CORK CITY ATTACKER Karl Sheppard cut a frustrated figure as he assessed his side’s goalless draw with Derry City last night in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

“It wasn’t really a Cork performance in the first half,” said Sheppard, who captained the hosts at Turner’s Cross in the absence of injured defender Alan Bennett.

“In the second half we threw the kitchen sink at them and had a few close chances, but we probably should have played a bit better in the first half to pile the pressure on them.

“They have a lot of good players. You can see they’ve sort of gone back to basics — what you’d call a proper Derry team where they’re hard to beat. They all work hard. We knew what it would be like but we probably needed to move the ball around a bit quicker.”

As well as seeing Shane Griffin strike the woodwork late in the first half, Cork had the visitors under sustained pressure in the final quarter. However, their failure to break the deadlock means John Caulfield’s team haven’t scored in three of their four league games so far this season.

Last year’s runners-up, who were 2-1 winners against Sligo Rovers on Monday, have just four points on the board, having started their campaign with defeats to St Patrick’s Athletic and Waterford. They were also beaten by Dundalk in their recent President’s Cup meeting.

“You can see we’re doing a lot of things right,” said Sheppard, who acknowledged the positive of a first clean sheet of the year. “Every game has been pretty much close. The only game I think we were disappointed in properly was Waterford. We probably should have done a bit better.

“But in all the other games we’ve given a good account of ourselves. I don’t know how many half-chances we had tonight but on another day they go in and you’re happy out. Tonight it wasn’t to be.”

Newly-signed English striker Liam Nash occasionally looked promising for Cork last night. His compatriot, substitute Dan Smith, who arrived this week on loan from Portsmouth, headed narrowly wide with what was arguably the home side’s best chance.

When asked if their lack of goals was a concern, Cork City assistant manager John Cotter responded: “You could say that, but all you can do is keep working hard. The players are working hard every day in training.

“Sometimes it just takes a stroke of luck; [the ball] going in off someone’s backside might kickstart something. We can only take the positives from it and just keep working hard.”

Next Friday evening, the Leesiders will be on the road to take on a Finn Harps side who have already taken points from St Patrick’s Athletic and Dundalk.

“A lot of points have been dropped all over the league,” added John Cotter. “We’re working hard and staying positive. No one is downbeat. There’s a lot of young lads here. We’ll look towards next week against Finn Harps and try to pick up three points.”

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