A hugely disappointing afternoon in Whitegate as Central Rovers left with a 6-2 victory after Corkbeg had won 2-1 on their patch on the opening day of the season.
The city team dominated the first half in what was likely the worst first half performance delivered by the home team in years.
Central got their first from a free kick placed into the top corner after 10 minutes. Corkbeg were soon 2 behind when a simple clearance bounced past 2 beg defenders leaving the Central winger to finish by lobbing over the Corkbeg keeper.
The beg did have sporadic changes with Alan Hogan and Jordan Ryan shooting wide from good positions. Hogan made amends after 25 mins when he finished into the roof of the Central net after their keeper parried a Robin Ward drive.
Instead of this goal spurring a Corkbeg revival, silly and repeated individual errors at the back and an overall lack of energy left Corkbeg conceding 2 more goals before the break. First when their centre forward broke clean through and rounded the keeper and then when they were first to a rebound from a parried shot. In truth they could have had several more before the break in what was an embarrassing spell for the beg.
Corkbeg were much more competitive in the 2nd half with Alan Horgan, Alan Hogan and Robin Ward endeavouring to lead an unlikely revival. When Alan Hogan curled a 25 yarder over the keeper with 25 minutes left there was a moment of hope but an unfortunate ricochet from a tackle led to a Central break and a 5th goal. They got a 6th after a scramble from a corner when the referee awarded a penalty following a coming together between a Central forward and Corkbeg keeper.
A truly sobering afternoon for a beg team that has high aspirations for the season. With no game next weekend it will be a week or 2 of reflection for the players to make sure this result doesn’t derail the season