Murphy admits City beaten by touch of class

**�anna** · 02/04/2002, 12:46 PM

taken from citynet

Cork City's 300-mile journey home from Derry on Sunday afternoon wasn't made any shorter following Liam Coyle's 87th minute strike at the Brandywell.
But manager Liam Murphy openly admitted after the game that his side had been defeated by "a touch of class."
"Derry City will find it very, very hard to replace him when he does decide to step down," said Murphy.
"I thought we were very unlucky not to get a draw. I dont think anyone could argue that that would have been a fair result in the circumstances, but it was a touch of class by Liam Coyle which saw Derry win, he added.
For City skipper, Declan Daly, Coyle had presented the central defender with no shortage of problems over the past decade.
"He's one of the best strikers that I've ever played against," said Daly.
"And the fact that he's a big lad, doesn't make it any easier for me as a central defender.
"I've been playing against him for quite some time and his record with Derry is very impressive. I'm sure he'll be around for one or two more seasons," he said.
Coyle's strike, with three minutes remaining, saw him net his 100th goal for Derry - a club record which passes Jonathan Speak's total of 99 which stood for 10 years.
"To be honest, I was aware that another goal would have given me 100, but I didn't take too much notice of it. I didn't need to put any pressure on myself," he said.
"I scored the 99th goal against Dundalk in last week's 4-2 defeat to go level with Jonathan Speak, but that wasn't the same after we'd lost. But to score my 100th at the Brandywell was pretty special and, of course, I'm delighted," said the striker.

Source: The Evening Echo