Cork pay dearly for daring approach

SOCCER/UEFA Cup first round, first leg:After 40 years of life on the wrong side of the communists, and what must seem like an eternity in the shadows of their better known neighbours from across the city, Slavia Prague might argue they are overdue a few good nights.

Certainly their reaction to last night's 2-0 win at a sparsely populated Strahov stadium suggested they'll seize any opportunity to celebrate when it comes their way. It might yet prove premature although, to be realistic, if Cork are to have the remotest chance of cancelling out the two second-half goals they conceded in a fast and always open game, they will have to play a good deal better.

For long spells last night Cork City's almost swashbuckling approach, such an asset in Lithuania and Sweden where it yielded precious away goals, proved problematic with Slavia sweeping forward both out wide and through the centre where the protective cover previously provided by Greg O'Halloran was sorely missed prior to his arrival 20 minutes from time.

City did have chances, a couple of good ones in the first half, the best of which fell to John O'Flynn after Roy O'Donovan had got around Martin Latka out on the right. The striker, though, couldn't quite put the ball beyond the reach of Matus Kozacik despite having time to pick his spot and the goalkeeper kept his side level with a fine save.

At the other end, though, Michael Devine had a good deal more to deal with. The City goalkeeper was initially a little fortunate to see a string of low shots fly just wide of his post but as the game wore on the home side's players started to find their mark and only a combination of outstanding goalkeeping and poor luck prevented them from breaking the deadlock before the break.

Devine's finest moment came four minutes before the break when Matej Krajcik floated in an angled cross from the right and Tomas Hrdlicka produced what looked the perfect header until the Corkman threw out his left arm with lightning speed to push the ball wide.

The save looked purely instinctive but he had certainly known more about it than the one he made six minutes earlier when an outstanding fingertip touch onto the underside of the bar sparked a flurry of rebounds which ended with the goalkeeper scrambling the ball away after it had hit the woodwork no fewer than three times.

It was scarcely indicative of the level of control City had set out to exert over their destiny and their problems were stemming primarily from midfield where's Slavia's extra man was helping them to dominate the game in terms of possession.

Up front O'Flynn was struggling to make any sort of impact while behind him George O'Callaghan contribution was a mixed back that included some fine passes and a few potentially costly errors which handed the ball to the hosts in dangerous positions.

Alan Bennett and Dan Murray did their best to hold the line in front of Devine but with Slavia availing of every opportunity to push men forward from midfield and into the box it was difficult either the centre halves or those around them to pick up every runner and on quite a few occasions the Irish side looked to be riding their luck.

It held until the 62nd minute when City lost the ball inside their opponents' area and Tomas Pesir broke forward unhindered until Murray blocked his way five yards short of the box. When from the resulting free Hrdlinka swerved the ball around the wall and towards the top left corner Devine was finally beaten.

In the minutes that followed City launched a spirited search for an equaliser and suddenly it was the Czechs who were hanging in there. In the space of 90 seconds two O'Callaghan frees from the left produced three close shaves with Murray heading against the post from the first, O'Donovan then Joe Gamble both sending the ball crashing off the woodwork from the second.

An equaliser then would have left City sitting pretty. But instead they continued to walk that awkward tightrope of pressing for an away goal while trying desperately not to concede a second. They didn't quite seem to have the legs required for the task with O'Callaghan lacking support when breaking forward and the defence looking exposed when the ball was lost in midfield. Slavia capitalised on the weakness 12 minutes from time when Liam Kearney was overwhelmed while on the ball by Latka and Kratcik with the latter then crossing low from the right for Karel Pitak whose header had enough power to reach its target despite Devine's touch.

Dave Hill, Cork's stand-in manager, knows they face an uphill battle: "It may have been a European game but it was more like an Eircom league match which was far too open. Every time we attacked we left a huge amount of space in midfield which made it too easy for Slavia. The players know they can only play better in Cork, but if we can get an early goal we could still go on to win the tie."

SLAVIA PRAGUE: Kozacik; Zabojnik, Latka, Hubacek; Kracjik, Jarolim (Fort, 69 mins), Suchy, Hrdlicka, Svento; Pesir (Kratochivil, 79 mins), Pitak.

CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy; O'Donovan, Gamble, O'Callaghan, Kearney; Fenn (O'Halloran, 71 mins), O'Flynn.

Referee: Z Siric (Croatia).