Cork City FC V Shels Footage

1st Nov 2011

If you haven’t already seen the footage from last Saturday night’s league decider at Tolka Park above in the Joe Duffy then you really should.

A few weeks ago Shelbourne were sitting pretty with a ten point lead at the summit of the Airtricity First Division. By kick-off on Saturday night Shels were guaranteed promotion to the premier division but Cork City had reduced the gap to a single point – reeling in the Dubs like the unflinching crew of a whaling ship undeterred by the turbulent and bloody sea all around them.
 

 

A draw would have been good enough to see the Rebel Army through but an injury time screamer from Graham Cummins will go down, certainly as one of the biggest moments in the club’s history, if not in Cork sporting history too.  

There are plenty of fan videos online showing the crippling strain supporters endured for the last few minutes. One wrong move and Shelbourne could have snatched victory from a finely balanced scoreboard.

‘BLOW YOUR WHISTLE REF!’, were the cries.

Had a quick referendum taken place at the ninety minute mark, a motion to end the game immediately and take the draw and the promotion would have swiftly slammed into law with an overwhelming majority. The old club was built on debt and risk so fans have learned the hard way that there’s a lot to be said for playing safe.

The chance of multiple cardiac arrests and other fatal illnesses in the away stand soared every time Shels regained possession and pushed towards the city goal. Fans who had lived through the dark days of early 2010 when the very existence of the club was up for debate waited with baited breath.

Another Shels attack, another year crossed off your life expectancy.

Then some how an image appeared on City fans’ retinas of Derek O’Brien slipping down the left hand side leaving two puffing Shels defenders in his wake.

And then the magic.
 

Cork City FC: first division league champions 2011

Most fans are reporting something close to an outer body experience from this point on: a blur of emotion, singing, chanting, screaming and roaring. Grown men hugging each other, overcome with tears of joy.

Somewhere in this lucid Rebel dream was the sound of a final whistle and the barely believable reality that eighteen months after TNB and ‘The Troubles’, Cork City FC had regained premier division status under their own steam. What an achievement.
 

Early Christmas pressie?? Click on the image above to buy a 2012 season ticket.

This time there are no mysterious shady investors, hedge funds, snedge funds, IOUs or dubious red money behind City’s glorious win. The club is now owned by its fans, sponsored by Beamish and other local businesses who didn’t give up on CCFC when all looked lost.

Even players like midfielder Greg O’Halloran are sponsored by the Sultans of Ping FC (yes, the band!). How much more local can you get?!

While blurred memories of Graham Cummins’s winning goal can be sharpened by the aforementioned footage from Shels TV, the emotional memories for dedicated fans who have been through the mill over the last two seasons will be crystalised in fans’ memories for decades: the time we won the first division in the dying seconds.

What these fans and players have done with the club is tangible evidence of that true rebel Cork spirit -  the kind of resolve that Terrence McSweeny and Michael Collins wore on their sleeves when times were tough.

This win has really geed Cork people up and the players and staff at CCFC must be commended for the trojan work they put in through out the year. Nice one lads!

ps: Cummins for Ireland!