Johnny Dunleavy scored his first Cork City goal since October 2014 last night as the Leesiders roared 12 points clear at the top of the table.
Cork made it 11 wins from their opening 11 games as they defeated Bray Wanderers 2-1 at Turner’s Cross.
Ballybofey man Dunleavy is the Cork captain and John Caulfield, the Cork manager, was high in praise of the defender, who has had a tough time of injuries, missing the bulk of last season, including the FAI Cup final win over Dundalk.
“He’s been unlucky with injuries, but he’s back now and it was a fantastic header from him and we needed it,” Caulfield said.
[adrotate group=”91″]“Certainly Johnny’s goal won it for us and it’s great to have him back.”
Dundalk lost to basement side Galway United meaning Cork have a massive lead after the first series of games.
Sean Maguire, who has been linked to Preston and, most recently, Celtic, lately had opened the scoring for Cork. Dunleavy’s header doubled the advantage while Derek Foran netted for Bray in added time.
Caulfield said: “It’s a phenomenal achievement by the players.
[adrotate group=”46”]“As I keep saying, the bigger picture for us is that we want to be there at the end of October.”