Ruairi Keating's first goal since returning to Cork City last month helped the club defeat local rivals Cobh Ramblers by the minimum at St Colman’s Park.
The striker rose the highest to head in a Cathal O’Sullivan cross in the first minute of injury time, and that puts the Rebel Army 18 points clear at the top of the League of Ireland First Division table.
Cobh battled hard, despite the 41st-minute dismissal of Jason Abbot after the midfielder received a second yellow card.
The first half was a close affair, with clear-cut chances few and far between at both ends.
City did have the majority of possession, their issue was finding a way through the Cobh defence.
Ireland international Sean Maguire was the first player to go for goal, and his attempt in the third minute went out for a corner that came to nothing. Greg Bolger followed that up by picking out the striker with a free-kick, and that ended with the ball going out for a goal-kick.
The Ramblers held firm and their first adventure with numbers saw a driven effort by Abbott blocked down by Sean Murray.
City rarely gave an inch in the final third, and their next advance saw a tame effort by Maguire getting kicked away by Cian Browne.
Tim Clancy’s side never deviated from their game-plan. They continued to target the wings, where Keating waited for the ball, they just struggled to put together a move that got Darragh Burke off his line.
Cobh buckled down and broke when space allowed them to get forward in numbers. This led to an opportunity for Regix Madika, and his shot from the edge of the area drew a stretched save by Brad Wade.
Just as Cobh seemed to find their feet in an attacking sense, Abbott was shown a second yellow card and the home side were reduced to ten.
It was 0-0 at half-time, and it looked like the established pattern was going to going continue after the break when a weaving run by Maguire ended with the ball going straight into the hands of Burke.
The Ramblers continued to hold firm, and they almost took the lead through Matthew McKevitt in the 66th minute. Madika set that up by squaring to the on-rushing striker, and a close-range attempt was blocked in front of goal by Bolger.
Cobh tried to capitalise on the helter-skelter nature of the game by bringing on James O’Leary to play behind McKevitt, the preferred attacking system of manager Gary Hunt.
This meant very little to City, as they brought on Barry Coffey and Jack Doherty in a bid to add a new dimension to their play around the penalty area.
Cobh started to stand back and invite shots from distance. Crosses then started arriving into the box and and inch perfect ball-in to Keating from O'Sullivan decided the game and the local bragging rights.
Keating scores for City!#LOI | #COBCOR pic.twitter.com/tKwLIuA4i5
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) August 23, 2024
The Ramblers poured players forward in a push to equalise but a late free-kick was coolly dealt with by the City defence.
Cobh Ramblers: Darragh Burke; Michael McCarthy, Cian Browne, Breandán Frahill, Matthew McKevitt, Jack Larkin (Pierce Philips 76), Nolan Evers, Dale Holland, Regix Madika (Tiernan O’Brien 74), Luka Le Bervet (James O’Leary 76), Jason Abbott.
Cork City: Brad Wade; Charlie Lyons, Greg Bolger, Malik Dijksteel (Jack Doherty 60), Ruairi Keating, Sean Murray (Barry Coffey 71), Darragh Crowley, Niall Brookwell, Cathal O’Sullivan, Matthew Kiernan (Evan McLaughlin 71), Sean Maguire (Cian Murphy 81).
Referee: Aaron O’Dowd
Elsewhere, UCD moved up to second after a 2-0 win at home to Finn Harps.
Harry Curtis opened the scoring in first-half injury-time and Mikey Raggett doubled the lead three minutes after the restart.
Athlone Town slipped to third after going down 1-0 to Bray Wanderers.
Guillermo Almirall scored the winner in the 76th minute in Lissywollen to close the gap between the sides to four points.
Wexford FC tightened their grip on the final play-off spot with a 3-1 win at Treaty United.
All four goals came in the second half, Lee Lynch giving the hosts the lead before Mikie Rowe equalised on the hour.
Aaron Dobs edged Wexford ahead five minutes later and Kaylem Harnett wrapped up the points with 11 to play.
Trpimir Vrljicak was sent off for Treaty United deep in injury time.
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