Liam Miller: enjoyed his home town goal
Picture: Peadar O’Sullivan

By Pete Sixsmith, on the road from Cork to Galway

So, the caravan (or Toyota Auris) rolled on to Cork and arrived in a city that was the opposite of Dublin.

Small, manageable, incredibly friendly and not full of dangerous drunks looking for a hoolie.

We stayed in a Universty Hall of Residence unsullied by wretched students and had a fabulous meal in a quiet restaurant called The Hardwood Cafe. It was run by three foreigners – a Canadian chef, a Lithuanian waitress and a manager from Limerick.

As we were the only customers the craic was almost as good as the food and the absence of custom was best explained by the population of Cork seething about a ropey referees decision which allowed Waterford to pinch a draw in the hurling quarter finals. From there to an authentic Irish pub and a great music session. Suddenly Ireland began to look good.

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Just needed the tiniest of excuses to bring you a few more of Peadar O’Sullivan’s pictures.

Keane: a mixed welcome
Picture: Peadar O’Sullivan

Peadar could not make it to Cork City to see the team he follows take on the Lads last night. So what reception would he have given the returning heroes – or, according to view, villains – Roy Keane and Liam Miller?

The Irish soccer website, Eleven-a-Side, carried a great line about the crowd giving Keano a warmly ambiguous welcome.

Check out the site and its chatroom. OK, there is the occasional jibe harking back to burn-everything-English-except-her-coal days.

When I invited readers to let me know their thoughts on Sunderland’s Irish tour, one character, Kenny in Cork, effectively told where to go, adding: “Sickining (sic) to see over 2000 of these queen loving fools wear Sunderland shirts at the cross tonight – clowns.”

Leaving aside his imperfect knowledge of the North East’s relationship with the Royal family, we’d have to acknowledge that the SAFC support has also included a few (fewer just now, you’d suppose) Irish-baiting No Surrender imbeciles. And to be fair, our Kenny was shot down in flames by a majority of the people who posted replies.

Mostly, it’s good crack/craic, and the bits by Shane Breslin, the man who runs the show, are particularly well-written. He’s doubtful, by the way, about our prospects of making much of an impact with the present strike force.

But expect Shane’s site to cover Sunderland’s fortunes quite a bit in the coming season, starting – if we start today – with his own take on Keano’s tussle with Fulham for the signature of the Cork striker Roy O’Donovan.

And turn the page, electronically, for some more of Peadar’s pictures…….

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