Cork City's inspirational skipper Declan Daly celebrated his first full game back in action with a vital last-gasp equaliser at the Brandywell yesterday afternoon. The point gained by Cork all but ends Derry City's hopes of retaining their Premier Division Championship crown.
Daly popped up unchallenged in the 88th minute to head an Ollie Cahill corner firmly into the net and that goal keeps Dave Barry's side well in the hunt for the race for the title.
Derry, who had dominated the second half in the gale-force conditions, looked to be on their way to victory before they conceded what appeared to be a needless corner in the latter stages.
Goalkeeper Tony O'Dowd appeared to have a loose ball covered, but in a subsequent mix-up, central defender Paul Curran raced in to prod the ball over the line.
"That's been the story of our season so far," admitted a dejected Felix Healy afterwards. "We seem to have problems defending set-pieces and the same situation applied to matches here against Shelbourne and Dundalk.
"It was a disastrous goal to concede at such a late stage of the match. The corner should not have been conceded and Declan Daly jumped unchallenged to head the ball home."
Healy also admitted that it would now be "extremely difficult" to overcome the 14 points gap which separates his side and league leaders St Patrick's Athletic.
A jubilant Dave Barry described the draw as "a massive result" for his side and he agreed that luck was on the side of Cork City. "When Colin O'Brien blasted the ball over the crossbar with 10 minutes remaining, I thought that was it. We got the corner and basically threw as many players into the box as we could and hoped for a break.
"Thankfully we got that and Declan netted one of his rare goals. It's a massive result for us and with Shelbourne and St Pat's meeting next weekend, we believe we have a good chance of eating into their lead," he added.
With the wind the dominating factor, clear-cut scoring chances were few and far between and it was Derry who enjoyed the majority of those which were created.
Peter Hutton and Ryan Coyle failed to find the target when well positioned in the second half, but the efforts of the home side were eventually rewarded in the 70th minute.
A good move down the right saw Sean Hargan float over a cross to the back post and James Keddy rose unmarked to head the ball home off the underside of the Cork crossbar.
A Derry victory looked on the cards, but that was before Daly made his presence felt with a vitally important 88th-minute equaliser to keep Cork in third spot, five points behind the leaders.
Derry City: O'Dowd; Doherty, Dykes, Curran, Gallagher; Mohan, Hegarty, Hutton, Keddy; L Coyle, Hargan. Subs: R Coyle for Mohan (27 mins), Morrison for Gallagher (78 mins). Cork City: Mooney; Napier, Daly, Cronin, Barry-Murphy; O'Brien, Flanagan, Freyne, Cahill; Kabia, Hartigan. Subs: Cotter for Hartigan (76 mins).
Referee: Mr G Perry (Dublin).
Two former Glenavon heroes, Alan Campbell and Scot Ally Mauchlen, have emerged as the front-runners for the position of manager of their former club.
Mauchlen, the favourite for a job vacancy created by the sacking of Nigel Best, was a Glenavon player two years ago and Campbell, currently leading first division club Ballyclare Comrades, had a spell as manager in the late seventies.
Cliftonville regained the lead of the Irish League after a tremendous 2-0 win over Portadown at Shamrock Park, a victory masterminded by winger Tim McCann, one of their goal-scorers.
