Shels hang on to hold Cork - January 22, 2001
Cork City 1 Shelbourne 1
Champions Shelbourne looked as if they were going to pull off yet another of their noses-in-front, shut-up-shop jobs at Turners Cross yesterday. But in the end they had to hang on for dear life to get anything out of the game at all.
For most of he game, the pattern was predictable. Shels started with all guns blazing and took the lead after 19 minutes when Paul Doolin capitalised on a Michael Devine error. It was tough on Devine, who had already made two top-drawer saves.
Thereafter Cork had all the possession but the twin strike force of James Mulligan and Pat Morley never even got a worthwhile shot on target. Shels, meanwhile, always looked capable of bagging a second on the break and Richie Baker should have wrapped it up when he headed over from inside the six-yard box after Pat Scully knocked down a corner.
But a couple of substitutions by Derek Mountfield gave Cork some teeth - Tony Tynan coming on for Anthony Buckley and the ageless John Caulfield replacing Mulligan.
It was Caulfield who got the breakthrough on 74 minutes running onto Pat Morley's flick to lash the ball past Steve Williams.
From there to the end it was all Cork, with Williams making a brilliant save from Tynan and Tony McCarthy heading off the line from Stephen Napier.
Cork City: Devine, O'Halloran, O'Rourke, Napier, Horgan; Buckley, Gaughan, Herrick, Cahill, Mulligan, Morley
Subs: Tynan for Buckley 60, Caulfield for Mulligan 70
Booked: O'Halloran
Goal: Caulfield
Shelbourne: Williams, Heary, Scully, McCarthy, D Geoghegan, R Baker, Fenlon, Doolin, Keddy, D Baker, Foran
Subs: Crawford for Doolin 75, Sheridan for Foran 86
Booked: Keddy, Fenlon, Sheridan
Goal: Doolin
Referee: D O'Hanlon (Waterford)