After a week of embarrassment for the League of Ireland, from the Bray Wanderers' situation to the mess that the Under-15 league has become, Cork City once again set the standard on Thursday night.
The Rebel Army kicked off their European campaign the same way they've started the league - with two wins, but boy did they make hard work of the second leg. After grinding out a 2-0 victory in Parnu last week, City found themselves 2-1 down at half time and in a precarious enough position. Another Levadia goal would've required Cork to score two to hold onto their unbeaten record.
But that didn't worry John Caulfield.
He knows that his side have come back from similar positions before. After all, the 17 wins from their first 18 league games saw them do it twice. The second half was less than a minute old when Sean Maguire equalised. He would add two more for his second hat-trick in the space of a month.
The 22-year-old became Cork's all-time European top scorer by taking his tally to six, although the record was previously held by a centre back - Dan Murray, with four. Preston bound Maguire has 37 goals in his last 40 games. It's a phenomenal record, one which hasn't been seen on this island for decades.
He leaves on the 24th of July, so it'd be unsurprising if he relaxed a little during games. You can see that he absolutely loves the club though. He's spoken in the past about how John Caulfield gave him the second chance he needed and he's continuing to pay that faith back in spades. Still he chases every ball, still he takes the rough tackles and gets up.
Maguire isn't just useful on the pitch, he's possibly the club's biggest marketing tool off it. On paper, the tie was over last night. 2-0 up after the away game, with a couple of more home games coming in the next fortnight, fans wouldn't have been blamed for not showing up.
6,314 packed into Turner's Cross, which when you take away the two sections cordoned off for away fans and dignitaries, equals a sellout. It's the third time that the sold out signs have gone up in Cork, with a fourth expected for next Thursday's first leg against AEK Larnaca of Cyprus.
It's a sharp contrast to the struggles of Bray, or indeed Derry City. The Candystripes were 6-1 down after their first leg against FC Midtjylland of Denmark. Because their regular home ground the Brandywell is being redeveloped, they had to go two hours down the road to the Showgrounds in Sligo.
A €25 entry fee was set before the first leg. 627 people showed up, which results in a €10,000 or so profit from gate receipts. Cork will have made at least ten times that.
The 6,314 in Turner's Cross were introduced to new signing Kieran Sadlier at half time, and while not a direct replacement for Maguire, it's still another exciting option for Caulfield. He's in line for his debut on Sunday afternoon against St.Pat's, where Cork are once again expected to win.
The club's link to the community is better than any other in the country. If other clubs are struggling to get the numbers through the gates for matches, they would be mad not to try and get some tips from the board of FORAS (the fans' group which owns Cork).
Coming out of the ground last night, I was walking up towards the St.Anne's End exit when a group of kids ran by. One was delighted because: 'I got a high five from McCormack'. Everyone in that ground last night will be telling their grandkids about seeing this team in the flesh, and they're heroes to the children in Cork. Maguire waited around for maybe an hour or so, signing autographs and posing for pictures.
His hat-trick made him the first LOI player to score three goals from open play in European history. Rory Patterson holds the honour of the first hat-trick. However, one of his three for Derry against Aberystwyth Town was from the penalty spot.
Despite the exploits of hot shot Maguire, Cork are far from a one-man team. Karl Sheppard knocked in his 13th goal of the season last night. Garry Buckley has seven. At the back, Alan Bennett's experience coupled with two captures from England - Shane Griffin and Ryan Delaney (on loan) - means the Rebel Army's goal has only been breached 10 times in 19 league games.
They're storming their way to a league title. Their run to the third round of the Europa League last season was overshadowed by Dundalk's group stage appearance. They've blown the Lilywhites (and everyone else) out of the water this year. They will become champions before October, and are deservedly heading back to the top table. If you're on Leeside, then I promise you there is no better way to spend your Friday night.
And to think, it's not long since the club found itself in a similar situation to the one Bray are currently facing.
