Cork City centre forward Pat Morley maintained his magnificent goal scoring streak with two critical goals as Cork climbed back to the top of the premier division by beating Drogheda United at Turners Cross yesterday.
Morley's two goals brought his total to nine in Cork's last nine matches, and his career total to 161. He is just one goal shy of the all-time record of 162 goals in the league of Ireland for a Cork player, a record that stands to Donal Leahy, who was centre forward with Cork Celtic in the 1960s and '70s.
As so often in the past, however, it was Morley's striking partner, John Caulfield, who pointed the way to an important win with Cork's first goal after just 14 minutes. It was Caulfield's third successful strike in his last three matches.
His goal came when he took advantage of a misplaced clearance by Drogheda's McDonald, with Caulfield striking instantly to beat goalkeeper Gareth Byrne.
Such an early return gave Cork the confidence to produce some sparkling football, despite the difficult conditions created by heavy rainfall throughout the day.
Cork were always on a different level to Drogheda and from the time Caulfield breached the defence, the only question to be answered was how many goals Cork would produce. Morley killed off the Drogheda challenge with a strike after 39 minutes, a goal that followed the introduction of Johnny Glynn whose first touch was a headed scoring pass for Morley to score with a header from close range.
Cork's third came after 72 minutes and again Glynn played a role, flicking on a pass over his head to release Morley for a simple goal. Cork's win brought them level on points at the top of the table with Shelbourne; but they are placed first by virtue of a superior goal difference.
Cork City: Mooney, Napier, Daly, Hill, Cronin, Flanagan, L O'Brien, Herrick, Cahill, Morley, Caulfield. Subs: Glynn for Caulfield (33 mins); C O'Brien for Flanagan (78 mins).
Drogheda United: Byrne, Maher, McDonald, Boyle, A Murphy, C Murphy, O'Dowd, Roche, Thornton, O'Keeffe, Butler. Sub: Revins for O'Keeffe (60 mins).
Referee: J Stacey (Athlone).
