First Division: Cork edge Waterford to close in on title

Cork City are two wins away from the First Division title after an injury-time penalty from Ruairi Keating saw off Waterford at the RSC on Friday evening.

The winning goal cancelled out Raul Uche's 90th-minute equaliser, which looked to have snatched a point for the Blues.

Colin Healy’s team knew about the bigger picture tonight as they pushed up from the whistle and this played to Phoenix Patterson’s strengths. The forward thrived in the space created and he nearly opened up the Rebel Army with a deep cross but this was scrambled clear.

Josh Honohan and the City backline tightened up on the left side to try and counteract this and this left room in the middle for Junior Quitirna to run through into the box.

Just as he got into the box, Matt Healy got in and won the ball back for his side. His side broke from this and Ruairi Keating got into space on the right flank.

His cross to the far post was tipped away by Paul Martin, and the loose ball was drilled goalward by Cian Bargary. The Waterford shot-stopper got low and covered this easily for his side.

The City striker’s defensive attributes were needed seconds later to knock away a Patterson corner that nearly floated straight in at the near post.

There was a lull in the game after the furious start, a period that ended with David Harrington rushing out to knock a ball out of Wassim Aouachria’s path in the 40th minute. This was the start of a strong spell in possession by the Blues, and this ended with Patterson having a long-range shot blocked by Jonas Hakkinen.

This continued at the start of the second half and Quitirna got into an excellent position inside the City box, but the ball was wrestled from his path just as he went to shoot.

Then City won a corner and a short ball