British Steel Challenge

A quieter August brought only 6 games for us to play.



Our first game of the month saw us travel to Waterford as we attempted to return to our winning ways, and two first-half Sean Maguire goals looked to have won it for us until we seemed to switch off in the last 15 minutes, and two goals from Waterford saw them rescue a draw, much to my annoyance.

Our next game was an opportunity against Longford to reach our second cup final of the season and it couldn't have started any worse for us as we fell behind after 9 minutes. James Kavenagh brought us back 5 minutes later, powering home from the edge of the box. The rest of the half was a very end to end game, both sides having chances but with both keepers in good form, neither team was able to take the lead. The second-half started brilliantly for us, as John Sullivan put us into the lead for the first time in the game, scoring in the 49th minute, cooly finishing when the ball fell to him from a corner. The game ended 2-1 and we were through to the final, where we would face Shelbourne.

Our next game was away against Shamrock Rovers who had been on a fantastic recent run of form. We quickly silenced the crowd, with Ian Sweeney putting us ahead after 4 minutes before Sean Maguire doubled our advantage in the 9th minute. Shamrock Rovers managed to get a goal back just before half-time which was a disappointing end to a first-half we had dominated. After the break, Shamrock Rovers were soon level, scoring 2 minutes after the restart. They then took the lead in the 69th minute, and further extended their lead in the 74th before Jacques Morley reduced the gap in the 84th minute. We then had a penalty shout turned down and the game ended 4-3. It was a game that we deserved to take something from, and on another day we would have won, however the game plan used by Shamrock saw them injure 3 of our players without even being shown a yellow card, which caused us to really struggle unfortunately, but it was a game in which we could hold our heads high after our performance and move on from with confidence.



Our next game we returned to Turner's Cross and welcomed Derry City. In a poor first half, neither side really had any opportunities and the score at half-time was 0-0. It took until the 62nd minute for Sean Maguire to open the scoring to put us ahead. Disaster struck in the closing minutes as a poor backpass was seized upon and Derry City equalised with no time remaining for us to regain our lead and the game ended 1-1.

Another cup game was up next as we faced Col. Corinthians in the Senior Challenge Cup. We began very well as Carl Finnigan put us in the lead after only 2 minutes. There was a long wait for the next goal as despite creating many chances, the younger players and fringe players that had been picked seemed incapable to finish until Gerry Byrne settled the game in injury time to make the scoreline look a slightly more respectable 2-0.

Our final league game of the month and we welcomed Mervue Utd to Turner's Cross. In a very dull first half of very few chances, it had the feeling of the teams just feeling each other out, and trying to find weaknesses and we went in at the break with the scores tied at 0-0. We came back out in the second-half looking like the side who wanted to make something happen more and Sean Maguire did just that by opening the scoring in the 68th minute to put us 1-0 up. A late penalty in the 84th minute which Sean Maguire converted for his second of the game, and his sixth in four league games, to ensure that victory would be ours, and also claim the Player of the Month award.





At the end of the month we still sat in third in the league table, yet with a gap no opening up with the top two teams, and fourth place had been able to close the gap with us, and could even overtake us if they were able to win their two games they have in hand. With eight games left it was important that we go back to winning games, and not allow the gap to close between us and fourth place and just hope that the two teams above us would start to slip up and drop points.

Seven points and 2 games behinde the front runner, that a big gap to close. Guess no title this year. But you retained the cup that is well done.

September was an extremely important month for us as we faced the beginning of the run-in towards the end of the season in the league, as well as the important Irish League Cup final.



Our first game of the month we welcomed relegated Limerick F.C. to Turner's Cross and a good start saw Carl Finnigan open the scoring and put us ahead in the 19th minute. Limerick managed to grab an equaliser in the 38th minute following some poor defending. In the second-half, no matter how hard we pushed to get a second goal, we were unable to through to some good goalkeeping and some poor finishing. The game ended 1-1, and can only be viewed as 2 points dropped in an important run of games.

Our next game saw us take on Shelbourne in the Senior Challenge Cup quarter-final. In a tight game of few chances, the only goal came after 74 minutes as Shelbourne finished after some good team play. We had chances to equalise, but some poor finishing cost us, and it sent us crashing out of the cup, and it would be at least another season before we would be able to claim the trophy.

We then traveled to Sligo Rovers and a good defensive display saw us come away with a point after a 0-0 draw.

The next game was the very important Irish League Cup Final where we would face St Pat's Athletic. A brilliant first half display saw us race into a 3-0 lead, with goals coming from [b]Ian Sweeney, Carl Finnigan and John Sullivan. At half-time the score was 3-0 and we had one hand on the trophy. It would require a real turn of events for us to end up losing the game now, and despite St Pat's Athletic pulling one back in the 58th minute, there was too much for them to do, and we ran out as 3-1 winners, winning our second piece of silverware this season!



Our final game of the month was against U.C.D. back at Turner's Cross. Fresh from our cup victory, morale was high and we went into the game full of confidence. Sean Maguire grabbed the only goal of the game in the 15th minute as he picked up the ball near the centre circle, waltzed past two defenders and placed a powerful shot into the bottom corner. We had lots of other chances during the game, but we were unable to finish them, however U.C.D. were also unable to finish any of their limited chances and we ran out as 1-0 winners.



At the end of the month, and with 5 games remaining we sat in 4th place in the table. Unfortunately the title was now almost certainly beyond our grasp, but we were still looking good for a European place so we could enter the Europa League next season. We had managed to tick off our sixth trophy this season as we won the Irish League Cup, but we had also crashed out of the Senior Challenge Cup. With only the league left to concentrate on, all we had to do was ensure that we would qualify for Europe, and gain the extra revenue that would bring.

Our final month of action for this season saw us face our final five games as we attempted to consolidate and secure ourselves a position to play European Football next season.



We began the month at home to Dundalk, and in an end to end first half we took the lead through Sean Maguire scoring in the 43rd minute. Dundalk equalised in the 57th minute and could have gone on to grab another, however it wasn't to be for them as Gerry Byrne scored a fantastic goal in the 80th minute to give us all three points and also meant that we leapfrogged Dundalk into second place in the table.

Our next game was against Longford, and we traveled there with expectations and morale high following our brilliant 2-1 victory against Dundalk. In an interesting first-half where both sides failed to capitalise on mistakes saw the scores level at the break. At the start of the second half, a cracking free-kick from Danny Murphy, finding the top corner of the goal from 30 yards, leaving the keeper with no chance gave us the lead on 51 minutes. The scores weren't level for long however as Longford equalised 10 minutes later. As the game approached it's conclusion, it looked like a draw was going to be the result until Carl Finnigan popped up at the back post in injury time to sidefoot the ball into the goal giving us a well deserved victory.

We moved onto our next game where we welcomed Sligo Rovers to Turner's Cross, and in what was a very entertaining game the scores were level at half-time. As the second-half started, it didn't take long for there to be goals, as their striker seized upon a mistake by the defence to simply pass the ball into the goal past keeper Paul White in the 52nd minute. It didn't take long for us to pull level again though, with John Sullivan finding the net 4 minutes later. As the game continued, both sides looked happy to take a draw, and 1-1 was the final score.

Our penultimate game saw us travel to Shelbourne. It was a poor display overall by the team and we fell behind deservedly in the 28th minute goal, after some poor defensive work. As the game continued, Shelbourne had opportunities to extend their lead, but failed to capitalise on them, something which could and would bite them in the bottom as the game came to it's conclusion. Firstly David O'Connor equalised from a corner in the 82nd minute, before 3 minutes later, the ball fell to Sean Maguire in a crowded penalty area and he managed to slot home from 8 yards to get us a victory we hardly deserved. 3 points all the same and we went away happy with the points, but knowing that we couldn't switch off as we went to the last game of the season.

For our last game we traveled to rivals St Pat's Athletic hoping to end the season on a high, and the players didn't let me down. We took the lead 5 minutes before half-time as Carl Finnigan found the net and the score at half-time was 1-0. St Pat's Athletic came out after half-time much brighter and grabbed a deserved goal on 57 minutes. As the game was drawing to a close, there was only one man who could have the final say on what had been an incredible season for him and also for us, as Sean Maguire scored an 88th minute winner, giving us all three points on the last day of the season, taking his tally in the league to 24, and his overall tally for the season to 32 in 44 appearances!



The final league table looked like this, and we had finished the season strongly to secure second place in the league, finishing ten points behind Shamrock Rovers, but five points ahead of third placed Dundalk. I was then awarded the Manager of the Month award for October, for going the month unbeaten, and due to our strong finish to the season.



It had also been a fantastic month for David O'Connor who was awarded the Player of the Month award for some fantastic displays at the heart of defense, no doubt part of the reason behind our unbeaten month.



Sean Maguire was awarded the Golden Boot for the league, after scoring 24 goals in a fantastic season for him, and was also included in the team of the year alongside another player who had been fantastic for us in John Sullivan.





Overall it had been a very pleasing season for us, having defended our Munster Senior Cup and also winning the Irish League Cup. We had also advanced up the league from last season, and secured our ambition at the beginning of the season, of European Football. With a bit of luck and some good signings we would be able to push on next year, and look at challenging for the title, as well as securing the only other trophy needed in Ireland (barring the Division One title), which was the Senior Challenge Cup!

As the players left on holiday for the winter, the usual securing contracts of key players, with Sean Maguire tied down to a new 3 year contract, as well as beginning to scout out new players for the team began, with hopes and expectations high of what to expect as we approached the new season.

So five years into the challenge, and this is what my total stats look like.



With Cork City having been my longest position, I had played 93 games as manager, winning 54 of them, drawing 22 and losing 17, which I am pretty happy with, for an overall win percentage of 58%.

Overall, I had managed 257 games, winning 144, drawing 61 and losing 52, for an overall win percentage of 56%. So my current job had been my most successful in terms of percentage games won.



My reputation had also been rising, with it now at national standing. My financial control was also looking good, along with my domestic player bias (which should be where it is considering what the rules of the challenge are!).

Overall a good first 257 games in management, and I have managed to win 6 trophies so far, but with a long way to go hopefully it won't be too long before I start flying through them!

So we moved into the new season with high hopes and expectations of being able to challenge for the league this season. Firstly we had to bring some new bodies in and we looked to the transfer market to see what we could do.



Sean Duffy was brought in to provide competition and cover for the AML position, and he is one for the future as he will improve massively over the next season with some game time.



Roy O'Hara was also brought in to provide cover for the defense, and again with his age only being 20, is another one who has the potential to improve over the season with game time, and look at establishing himself as first choice left-back possibly next season.



James McKeown was also brought in as cover for Paul White, and he will more than likely be involved in the cup games this season. Greg McDermott, who was our previous keeper was moved out on loan for the season up until his contract ends due to him not being good enough for the team.



Slightly worryingly, Shamrock Rovers came in with a €200k bid for Sean Maguire during the close season, which the board accepted on my behalf as they felt it was too much money to turn down. This left me sweating a little bit, but fortunately he turned them down, stating that he was enjoying playing for me too much!

This left our squad looking like this:



Although the attacking midfield positions look weaker than the rest of the side, the players in those positions are still young and are improving all the time, and it won't be long before they are similar in ability to the rest of the team. Paul White is continuing to improve, and it won't be long before he is one of the top goalkeepers in the league.

Onto the financial side of things, and the finances are very secure at the moment.



With €128k sitting in the bank, we are projected to make a €90k profit this coming season, and that is before money for the Europa League. Should we be fortunate enough to get through to the group stages then that will help our bank balance a huge amount, although it is massively dependent on the draw of course! Although we are slightly overspending on wages by €381, it shouldn't have an impact on the financial stability of the club.

Onto the preseason matches, and we were only able to play two friendlies due to our involvement in the All Ireland Cup, which is also known as the Setanta Cup.



An opening draw against SD Galway was not a particularly bad result as the players had just got back from holiday, and SD Galway had finished second in Division One last season.

We then moved onto the All Ireland Cup first round, which was a two-legged game against Crusaders, a Northern-Irish side. We were away for the first leg, and a fantastic performance by the players saw us race into a 3-0 lead by half-time, goals coming from Kalen Spillane, Ian Sweeney and Sean Maguire. A penalty in the second-half, which was converted by Gerry Byrne saw us take a 4-0 lead back home to Turner's Cross, and the tie was as good as over.

In the second leg, we got the first goal of the game to make it almost certain that we were to advance to the quarter-finals, however Crusaders were not going to go down that easily, and managed to grab 2 goals back in the second-half, but there was too much to do, and although we lost the game 2-1, we had won the tie 5-2 on aggregate. We were rewarded with a tie against Waterford Utd in the quarter final, hopefully a game we should win and move onto the semi-finals!

Our final preseason game was against our affiliate club Castlebar. A professional performance saw us run out comfortable 3-0 winners, as we rested a few key players, and gave some of the younger players an opportunity.

As we move forward to the start of the season the ambition for this season is to challenge for the title as well as try and tie up some of the other cups that we have left to win in Ireland. With a squad that was beginning to come together, we were declared joint second favourites for the title at 5/1, and hopefully we would be able to live up to the preseason odds, and maybe even beat them!

Looks like a solid pre-season.

The season was finally underway, and hopefully with a good start this would be the season that we would be able to challenge Shamrock Rovers for the title! It was a busy opening month for us as we faced five league games, as well as an All-Ireland Cup tie.



Our season kicked off as we faced Sligo Rovers at home. A fantastic start saw us take the lead after 8 minutes as Sean Maguire kicked off the season. We weren't in the lead for long however, as Sligo pulled one back 10 minutes later following a defensive lapse, but we were soon ahead again as Danny Murphy scored an absolute belter of a free-kick to restore the lead. In the second-half, the game continued much the same as the first with both sides having chances, however we were able to take ours as Sligo struggled, Sean Maguire getting his second of the game in the 64th minute to give us a 3-1 lead which is how the game finished.

A week later we traveled to Shelbourne, and it was another entertaining game. We fell behind after 2 minutes as our defence seemed to be still mentally back in the changing room, but they quickly improved. Sean Maguire pulled us level right on the stroke of half-time as the sides went in level at the break. In the second-half, we were by far the better team, creating chance after chance but failing to convert them until new signing Roy O'Hara on his competitive debut for the club converted a corner at the near post. With time running out, Shelbourne continued to press to find an equaliser but left themselves exposed at the back, which Sean Maguire used to his advantage to score his second goal of the game, and fourth in two games deep into injury time, settling the game.

Our next challenge was the quarter-final of the b]All-Ireland/Setanta Cup[/b] against Waterford Utd over two legs. The first leg was back at Turner's Cross, and a good start saw Kalen Spillane convert a chance from a corner to give us a 1-0 lead. Waterford were able to peg us back right on the stroke of half-time however, the defence switching off at a critical moment. We came back out in the second-half, and continued to press for a second goal, which looked like it would come when we were awarded a penalty in the 84th minute, but a dreadful kick from Gerry Byrne was easily saved by the keeper and it would end 1-1.

Back to the league, and U.C.D. made the trip to Cork, and were sent home without any points following a very good display, where we were excellent in limiting them to the number of chances they had and converted ours with Ian Sweeney getting his first of the season in the first-half, before Sean Maguire continued his fantastic start to the season grabbing a second early in the second-half. With one eye on the must win second leg of our game against Waterford, some substitutions were made and the game did die out a little bit, but we had done enough and it ended 2-0.

So our second leg against Waterford, and it was a game that we needed to win, being behind on the away goals rule, it was vitally important that we remained strong at the back, whilst also threatening going forward. It was soon clear that Waterford were going to sit back and do their utmost to defend their lead, which for much of the game looked as though it was going to work, until Gerry Byrne, making up for his penalty miss in the first leg, drilled home from the edge of the area with 20 minutes left to play. We won the game 1-0 and the tie 2-1, which we were rewarded for by being drawn against Northern Irish side Linfield in the semi-final.

An away game against Dundalk in the league was decided by a singular goal, as both sides focused on the importance of defence in this game, Christian Peters scoring with a free-kick 4 minutes before the end of the game, and continued our winning start to the season.

We moved on to our final league game of the month, and we were to play Waterford again! Having played them twice already this month, we were full of confidence as we went through our preparations, but unfortunately Sean Maguire suffered an injury in training which would rule him out of the game. Fortunately it was only minor, and he should hopefully be back in time for our next game, but we did our best to get by without him, and Ian Sweeney stepped upto the plate, with two first half goals coming within 17 minutes of eachother to give us a deserved 2-0 lead after a fine first-half display. Waterford managed to grab one back with 10 minutes remaining, making it slightly nervy for us, but we held on to record our fifth straight victory in the league so far!



At the end of the month we were sat in 2nd place, one point behind Shamrock Rovers, although they had played an extra game. It couldn't have been a better start to the season as we progressed through the All-Ireland/Setanta Cup as well and gave us a good opportunity to kick on and really start to make this a season to remember. I was also awarded a consecutive Manager of the Month award, following on from the one I was awarded at the end of last season.




As we move onto an important April, it is important that we continue our good run of form to ensure that we can overcome Linfield as well as start trying to open up a gap in the table for when a poor run of form will inevitably come.

A big month for us saw us face eight games in all, as we began our Irish League Cup campaign, our defence of the Munster Senior Cup as well as facing Linfield over two ties in the All-Ireland/Setanta Cup alongside our normal league games!



A poor start to the month as we traveled to meet Drogheda Utd in the Irish League Cup. A pretty uneventful game with the only point to note being that of their goal, coming in the 52nd minute. It was a disappointing way to end our cup run, but one that isn't important for us and does allow us to focus our attention elsewhere.

Our next game we returned to Turner's Cross as we welcomed Ballynanty Rovers in our Munster Senior Cup first round game. This game allowed me to rest some of the senior players, and give an opportunity to some of the younger players in the squad. They did me proud, with Thomas McKee grabbing a first-half brace within 20 minutes of the game. Ballynanty Rovers grabbed one back late on, but the side showed incredible maturity and held on for the victory.

As we moved towards the middle of the month, the vital games for us began, starting with our trip to Linfield for the first leg of the semi-final of the All-Ireland/Setanta Cup. It was always going to be a tough fixture for us and one that we would need to perform very well in to be able to have any chance of taking something back to Cork. The game didn't get off to the best of starts as we fell behind within 20 minutes of kick-off, and at half-time the score was 1-0. Sean Maguire seized upon a mistake to equalise for us though on the hour mark and looked to have grabbed an important away goal. Six minutes later though, Linfield were ahead again and it looked as though we would be condemned to defeat in the first leg until Kalen Spillane, who had been phenomenal all game, grabbed an important equaliser with only a couple of minutes left of the game! The final score was 2-2, but of course it was only half-time in the leg, with the second game to be played back at Turner's Cross.

Inbetween the two legs against Linfield, we had a game against St Pat's Athletic to deal with. After a pretty dull first-half it looked as though this was going to be headed to a 0-0 draw, as neither side had created very many chances at all. A mistake by keeper Paul White allowed St Pat's Athletic to take the lead in the 52nd minute, and it appeared as though we would be heading for our first league defeat of the season as we had nothing to respond with until Sean Maguire rescued a point for us with 4 minutes remaining and the scores ended up tied at 1-1.

Onto the second leg of our tie against Linfield, and we knew that we only needed a low scoring draw to advance, however we really wanted to win the game. Either way, it was important that we got the first goal and John Sullivan was the man to do that for us drilling home in the 7th minute to give us the lead. Linfield got an equalising goal with 20 minutes remaining, but 1-1 would not be good enough for them and they continued to press. Another heroic effort in defence prevented them from grabbing that all important second goal and the game ended 1-1. We had made it through to the final! Over both legs Linfield had been by far the better side, creating many more chances, but through a mixture of good fortune and some brilliant defending we had been able to claim quite possibly the biggest scalp we have yet!

Following the highs of reaching the final, we then faced Shamrock Rovers in the league, who we would also be facing as our opponents in the All-Ireland/Setanta Cup. A brilliant start saw Christian Peters waltz through the midfield and defence and place a low shot past the keeper to open the scoring in the third minute. As the game continued it became very clear that it was a bit of an off day for Shamrock Rovers as they were struggling to create hardly anything, as well as some extremely poor finishing. We took full advantage, and a mistake allowed Gerry Byrne in to score a second in the 70th minute and ensure that we would be travelling back to Cork with all three points as the game ended 2-0.

Another game in the Munster Senior Cup gave the youngsters another chance to show me what they had, and again they didn't disappoint as a first-half goal from Jenkins Moloney saw us take a 1-0 lead into half-time. After the break as some of the younger players tired, some more experienced players were put on just to ensure the result, and it was one of those who got the second goal, as Christian Peters scored in the 79th minute to secure the result. A 2-0 victory that was extremely pleasing and the youngsters all played very well.

Our final game of the month was against Derry City who had appeared to become our bogey team since I had taken over at Cork City, and it was nearly no different today. In a poor game of very few chances, Gerry Byrne scored the only goal of the game in the 42nd minute to give us a 1-0 victory. A good result, but not the performance to go along with it unfortunately.



At the end of the month we still occupied 2nd place, sitting 3 points behind Shamrock Rovers. Some poor results for them this month though had seen them drop some points, and we had 3 games in hand over them, which would be vital we took maximum points from if we were to take advantage of the situation. Good progress in the Munster Senior Cup was also a highlight of the month, but the undoubted highlight was the victory over two legs of Linfield to progress to the final where hopefully we could add that trophy to the cabinet for only the second time in Cork City's short history, as well as tick it off of our list! As we move on into May, the league form is important for us to continue keeping pressure on Shamrock Rovers as well as taking the opportunity to open up a small gap at the top if we can.

So close last season, hopefully this is the year for you!

Was still a 10 point gap at the end of the season, but so far its looking good! Picking up some good points and some good wins, hopefully we can keep it up! Finances have take a huge boost as well with the progress in the Setanta Cup as well as possibility of playing Europa League football!

We moved onto May and faced eight games in total.



We began the month we a home game against Fermoy in the quarter-final of the Munster Senior Cup. Another opportunity to play the younger players within the squad, and again they continued to impress with a very good 2-0 win Aled Kearney grabbing his first goal for the club in the 19th minute and Rory Rossiter secured the win in the 88th minute following a tidy finish, advancing through to the semi-finals where we were drawn against U.C.C.

Our second game of the month we welcomed Drogheda Utd to Turner's Cross. A good finish by John Sullivan in the 34th minute gave us the lead and the scores were 1-0 at half-time. A horrendous mistake by Paul White in the 60th minute gifted them an equaliser. We continued to press forward for a winner but were ultimately unable to find one and the game ended as a draw.

An away game against U.C.D. was up next and a pretty dull game only livened up in the final 10 minutes as they took the lead in the 86th minute. An instant reply from Liam Breen came and a 1-1 draw was the result.

Another away game was up next against Mervue Utd and another game which appeared like it was going to peter out in a dull 0-0 draw, until deep into injury time a foul in the box gave us a penalty which Christian Peters converted. It gave us our first victory in the league this month, which was long overdue.

Up next was the all important All-Ireland/Setanta Cup where we would be facing Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva Stadium. A record breaking 38,576 fans turned up to watch the game, which was actually for the most part a rather dull affair as both sides were concentrating more on defence in the fear of falling behind. As the game was approaching its close, a brilliant quick passing play by us saw Ian Sweeney arrive in the box with the ball at his feet, and he made no mistake scoring what turned out to be the only goal of the game with just over 10 minutes left to play. The defence held on and we won! It was another fantastic defensive performance, and also marked our second consecutive win over Shamrock Rovers. Another trophy was able to be ticked off the list as we moved on, with only 3 now remaining in Ireland!



Back to the league, and a home game against Longford, which following the number of draws and points we had dropped so far this month had become something of a must win game. It couldn't have started much worse for us however, as Longford took the lead following a freekick in the 7th minute, leaving us with it all to do. John Sullivan equalised for us before half-time, scoring the goal of the month.



As we continued in the second-half we were unable to create any clear cut chances, and our hopes took a sever dent when Sean Maguire had to come off injured, an injury that would later rule him out for 6-7 weeks. With our main striker off the pitch injured, the team just looked slightly deflated and the second-half closed with neither side having been able to add to their tally, ending in a 1-1 draw.

Onto another one of the cup competitions that we faced, and we had been drawn against Mervue Utd in the Senior Challenge Cup. With Sean Maguire missing, the team lacked that clinical finishing that he provided and it was no surprise that the game ended in a 0-0 draw meaning a replay would be needed to decide the winner. We returned to Turner's Cross for the replay 5 days later, and we faced very much the same problem. Mervue very rarely threatened our goal, but we were lacking that clinical finish and the game went into extra time. As penalties were beginning to look like the most likely outcome of the tie, Christian Peters broke the deadlock with only a minute remaining to the relief of the crowd, and more importantly the manager as we advanced through to the next round.



At the end of the month we were still sitting in second place, four points behind the leaders Shamrock Rovers, and with two games in hand. We had failed to capitalise on our opportunity to overtake them at the top of the table this month due to the number of draws we had recorded, however with an opportunity to still open up a small gap at the top of the table spurring us on, hopefully we would move on after the short mid-season break to start recording some long overdue wins.

Well done on another cup mate, your flying through this challenge so far!

Congrats on another cup win mate! KUTGW

Thanks for the comments and support guys! Got big hopes for this season, hopefully we can make it a memorable one!

So we moved onto June, which was a relatively quiet month for us following our exit from the Irish League Cup, but we still faced two important games in the league to keep up with Shamrock Rovers and give us the opportunity to overtake them.



Our month began with a game against Sligo Rovers, and it was much the same as the games at the end of the last month. Although we looked strong defensively, we lacked a clinical finisher and the game ended goalless for our fourth draw in five league games.

A friendly game against Douglas Hall was up next, and with a need for morale and some self belief to be restored, a strong side lined up. As expected, the players controlled the game from the beginning and were 2-0 up by half-time, with David O'Leary scoring in the 16th minute, before Ian Sweeney doubled the advantage ten minutes before the break. David O'Leary grabbed his second soon after the restart, and with the game won and hopefully with some positive impacts on morale, some substitutions were made with one eye on the important upcoming game against Dundalk. The game finished 3-0 following a good display, and hopefully we would be able to carry it through to our next game.

Up next was a home game in the league against Dundalk. With a slight gap beginning to open up between us and Shamrock Rovers at the top of the league, it was imperative that it was a game that we won. With a first-half without many incidents of note, the only goal in the game came midway through the second half as Graham Davitt diverted the ball into his own net to give us only our second much needed victory in six league games. As an added bonus, Shamrock had lost 2-1 against Sligo Rovers meaning that the gap was only three points.

Our final game of the month was the Munster Senior Cup semi-final, and another opportunity for the younger players to show me what they could do. A great first-half performance saw us leading 3-0 at the break following goals from Rory Rossiter, a first Cork City goal for Brian Russo and an own goal from Bobby Logan. They pulled one back in the second half, but Sean Duffy grabbed a fourth in the 68th minute to put the game beyond doubt and we advanced through to the final.



So with only two games played in the month, the league table hadn't changed a great deal, but we had closed the gap on Shamrock Rovers by a point, so the gap was now only three points. We still had two games in hand, and as an added bonus Sean Maguire returned from his injury during the mid-season break, returning the squad to almost full strength. As we move onto the second half of the season we have the Europa League qualifiers to look forward to, as well as our run in the Senior Challenge Cup alongside our continued progress in the league. Would we be able to make it a memorable season and complete a treble?

Brilliant month! game in hand and only just off the pace keep it going!

So July came, and we faced five games during the month, although we had no league games as we concentrated solely on the Europa League qualifications and also faced the Munster Senior Cup final.



So we were to face Quarabag Agdam a club side from Azerbaijan in the first qualifying round of the Europa League and a brilliant performance away from home saw us take a 2-1 lead back to Turner's Cross. We had fallen behind early on in the first leg, but we were back level on 13 minutes as Sean Maguire on his return from injury grabbed a goal for us. As the game continued it looked as though the scores would only be 1-1 as we returned, which was a perfectly respectable scoreline, but Ian Sweeney had other ideas, grabbing a winner in the 81st minute.

The return leg was a week later, and with Quarabag Agdam needing to win 2-0 or win by one goal scoring a minimum of 3 we felt confident we could progress. Things couldn't have started better for us as Gerry Byrne put us into the lead after 2 minutes. We were pegged back in the 13th minute, but David O'Leary restored our lead 4 minutes later. In the second-half, Thomas McGee scored an absolute belter from 25 yards in the 73rd minute and it was followed by David O'Connor scoring his first of the season in the 81st minute to further extend our lead. Quarabag Agdam did manage to grab a very late consolation goal in the 87th minute but we ran out as comfortable winners, 4-2 on the day, as 6-3 in the tie.

We were rewarded for winning our first round qualifier with a two legged tie against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, an Israeli side. The first leg was played at Turner's Cross, and after a good defensive showing, the scores remained tied at 0-0, with it all to play for in the second leg when we traveled to Israel a week later.

In the second leg, both sides had chances in the first-half, but neither was able to take them. We were given a boost to our chances early on in the second half when Maccabi Tel-Aviv had a player sent off in the 56th minute, but during normal time we couldn't make our numerical advantage count. The tie went into extra-time and with the opponents tiring and our extra man on the pitch, we took the lead in the 96th minute, as Thomas McGee found the back of the net. Five minutes later, we were 2-0 up as Christian Peters nodded past the home keeper from a free-kick and sent us through to the third qualifying round where we would face LOSC Lille. A tough draw and one we are very unlikely to progress through from, but one that we will approach in the same way as the others and just hope for the best!

Our final game of the month was the Munster Senior Cup final against Waterford Utd. Having played the younger players all the way through the competition, and with it being them who had earned the place in the final, it was only fair that we continued playing them alongside some more senior members of the team. Waterford had a goal dubiously disallowed midway through the first-half, but the scores were tied at the break. As we went into the second-half, the players picked up their game another level, and went ahead just after an hour as Martin Malone nodded in from close range on a corner to put us 1-0 up. With some of the players beginning to tire, a couple of senior players were brought on to provide some experience and to ensure that they would see the game out, and Sean Maguire settled the game, extending our lead in the 83rd minute to put the game beyond doubt and ensure that we would win the cup for the third successive season!





Although we had played no league games this month, the league had carried on regardless. Despite this, we were still sitting in second place on 32 points, seven points behind the leaders Shamrock Rovers, although now we had four games in hand! If we were able to go on and win those games, we would surely be in pole position to win the league this season!

As we move onto what is undoubtedly going to be an extremely busy last 3 months of the season, would we be able to grasp our opportunity to make this possibly the best season that Cork City had ever experienced?!

Doing brilliant, keep it up and you might lift an other trophy.

Hopefully if we continue in this way we can lift the title and the Senior Challenge Cup which are the only two other ones I need whilst at this team before I will have to drop down to the first division.

Brilliant mate. Come on and win those games in hand to leapfrog Shamrock !

August was a very busy month for us as we incredibly faced ten games as we tried to catch up with the rest of the league on the number of games played!



We began the month by welcoming LOSC Lille to Turner's Cross in our Europa League qualification game, and the difference in class between the two sides was obvious very early on as they went ahead in the 7th minute. A thundering Danny Murphy free-kick saw us draw level just before the half-hour mark. Midway through the second-half we incredibly took the lead as Thomas McGee tucked home a neat finish in the 64th minute. We were unable to hold onto it though as Lille equalised in the 75th minute, before scoring again in the 84th minute to give them a first leg 3-2 victory. Although we had lost the game, the players had been incredible and we had a real chance of securing an upset if we could replicate that performance away from home.

Two days later and we were facing our first league game of the month against title rivals Shamrock Rovers. The first-half was a good one for us and we were very unfortunate to fall behind in the 39th minute. As we came out for the second-half, the players responded well, and a mistake by their right back Joey O'Brian saw us equalise. Nine minutes later we were ahead as Brian Russo finished when the ball fell to him in the box. With fatigue beginning to become a factor after our second game in three days, we couldn't keep hold of the lead and Shamrock equalised six minutes later to make it 2-2 which is how it finished.

Again we only had a days rest before we faced our next game against St Pat's Athletic. The game's only goal came from Ian Sweeney just after the hour mark as we recorded our first win of the month, and closed the gap to Shamrock Rovers at the top of the table.

Our fourth game in the space of a week was next, and it was our second leg game against LOSC Lille. We traveled to France with some quiet optimism, but it was quickly taken away from us as they raced into a 2-0 lead within the first 12 minutes. They further extended their lead in the 23rd minute, and at half-time the score was 3-0. In the second-half, we began well, and a Gerry Byrne penalty gave us a glimmer of hope in the 56th minute, which was quickly taken away from us when they extended their lead again three minutes later. Thomas McGee then closed the gap again in the 70th minute, but two more goals for Lille secured them a 6-2 victory on the night, and a 9-4 aggregate victory. Despite the heavy defeat, it was a tie that we were clearly going to lose in, but the players had performed admirably when coming up against opponents such as Marvin Martin, Mathieu Debuchy, Lamine Kone and Omer Damari to name just four of the international players in their side. Despite the loss, the run in the Europa League had done absolute wonders for our finance, as we now sat with a balance of nearly €1M, and our overall profit had pushed to over €1M for the season!



Back to the league, and a home game against Sligo Rovers came three days after our antics in France and the team responded well, with Thomas McGee scoring the only goal of the game with little over ten minutes of the game remaining, following a very strong defensive performance.

We then faced a welcome six day break before our next game against U.C.D. at Turner's Cross, and it was another game which the defence performed admirably, and was decided by a single Sean Maguire goal right on the stroke of half-time.

Again, only another two day gap before we faced Shelbourne at home, and with fatigue becoming a major issue, we were only able to secure a 0-0 draw against them as we really were beginning to struggle with fixture congestion.

Up next was the Senior Challenge Cup third round game against Kildrum Tigers and the players ran rampant, putting four past them, with a brace coming for Sean Duffy as well as goals for Christian Peters and a penalty from Gerry Byrne. We were rewarded for our win with a tie against St Pat's Athletic in the quarter-final.

Our second league game in a row against Shelbourne was up next, and with some of the senior team having been rested against Kildrum in the cup, I was hoping for a much better performance than they had before. The players did deliver the victory, coming through a James Kavenagh goal in the 25th minute, however the overall performance was still not brilliant as we desperately needed a bit of a break to recharge the batteries! A win is a win though and we continued to close the gap on Shamrock Rovers

Our final game of an incredibly busy month was against Dundalk, which also brought up my 300th game in management.



Again, another game where perhaps fatigue had a big impact on the way we played saw us play out our second 0-0 draw of the month in another game that on another day we perhaps would have won.



So at the end of the month, we hadn't been able to perhaps capitalise completely on the games in hand we had over Shamrock Rovers, but we had managed to pull level with them on points in the table, and we still had one more game to play than them. Hoping for a slightly quieter August, we needed to push on and start winning as many games as possible to heap the pressure on them.

That game in hand is vital you win now! Keep it going mate!

With the goal differance clearly not favoring you, you need to get something from that game in hand. Its up for grabs, dont let it slip.

We faced seven games during September as we attempted to start to gain a stranglehold on the league.



We began the month with a game at home against Waterford Utd, and a great start saw us take the lead within 3 minutes as Brian Russo powered home. A quickfire double from Sean Maguire saw us extend our lead to 3-0 by half-time. Waterford managed to get one back early on in the second half, but our three goal advantage was restored by Thomas McGee as he netted in injury time to give us a 4-1 victory.

Up next was the Senior Challenge Cup quarter-final game against St Pat's Athletic. In a tight game that was only decided by a single goal, David O'Connor managed to find the net with a great volley from a corner, and saw us advance through to the semi-finals where we would meet Shamrock Rovers.

A home game against Drogheda Utd in the league was next, and a single Sean Maguire goal on the stroke of half-time was enough to settle the game as we ran out 1-0 winners.

Two days later we traveled to Waterford Utd as we faced them for the second time this month in the league. In a slightly different game to the one a few games previously, this time it was only decided by a single goal as Sean Maguire found the net in the 37th minute.

We then welcomed St Pat's Athletic to Turner's Cross, as we played them for the second time this month. For the third game in a row, it was decided by the slimmest of margins, with Thomas McGee getting the crucial goal to see us win the game 1-0.

A home game against Mervue Utd was up next, and in a poor performance we came away with a point, having failed to get a single shot on target throughout the whole game, but we had also restricted Mervue Utd to only 3 shots in total during the entire game.

We ended the month with a game against Derry City and we finished the month how we had started it, with a comprehensive victory. We were 2-0 up within 20 minutes as Sean Maguire managed to score twice and at half-time the scores remained 2-0. In the second-half, we ran rampant, with Sean Duffy scoring twice, and also Gerry Byrne bagging himself a goal to give us a very comprehensive 5-0 victory to end the month.



At the end of the month, we had been able to leapfrog Shamrock Rovers into first place, and with a four point lead at the top of the table, the title was ours to lose with six games remaining. I had also been awarded the Manager of the Month award for seeing us go unbeaten in the league that month and reclaim the top spot.



The month could have been very different however, and we had been fortunate with some of our 1-0 victories, but we wouldn't be able to win the title without a little bit of luck would we!

Nice run last month, title is there for taking for sure!

Fantastic month mate, the defence is looking rock solid! Keep it up!

awesome month buddy. The title is yours to lose now so don't let it slip away!

Thanks for the comments guys, sorry it has been a few days but have had a busy weekend with no opportunity to play!

So the final month of the season was upon us, and with eight games to be played between now and the end of the season, we needed fifteen points to guarantee that we would win the title.



We began the month with a key game away from home against Shamrock Rovers, which would give us the opportunity to open up a seven point gap at the top of the table. It was a tight game which was decided by a singular Sean Maguire penalty just before half-time. Although Shamrock Rovers pressed for an equaliser, we were able to hold on to an important victory.

Four days later and we would play Shamrock Rovers again in the semi-final of the Senior Challenge Cup. In a different game to the one only a few days earlier, it was one filled with plenty of goals. Shamrock Rovers took the lead in the 32nd minute, but a quickfire double salvo in two minutes from Christian Peters and Gerry Byrne gave us the lead at half-time. Shamrock Rovers equalised in the 53rd minute and despite both teams having opportunities to get a winner, neither side could get the ball in the back of the net and the game ended 2-2.

Our first game of two during the month against Longford ended with a brilliant 3-0 victory, with Johnny Dunleavey getting his first of the season early on in the 10th minute, before Kalen Spillane and Danny Murphy extended our lead in the second-half.

A game against Drogheda Utd was up next, and in a display that didn't do us justice following our previous performances saw us scrape a 1-0 win with John Sullivan grabbing a very late goal with only one minute of normal time left. The victory against Drogheda also was significant as it ensured that the Irish Premier League title would be ours as we extended our lead over Shamrock Rovers to an unassailable lead!



With the Premier Division title already won, we moved forward to our next game, and our second game against Longford which saw us run out as 3-0 winners once again, this time with John Sullivan grabbing two goals in the first half, before an own-goal from Jason Noctor with nine minutes remaining saw us get our third.

Our penultimate game of the season was against Derry City and we won our second game in a row by a 3-0 scoreline following a brilliant hat-trick from Sean Maguire, with goals coming in both halves, but only after Paul White had saved a penalty in the 21st minute.

A replay against Shamrock Rovers was up next following our 2-2 draw in the Senior Challenge Cup semi-final. Another close game between us and Shamrock saw the game finish goal-less after 90 minutes and it headed into extra-time. Six minutes into the extra period and Thomas McGee grabbed us that all important goal. We were able to hold on and advanced into the final!

Our final game of the month and of the league season was against Mervue Utd and with the players perhaps a little bit switched off, or focusing more on the important cup final that would be coming up the following week, a pretty dull game was played which finished 0-0.



The league table at the end of the season looked like this, and we had finished in first, a massive ten points clear of Shamrock Rovers in second place. Not only had we won the league, but we had also gone the entire league season undefeated, which was in no small part down to goalkeeper Paul White who was named as Goalkeeper of the year after keeping 22 clean sheets!



He was also named in the Irish Premier League team of the year, and was the only Cork City player named in the side.



I was also rewarded for our run of form by being awarded both the Manager of the Month award for October, as well as being awarded the Manager of the Year award.





So with only one game remaining of our season, and it was the Senior Challenge Cup final, which could also be my last game at Cork City. We were to face Longford at the Aviva Stadium, and in a fairly even game we were able to finish our chances whilst Longford were not, with Sean Maguire grabbing a brace.



So with victory in the final, we lifted our third trophy of the season, and also had grabbed all the trophies possible in the Irish top-flight, and to continue I would have to drop down a division to get the last remaining trophy in Ireland.



So with no more trophies to win, there was only one thing left to do, and that was to resign my position at the club and move forward to try and find another club where we could continue our challenge. On leaving the club though, I had left them in a very strong position financially as they now had over €1M in the bank after making a profit of €1.22M profit this season!



It was a sad farewell to Cork City after having spent three seasons there, and enjoying some fantastic success with them, but it was time to move on and search for another club to take forward and win the other trophies needed to complete this challenge. Stay tuned to find out where I will be heading!

I didn't have to wait long for a new job to come up, and I am pleased to announce that I am now the new manager of Bray Wanderers.



A short history of Bray Wanderers for you:

Founded in 1942, Bray Wanderers are a semi-professional Irish club currently playing in the Irish First Division. The club plays their home games at The Carlisle Grounds and possess adequate training facilities and very basic youth facilities. The club also has basic youth coaching and a basic youth recruitment network. The club is affectionately known as The Seagulls.

The club enjoyed probably their best spell of success during the 1990's. Although now enduring an eighteen year barren spell, having not won a competition since 2000, The Seagulls still have a history of which they can be justly proud. Bray Wanderers won the Irish second tier in 1986, 1996 and 2000 and were runners-up three times, won the Senior Challenge Cup in 1990 and 1999, won the First Division Shield in 1996, and won the Intermediate Cup in 1956 and 1958.

The Squad looks like it could be a good one that seems capable of scoring plenty of goals, but with some work needed to the defence in particular. Hopefully when the transfer window opens I will be able to get some players in who will help strengthen and make us more of a resilient team at the back after we let in 34 goals in 28 games last season, as well as add a bit of squad depth.



The finances of the club look good, with €116k in the bank, and with €540 per week in wages still available before taking into account some outgoings, along with €15.22k remaining in the transfer budget it does give us some room to manoeuvre in the transfer market.



As we move onto our fourth season in Ireland, would we be able to finish off the country and tick off the last remaining trophy at the first time of asking as we approached the new season?

Good luck at Bray Wanderers.