Derry have momentum in final showdown

SOCCER/National League Premier Division: Cork City manager Damien Richardson will give the club's leading scorer, John O'Flynn, every possible chance to prove his fitness ahead of tonight's title decider at Turner's Cross before naming his side for the sell-out game (RTÉ 2, kick-off 7.45).

Having adopted the furrier of the two roles in a tortoise and hare-type championship race a year ago, Cork City face the prospect of losing a two-way battle they led until last week and if the under-21 international can feature from the start, it would be a tremendous boost to a side that couldn't quite drive home its advantage in recent weeks.

"We'll leave it to the last minute because he's an important player to us although, to be fair, we have scored quite a few goals without him when we've had to," said Richardson yesterday.

"We'll see whether he has an adverse reaction to the training and whether a painkilling injection before the game might make the difference. Right now it's not looking too encouraging, but there's a bit of time to go yet."

If the striker does return then Roy O'Donovan will be available for a return to the midfield, but it is not entirely clear whether he would displace Colin O'Brien who has performed solidly in recent games.

The other major question is whether Billy Woods is again preferred to Liam Kearney on the left.

Richardson has sought to play down the amount of pressure that he and his players are under ahead of the game but with Derry having gained ground over the past month to the extent that they now need only a draw from the match to take the title, the southerners know that they simply must take the game to their visitors and emerge with all three points.

"My players have the experience that comes from playing in big games. With the exception of the European games against Slavia Prague, they haven't been found wanting this year and I don't believe that they will be on this occasion.

"It's the sort of occasion where something extraordinarily good or extraordinarily daft by a single player could decide the way it all turns out and I believe we have players here of the quality required to make the difference in a positive way," he said.

Derry, though, have shown themselves to be no slouches either and Stephen Kenny makes no bones about the fact that his side is glad to be in the fractionally stronger position ahead of the game even if, he insists, it will not change the way they play.

"You have to accept that that does give you a bit of an advantage," he says. "It's a good position to be in, better than we would have expected when we played them in the league at the Brandywell in August. We were six points behind Cork at that stage and the target really was to go into this game still having something to play for. Not only have we achieved that but we are the ones who only need the draw so you've got to be happy really."

As has been the case at the other clubs he has managed, Kenny's team has built its reputation on a fairly fearless brand of attacking football and it is hard to imagine them digging in for the point from the outset. They did, however, find it much harder to assert themselves in the recent cup match which Cork eventually won thanks to a very late penalty, and a similar performance this evening would make for a terribly tense second half.

Though he will not name his team until this afternoon, Kenny is likely to bring back Killian Brennan on the left side of midfield and Gary Beckett up front after the pair proved their fitness in training this week. Barry Molloy is ruled out by suspension.

The recent history of title races decided on the last day tends to favour the side looking to come from behind, a fact Damien Richardson will remember well from his time at Shelbourne where a surprise defeat for the Dubliners at Oriel Park handed St Patrick's Athletic the top prize in 1998.

The Cork boss also suffered disappointment in the championship during his playing days at Shamrock Rovers where he won runners-up medals.

With a capacity 7,500 crowd at Turner's Cross to cheer his side on, Richardson will be desperate to deliver this time. Derry's win over St Patrick's Athletic last week, however, has put the visitors in the driving seat and fate may just conspire to deprive him of the prize one more time.