With the FAI Cup final taking place this Sunday there here has been a definite and timely escalation of the Cork City and Dundalk rivalry.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny has labelled the chant sang by Cork City goalkeeper Mark McNulty last week as "insulting" and disrespectful.
The chant, which was recorded in Cork's SoHo nightclub after his side defeated Bray and lifted the SSE Airtricity League trophy, saw McNulty belt out "Fuck the Lilywhites" and "They're fucking shit."
McNulty has previous in this regard, having appeared in the same club last year and bemoaning the coverage Dundalk received last year in an expletive-ridden rant:
Per the Irish Examiner, Kenny was less than impressed with McNulty's antics this time around. Kenny described the chant as being "out of the gutter".
In a further twist, James Rogers reports that Kenny referenced the aftermath of last year's Cup Final after Cork City defeated Dundalk. Stephen O'Donnell, the Dundalk captain, received a phone call from the Leesiders' celebratory bus.
Kenny said:
Not only that but ringing Stephen O’Donnell last year after the cup final when we were on the bus going back home and shouting down the phone taunting Stephen O’Donnell… Stephen is probably the most successful captain of modern times.
He carries himself with great dignity. He has won five league titles and been in two Europa Leagues but ringing down the phone and taunting him on the phone, we had that. This wasn’t a one-off.
Sunday will be the third time in a row that these two sides face-off in the cup final, and their long-running contest for number one spot in Ireland intensified this season when City ended Dundalk's quest for a fourth league title in a row. It now turns to the Lilywhites to try to halt Cork's march to a double, a task they will surely relish all the more after last week's taunts.
Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
