Cork not out of the woods just yet

Cork City 1 Apollon 0: Another step forward on the European trail for Damien Richardson's men but their performance here, particularly in the first half, was certainly laboured.

Still, though, a second-half revival, born out of honest endeavour, swayed the contest with Billy Woods netting a spectacular and vital winning goal.

Apollon may have finished their domestic championship unbeaten but they are currently out-of-season and the home side, themselves in full flow, may well feel disappointed at not having seen off their rivals in more clinical fashion.

Initially the visitors were content to sit back and absorb what came their way but, as the number of unnecessary errors forced by the locals increased, Apollon were soon gifted a platform from which to build.

With the hustle and bustle of domestic football on hold, Cork at first appeared willing to exploit the room that European football tends to afford. But despite an early desire to probe, their game-plan quickly unravelled, with aimless balls forward and poor control letting them down all too often.

Both Roy O'Donovan and Woods, saw plenty of ball in the opening exchanges and, indeed, showed neat touches when attempting to cut inside.

However, the Cypriot three-man defence was always equal to the task, dispossessing rather all too easily when a earlier ball to supporting team-mates could have reaped rewards.

These surges may have lacked an end product but, that said, the hosts were at least applying forward momentum. Still, though, the manner in which all their slaloming runs and neat touches fizzled out to nothing was most disappointing.

Moreover, their opponents were not exactly giving a lesson in tactical astuteness and their five-man midfield was certainly porous as well as cumbersome.

Colin O'Brien and Joe Gamble, however, were not quite in tune at the centre of the park and failed to expose those frailties in the visitor's make-up. The latter was keen to penetrate at times but required threaded balls through for Neale Fenn and Denis Behan to chase were conspicuous by their absence.

Bogdan Andone's attempted lob on goalkeeper Michael Devine was ambitious from the outset and blazed over but defender Leandro Alvarez' stabbed effort from Jassim Arig's teasing free could have troubled the goalkeeper if it wasn't for the claustrophobic manner in which he was marked.

For all their misgivings in the first half, Cork emerged an altogether more menacing side after the break. A rediscovered hunger twinned with vision and steel in the tackle provided a sturdier platform from which they set about dissecting their opponents.

Nearing the hour, and revelling in the resurgence, both Danny Murphy and Behan tested goalkeeper Ales Chvalovsky with stinging shots from long range. It was a sign of things to come.

By now, Apollon were leg-weary, tired of chasing free-running Cork players from one side of the pitch to the next. Their shape was pulled apart and, capitalising on this, Woods and Fenn came more to the fore.

The latter's willingness to drop deep and fight for possession aided Cork's cause, particularly when it afforded Gamble time to push on.

Indeed, from one such incident, the midfielder availed of a poor Cypriot clearance and played a measured ball to Woods who, having gone close with a similar effort just moments earlier, beat Chvalovsky with an unstoppable curling shot from distance.

CORK CITY: Devine; Murphy, Bennett, Murray, Horgan; O'Donovan, Gamble, O'Brien, Woods; Fenn, Behan (Lordan 90). Booked: Woods (41).

APOLLON LIMASSOL: Chvalovsky; Barun, Alvarez, Merkis, Michalski, Andone (Hugo 80), Mahdi, Solomou (Hawar), S-Arig, Sosin, Hamadi (Paiva 58). Booked: Hamadi (56), Sosin (79), Hugo (85).

Referee: Thomas Einwaller (Austria).