Behan's goal blows Longford off course

Cork City 1 Longford Town 0The weather forecasters had said it would be another day like the one on which the FAI Cup final had been staged last year. When they were proved right the rest of us hoped we would get the same sort of game, but sadly, the players of Cork and Longford could not quite defy the conditions in the way those of Derry and St Patrick's had done, and so what we got at the RDS yesterday was a disappointing final on a truly atrocious afternoon.

For those among the officially estimated crowd of 10,000 who had made the trip from the Southwest, though, there was considerable reason for satisfaction as they braved the wind and rain.

Denis Behan's second-half goal may have been all that separated the sides at the end but it was still enough to earn his club only its second cup success as well as places in next season's Setanta and Uefa cups.

And in truth, many of those who witnessed the 90 minutes will remember the gap between the teams having been somewhat wider than the final score might suggest.

Twice after the goal - the result of fine work by Dan Murray and John O'Flynn in the build-up to Behan's coolheaded finish - City hit the crossbar, and during the last 15 minutes or so they were utterly dominant

Longford, to their credit, battled throughout but having taken the unusual step of winning the toss and choosing to play into the gale through the first half, they enjoyed, perhaps predictably, their best spell early on.

During it, they defended well and caused their opponents problems around the area, thanks largely to the combined efforts of Dave Mooney and Dessie Baker.

The latter, though, took a knock midway through the half and never looked the same, while the tremendous speed with which Michael Devine reacted to save Jamie Duffy's close-range shot a quarter of an hour in, prevented them going ahead. And as their manager later conceded, they needed at least a goal to take into what was bound to be a tougher second period.

City's central defence had struggled to settle early on, while neither Colin Healy nor Liam Kearney seemed to be at anything like his best.

In contrast, Joe Gamble and Leon McSweeney did well, putting it up to their opponents in the first half and dominating them in the second.

Up front O'Flynn and Behan always looked lively and likely to pose a threat once those behind found their rhythm.

That came over time. City were on top by the time the sides went in for the break with the game still scoreless and were clearly in control from the time they returned.

With Baker and Robbie Martin limping early in the second half, Alan Mathews's options on the bench looked decidedly limited.

Damien Richardson, on the other hand, was able to replace the injured Billy Woods with Colin O'Brien and then bring on Gareth Farrelly in the closing stages for Kearney.

Not surprisingly, the gulf in quality simply widened as the afternoon wore on and darkness descended.

For the goal, Pat Sullivan first lost O'Flynn out wide before Kevin Doherty and Damien Brennan were caught badly out of position in the centre, leaving Behan to turn the ball home unchallenged.

And from the moment Longford found themselves having to chase the game, their opponents found more and more space opening up before them.

Behan and O'Flynn sent shots clattering off the underside of the crossbar when they might have done better but Longford's hopes of snatching a late equaliser on the break were more or less ended when Sullivan, who was already on a booking for one of several bouts of dissent, recklessly challenged McSweeney to earn his second yellow card of the afternoon.

Mathews's men foraged for chances more and more frantically through the few remaining minutes, Mooney and Martin in particular attempting to chase down every ball, but Murray and company were never seriously stretched before the final whistle sounded and the celebrations began.

CORK CITY: Devine; Lordan, O'Callaghan, Murray, Woods (O'Brien, 66 mins); McSweeney, Gamble, Healy, Kearney (Farrelly, 83 mins); Behan, O'Flynn.

LONGFORD TOWN: Kelly; Sullivan, Brennan, Doherty, Prunty; Duffy (Reilly, 77 mins), Doyle, Rutherford, Martin; Baker (Wexler, 54 mins), Mooney.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).