Shels Away, 1st October !

It was a very disappointing night for CCFC last night as we lost in a game which more or less seals our place in the first division for next season .
The night got off to the worst possible start after Shels were ahead after David Cassidy got the ball straight from the kickoff from City, Cassidy looped a pass over the Cork defence, and Hughes and Farrell were both clean through on goal. Despite calls for offside which i was convinced it was at the time, the linesman could prove that after the abuse shouted at him afterwards from me  + others   ,  the referee allowed Mark  Hughes to play on and he slotted the ball past Mark Mc Nulty . On such a big game for City in what was a must win, chances  were very limited in the first half     as  on the rare occasion that the ball stayed in the Red half of the pitch for more than a few seconds Shels were capable of dealing with it.  We did however have one clear-cut chance right before half time as Shels Keeper Dean Delany  had to scramble to get the ball after City had 2 shots blocked by defenders right near the Shelboune goal . Half time 1-0 Shels
 
In the 2nd half, things got worse for City as Ian Ryan   scored from a David Cassidy free-kick after Stephen Paisley headed toward goal and Ryan headed the ball again and this time it looped over McNulty and into the goal.  Just as they were in the first half, Shels were dominant in possession and capable of resisting all of Cityt's attacks . Other than a Shane Barrett run into the box in which he was dispossessed,
City didn't really trouble Shels at all for the rest of the match, and it finished 2-0 to the in-form Reds.

Last night's game effectively ended our hopes for a playoff position .  We are 6 points off Shels and Waterford in 4th and even though with 4 games left it is still mathmatically possible, we are relying too much on teams above us slipping up . In the greater scheme of things the best thing for City fans should be that we have a football club that is debt free and sustainable in the hands of the supporters and hopefully the club will continue to grow and  we'll hopefully get City bigger and better as the years progress.
The remainder of this season should only be getting ourselves ready for next season and we'll continue to work on that over the off season   . Hopefully with a pre season behind us and continue to build on what was laid down in February of this year, we'll be in a healthy position to go up automatically next season.

•  An another note, fairplay to ex City manager Alan Mathews   who is now with Shels who came over and applauded the City fans at full time.  Alan you are nice guy and you were brilliant during you time as City manager, which was hilighted by the Setanta Cup win in 2008.
• Greg O'Halloran went off injured last night in what is suspected  to be a broken ankle. We will let you know when we know the extent of the injury and how long he will be out for on the Rebel Army Blog .