greg again but he was sh!t...fault of the goal


that was 2 stinkers in a row

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He was crap tonight .... loads of c******s. Murphy and Kearney had a few c******s aswell. One of them looked really bad !! I thought a few of them weren't switched on at all .... just there and doing a job but not going for it.

Great to see Mucka not being out of place at all.

Counting Crow ... i think you rated a few of them a bit too high there.

Lads it was a sh-t game all round. I think derry should have won this game but we still went for it and got the three points. So at lest we have that fight in us that we did not have this time last year.

So things are starting to look up for us.

Come on city and we are only taking off now.

poor game all right and alot of people left the ground before citys 2 goals ,but its 3 points in the bag and the season is still alive

Agree with Ian here.

I, personally, will put up with a few of these type of games if we got the same results ( particularly with those type of goals ).

Too often we critisize the team for choking at the end and conceeding equalisers, or indeed loosing it, at the end. Nice to see them playing right to the end and winning it like they did.

The bottom line is we are now 14 games unbeaten - that rubs off on the players.
We are now clear second.
We know we are as good if not better now that the Tolka Scum
Our squad is going to get stronger within the next few weeks which will ensure players HAVE to keep up performances for the remainder of the season.

Overall - 7 points out 9 in the last 7 days ( played well in 2 of 3 games also ). I 'm happy with that.

Rather have that than 1 or 2 pts from 9 but played well in all three.

this could also be turning point in our season now

we got a good kick up the hole last night

playing awful and getting 3 points is what champions are made of

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Originally Posted by Counting Crow

Kearney 8 - For a small guy he really got stuck in as the game developed. Tackled, ran at players, drew fouls ( lost count to be honest ) ..... and what a goal. Fcuk TV3 for going off the air with their program

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:eek: 8

would have gave him 4/10 but the goal would bring him upto 6/10

heard pat on the radio after the game - he said that at 6pm jof, doyle and nwankwo were all fit to play, but by kick-off all 3 were out. that's bound to upset things.

could be wrong but i think that's the first time we've had to play without one of either jof or kevin doyle up front. neither of our strikers had much pace, which was a major problem and i don't think we coped with it at all. derry played well, sat back and tried to hit us on the break - we struggled to break them down. if they hadn't scored first it could well have ended up 0-0...

thought fenn did well, held the ball up, played some great passes. georgie was quiet, but played a part in both goals. when we went 3-4-3 at the end liam kearney went into the centre of midfield and looked class - shame he's not a foot or two taller...

all in all a great result, not a great performance - at this point in the season, getting the 3 points is more important.

btw - sat in front of 2 pure ******s in st annes end. when georgie got hit with the ball in the 1st half they were actually cheering, hoping he'd have to go off. aren't city lucky to have supporters like that...

jmc105.....it just defies belief.

Why do these people bother to turn up at all. Are they GAAAAAAAAAAA types in diguise trying to destabilise the Rebel Army :rolleyes:

Bet they left before the end also.

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Originally Posted by jmc105

sat in front of 2 pure ******s in st annes end. when georgie got hit with the ball in the 1st half they were actually cheering, hoping he'd have to go off. aren't city lucky to have supporters like that...

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Man, where do they come out of ..... was is up with that ??

eircom league weekly is back mon at 11.30.

I dunno what to say, I thought that Colin T was terrible! I dont know if I'd really blame him, I mean he's playing in a new position like, but as a defensive midfielder he's cr@p! He puts in 110% and all that, but he's not a 'water-carrier' a la Renolds. Colin seems content to let the opposition walk the ball in and to try to block their passes. George has had to come back and cover for him in this regard and to be honest, I think that this is why City sit back so much especially when we lead. Those who were at Tolka on Tuesday will konw what I mean! The sooner Gamble comes back the better! In the meantime I think that Murphy would do a good job there. No one gets by him, he has good distribution and he can take players on (I suppose that we'd either have to move Billy back to LB or have Hoggie fit though). Anyway thats me 2 cents about Colin T.

As for the match, that was prob the worst Ive ever seen. I wonder has it to do with Clive Delaney and Ciaran Martin? They were with the vintage boring UCD sides of a few years ago.

I think that an official appology to Derry would nearly be in order, they were robbed blind! I think that if we lost most people would have said that it was what we deserved, but after what happened against Shels, maybe it was only fair. Too many poor performances to list really, who gave the ball away for the Derry goal? I thought that it was Behan. No blaming Greg for it though, it was whoever got the ball from the throw-in that gave it away needlessly, the defence were on the back foot from then on.

Behan gave it away. Dan Murray was marking Murphy, but kept running towards the goal when Murphy stopped on the edge of the area.

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Originally Posted by Troy.McClure

I dunno what to say, I thought that Colin T was terrible! I dont know if I'd really blame him, I mean he's playing in a new position like, but as a defensive midfielder he's cr@p! He puts in 110% and all that, but he's not a 'water-carrier' a la Renolds. Colin seems content to let the opposition walk the ball in and to try to block their passes. George has had to come back and cover for him in this regard and to be honest, I think that this is why City sit back so much especially when we lead. Those who were at Tolka on Tuesday will konw what I mean! The sooner Gamble comes back the better! In the meantime I think that Murphy would do a good job there. No one gets by him, he has good distribution and he can take players on (I suppose that we'd either have to move Billy back to LB or have Hoggie fit though). Anyway thats me 2 cents about Colin T.

on.

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:eek:
have you been watching the same games as us recently

colin t has been inspirational in there and is well able for reynolds

I wish people would stop this "Derry were robbed" cr@p.

Derry were not robbed.

Derry were $hite.

They are like UCD in red/white stripped shirts. Delaney is a cynical cart horse - always was. They kick seven shades of $hit out people just like Waterford.

They spent the game arguing with one another and IMO got their just rewards.

Beckett is the only player I would have in a City shirt.

City deserved to win for simply playing right to the death.
Oh, by the way, a lot of teams would have settled for a draw having gotten out of jail with the equaliser 3 mins from time - phrase "got out of jail" and all that.

But no, City kept going and got a brilliant winner.

FAIR FCUKING PLAY.

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Originally Posted by thecorner

:eek:
have you been watching the same games as us recently

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Yup!

He sits off until the player gets to the edge of the box and then puts in a tackle, always, always, always. I dont think that he's a bad player, but he's not the type that should be playing in the centre with George. He should be back up to George as the creative playmaker when Gamble starts. Alternatively put him as right back instead of Greg, that is if he can reproduce the quality that he did when he played there in the 2nd half against Pats at Inchicore earlier on this season.

We need a bully in the middle, and Colin's the nicest guy on the pitch!

Greg was not to blame for the goal, it was mostly Behans fault. It was a dire game, like watching a UCD game, with a lot of ball being hoofed up to the Freak. In the second half, most of the time we tried to play football, and it paid off in the end. Last season the team would have settled for a draw, but now we try to win. I think we deserved the three points, because no matter how poor we were,
1. we tried to pass and play ball,
2. we did not fall down as if we were dead when a Derry player came near us
(do Derry management teach playacting and cheating as part of the training routine?)
3. we had the guts and determination to go for the win
4. I believe that psychologically we were a mentally stronger and fitter team, playing against a talented, but flawed, bunch of individuals.

It's already been said but this is a game we would have lost before, but we won it, and its a case of the only thing that matters are the 3 points.

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Originally Posted by Troy.McClure

Yup!

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sorry but no way could you have been watching the same games as us

i don't think joe gamble is a ball-winning midfielder...

colin t has been outstanding recently - himself and georgie are en excellent partnership. is fairness, making comments like "He sits off until the player gets to the edge of the box and then puts in a tackle, always, always, always" only show up how little you know about football.

i don't know if the georgie-haters left before the end cos i moved seats to get away from them. they were both in their 50's i'd say. a lot of the abuse georgie and fenn get seems to come from older "supporters". my theory is that they grew up in an era when footballers hoofed the ball as standard and anyone showing a bit of skill were told to "cut out the fancy ****e". personally i think georgie is sheer class - i know not everyone agrees but hoping one of your own players gets hurt...? :mad:

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Originally Posted by jmc105

i don't think joe gamble is a ball-winning midfielder...

colin t has been outstanding recently - himself and georgie are en excellent partnership. is fairness, making comments like "He sits off until the player gets to the edge of the box and then puts in a tackle, always, always, always" only show up how little you know about football.

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Mmm, I dunno now Ive been to a fair few matches home and away, take a look the next time at his defensive side of things. Dont get me wrong, he has a lot of positive atributes like being a fit player, comitment, covering a lot of grass, always ready to take a pass, but as a defensive player he's not what you need. Being infront of the defense and having an extra city shirt there doesnt always mean that you are being effective defensively. Id prob compair him to Beckham at Madrid in a way I suppose (dont take this too litterally!).

losing reynolds to rovers was a huge blow and we never replaced him. i'm sure colin was intended as a stop-gap solution in there (brendan sweeney would seem a more natural holding midfielder from what i've seen of him - which isn't much). but he's played so well that he has made the position his own. it's only now that colin has gone into the centre and played so well that i feel we don't miss reynolds, which is saying a lot. he's not the best tackler on the pitch, but he's not a bad tackler either (he did start out at fullback) and i think his footballing abilities and incredible workrate make him the best option there at the moment. he's certainly doing a better job than greg ever did in there, and they don't come much more defensive than greg!

Fair enough lads, on reflection Kearney did contribute in the second half of the second half. But I stand over my opinion regarding his play earlier.
For a winger, up until the last twenty minutes yesterday, he rarely gets past his man and often loses possession. His cross in the first half was the first cross I can remember him making this season!.

Hopefully he will now grow ( ;) ) in confidence and contribute more going forward. I still think that on standards to date that Nwanko and Woods are ahead of him - and I expect the Steveo will ne dup ahead in the pecking order.

As for the limited options available to Dolan on the bench - I completely agree. However, bringing on a fullback for a fullback and then switching to 3 at the back (Mucka one of the three!) when he had two centrebacks on the bench was a bit silly.

BTW, well done to Mucka. Found Fenn's feet with three balls out of defence under pressure and played a great one over the top to George. Won't beat Hoggie, but a very handy player to have around.

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Originally Posted by SSS

Fair enough lads, on reflection Kearney did contribute in the second half of the second half. But I stand over my opinion regarding his play earlier.
For a winger, up until the last twenty minutes yesterday, he rarely gets past his man and often loses possession. His cross in the first half was the first cross I can remember him making this season!.

.

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i thought he was a pity out there last night

the game seem to fly past him

it was kearney who gave the ball away initially prior to behan giving it away not sure how greg was dragged into it.Basically the performance until the last few minutes was shocking but as i have asked b4 why do city wait at times until the last few minutes b4 they click into gear,its hard to say how people played well i think those who weren't poor were only average and i hope it will be acknowledged by the team themselves and dolan that it was a poor team performance.Finally how is fenn getting away with it week in week out :confused:

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Originally Posted by THENORTHSIDER

Finally how is fenn getting away with it week in week out :confused:

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got 5/10 in the sun today

also a picture of fenn in the echo

people should cut out and keep .......

could be a collectors item........ he is running in it ;)

[QUOTE=SSS]Fair enough lads, on reflection Kearney did contribute in the second half of the second half. But I stand over my opinion regarding his play earlier.
For a winger, up until the last twenty minutes yesterday, he rarely gets past his man and often loses possession. His cross in the first half was the first cross I can remember him making this season!.[QUOTE]

The first half was not his fault either .... Devine was hoofing it up to Fenn or else out to Murphy and then up along ..... it all came his way. It was a total bottle neck. Woods on the other wing made three runs all the first half ..... because he didnt get the ball.

To be fair, I thought Fenn was no worse than anyone else, and if one or two things had worked for him, we wouldn't have needed the two late goals.
Interesting to see that Barry Fry was qouted in the eL supplement in the Mirror on Friday as saying that Fenn had lots of talent, but "wouldn't run to catch a bus"..... :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SSS

Fair enough lads, on reflection Kearney did contribute in the second half of the second half. But I stand over my opinion regarding his play earlier.
For a winger, up until the last twenty minutes yesterday, he rarely gets past his man and often loses possession. His cross in the first half was the first cross I can remember him making this season!.

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funny, one of the things that impressed me was his ability to beat his man from a standing start... he's got lots of ability, i think if he played more games for city he'd gradually become more influential. nwankwo is def ahead of him for now tho...

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Originally Posted by jmc105

colin t has been outstanding recently........

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colin who?THERE IS ONLY ONE COLIN O'BRIEN YOU IGNORANT *insert expletive* :mad:
city were utter shíte against an even worse derry.in fact it is possibly the worst match @ the cross ive endured bar the limerick cup match a few seasons ago.we deserved nothing from the match,it was so bad we should have been deducted points.im delighted with the result of course but it seems a complete polarity to the performances versus $£€l$ and bowez et al.

the team needs to seriously cop on,john o flynn is a big loss yes but the team appears morbidly depressed every time he is absent.not least george who has looked nothing short of a kid dragged out of a sweet shop empty handed.the guy is giving his all and is still getting slated,christ fenn has been complete pigs rectum droppings,scores two goals and he's welcomed back like the prodigal son!?

upside to the match,watching two gardaí "handle" moses' retárded outbusrst towards 1)dolan and 2)richie(stewards of course no where to be seen :rolleyes:,the bunch of over weight and overpaid.......)

god help us against malmo,im gonna go dig out the rosary beads... :ball:

From reading the posts on this site, i am beginning to wonder if ye lads watched the same match. Some saying Colin T was brilliant. Others saying he was rubbish. I see one fella gave Kearney a rating of 4 and another gave him a rating of 8. Whats that all about! From what I heard, Kearney played well in the second half. He did not get a touch in the first half. When he came into the middle late on, he played even better.

Overall, i cannot understand how people are still moaning about the performance. Christ, its so frustrating to see it. People are never happy. What would they have preferred. The team lie down and die. They dug their heels in, they knew they were playing ****. You should all know how hard it is to come back and win a game when you know you are not playing well. All of the lads on this site are entitled to their opinion, but for **** sake, praise the lads for a great win and do not bemoan them :mad: :confused:

its called an opinion...we all have one

dug their heels in.....my b0ll0x


they played well for the last 5 minutes

the game is 90 minutes long

General consensus seems to be...
played badly in a poor game, but picked up three points, a deserved bit of luck after Shels last tuesday.
now ten unbeaten in the league, hopefully Drogs can pick something up against Shels tonight, if they do, it'll have been a good weekend for us.