TURNER’S CROSS WILL be full to its approximate capacity of 7,000 tonight, but according to Cork City captain Greg Bolger, those supporters will need to be patient with their side as they aim to overturn a deficit.
City will need to come from behind in the home leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier against KRC Genk (7.45pm) after losing 1-0 away to the Belgian outfit seven days ago.
Despite being beaten on the night, the SSE Airtricity League side delivered an excellent performance as they provided Genk with a difficult 90 minutes. In the end, the visitors were unlucky to leave the Luminus Arena without an away goal.
But even though they proved themselves to be more than a match for Genk, Bolger has insisted that home advantage won’t encourage City to throw caution to the wind in search of the goal they need to keep their European campaign alive — as Dundalk did in their 3-0 Champions League win against BATE Borisov on Tuesday night.
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“I think we need to keep it tight,” explained Bolger. “To be fair to Dundalk, looking at Tuesday against BATE, I think they pressed a lot. I don’t know if it’ll be like that with us.
I think we’ll have to sit back, similar to what we did out there, try and keep it at 0-0 for as long as we can and then hopefully in the last 20 [minutes] have a go. There’s kind of nothing to lose then. But we don’t want to concede straight away or in the first half.
“Then we’re chasing the game and could get caught on the counter or something like that. I think we need to stay in the game for as long as possible and then hopefully at the end we can have a go. I think that’s the way we’re going to have to go about it.”
Although they came up short, Bolger believes last week’s performance in Limburg was possibly City’s best this season. That was aided, he admits, by Genk underestimating John Caulfield’s side, in spite of their victory against Swedish Cup holders BK Hacken in the previous round.
Bolger has been playing through an ankle injury for Cork City in recent weeks. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“Yeah, probably. Doing analysis on us, they were probably watching certain games and thinking, ‘We can beat these, we’re better than them’. They might have seen a few weaknesses. But I think it was probably our best game this season, bar Dundalk at home, but that’s a different type of game,” said the Wexford native.
“I think they probably did [underestimate us] a small bit but that’s why I think they’re probably going to up it again. Hacken upped their game a lot when they came over. We didn’t see the ball for a lot of that second half.
“I think it could be similar here but I think they’re more direct than Hacken. Hacken didn’t cross the ball into the box [but] I think Genk do. They’re a more powerful team, more direct.
It’s going to be really tough and we’re going to have to be all at it with full concentration for the 90 minutes.”
Bolger, who’ll lead Cork City out tonight in the absence of injured captain Johnny Dunleavy, has been a revelation on Leeside since joining from St Patrick’s Athletic this season. The 27-year-old midfielder is hoping to be part of another memorable night for the League of Ireland, but he knows it won’t come easily.
“It’s probably one of the biggest games in the club’s history. We’ve prepared well, everyone’s flying fit, we’re looking forward to it, but we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be probably our toughest game as well,” Bolger said.
“I think Genk will step it up from last week and, from our point of view, we’ll need to be at the level we were last week, or better. If we’re not all 8/9 out of 10 I think we’ll be picked off.”
He added: “It’s exciting. It’s a chance to progress. For the club and the fans, especially the club financially, it would be great. Obviously with money and stuff and obviously with players, new contracts, better deals… it’s one we’re really looking forward to.”
Bolger preaches patience ahead of 'one of the biggest games in the club's history'
TURNER’S CROSS WILL be full to its approximate capacity of 7,000 tonight, but according to Cork City captain Greg Bolger, those supporters will need to be patient with their side as they aim to overturn a deficit.
City will need to come from behind in the home leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier against KRC Genk (7.45pm) after losing 1-0 away to the Belgian outfit seven days ago.
Despite being beaten on the night, the SSE Airtricity League side delivered an excellent performance as they provided Genk with a difficult 90 minutes. In the end, the visitors were unlucky to leave the Luminus Arena without an away goal.
But even though they proved themselves to be more than a match for Genk, Bolger has insisted that home advantage won’t encourage City to throw caution to the wind in search of the goal they need to keep their European campaign alive — as Dundalk did in their 3-0 Champions League win against BATE Borisov on Tuesday night.
“I think we need to keep it tight,” explained Bolger. “To be fair to Dundalk, looking at Tuesday against BATE, I think they pressed a lot. I don’t know if it’ll be like that with us.
“Then we’re chasing the game and could get caught on the counter or something like that. I think we need to stay in the game for as long as possible and then hopefully at the end we can have a go. I think that’s the way we’re going to have to go about it.”
Although they came up short, Bolger believes last week’s performance in Limburg was possibly City’s best this season. That was aided, he admits, by Genk underestimating John Caulfield’s side, in spite of their victory against Swedish Cup holders BK Hacken in the previous round.
“Yeah, probably. Doing analysis on us, they were probably watching certain games and thinking, ‘We can beat these, we’re better than them’. They might have seen a few weaknesses. But I think it was probably our best game this season, bar Dundalk at home, but that’s a different type of game,” said the Wexford native.
“I think they probably did [underestimate us] a small bit but that’s why I think they’re probably going to up it again. Hacken upped their game a lot when they came over. We didn’t see the ball for a lot of that second half.
“I think it could be similar here but I think they’re more direct than Hacken. Hacken didn’t cross the ball into the box [but] I think Genk do. They’re a more powerful team, more direct.
Bolger, who’ll lead Cork City out tonight in the absence of injured captain Johnny Dunleavy, has been a revelation on Leeside since joining from St Patrick’s Athletic this season. The 27-year-old midfielder is hoping to be part of another memorable night for the League of Ireland, but he knows it won’t come easily.
“It’s probably one of the biggest games in the club’s history. We’ve prepared well, everyone’s flying fit, we’re looking forward to it, but we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be probably our toughest game as well,” Bolger said.
“I think Genk will step it up from last week and, from our point of view, we’ll need to be at the level we were last week, or better. If we’re not all 8/9 out of 10 I think we’ll be picked off.”
He added: “It’s exciting. It’s a chance to progress. For the club and the fans, especially the club financially, it would be great. Obviously with money and stuff and obviously with players, new contracts, better deals… it’s one we’re really looking forward to.”
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