WHILE Pat Byrne can take some consolation from the fact that his side seems to be displaying early but distinct signs of improvement, things at Cork City appear to be at a far more advanced stage of recovery.

Dave Bauy's task when he took the helm at the troubled southern club was far from easy and it has taken time for his team to start producing the goods. With five wins out of six, though, and 19 points from 24, the team's attempt to get their league campaign into gear continues to gather momentum, with many of their younger recruits maturing with every outing.

At Tolka Park yesterday, they had two of their least experienced men to thank for the goal that gave them victory and a couple of the older heads to thank for keeping them in proceedings when things looked rough.

There was also a helping hand from Lady Luck in a game which the home side increasingly came to control towards the end only to throw it away with 90 seconds remaining.

Damien O'Connell got the winner midway through the 89th minute after a fine break down the left by 20 year old Ollie Cahill. However, the fact that an away win was still then possible owed much to the resolve of Dave Hill and Noel Hartigan at the heart of the defence and the tireless work of Patsy Freyne in the middle.

The centre halves worked wonders during the closing quarter to keep their side level as Rovers pushed forward in search of the extra points. Several times they came very close to breaking the deadlock but, ultimately, it was the frustration the Dubliners were experiencing at not being able to, find the net that was to prove their undoing. The extra man or two committed to attack left just the gaps at the back that Cahill's speed equips him to expose.

Rovers's best chance came in the 77th minute when Declan Daly was penalised for handball and Marc Kenny sent a curling drive spinning across the goalmouth off the foot of the post. Then, as always, there was a Cork foot available to scramble the ball away. The miss confirmed, as manager Pat Byrne was to admit afterwards, the growing feeling as the game progressed that a Rovers goal was simply not meant to be.

If his side lacked a goal, though, it certainly possessed the sort of passion that Byrne has yearned for after the dismal draw with UCD at Tolka two weeks ago. The side had a fresh enthusiasm for the task at hand and while Pat Fenlon, Lee Williams and Kenny all played their part in a much improved performance, the rock on which Rovers built their game was, Iike their opponents, the centre of defence.

With their confidence greatly improved over the fortnight, Gino Brazil and Paul Whelan contained the City attack well until those closing seconds. Up until then they had only allowed Robbie Horgan to be drawn into the action once each half.

Then, the goalkeeper did well, making a wonderful one handed save from Kelvin Flanagan's free in the 28th minute and getting down well to an O'Connell shot midway through the second period. However, like his opposite number, Phil Harrington, Horgan was left to watch for the best part of the afternoon as the two sides played out a fierce and, for the most part, entertaining battle in the middle of the pitch.

Rovers, who played Sean Francis on the left, did their best to break out of that central area by pushing the ball wide but, when the time came to find one of their strikers, it always seemed that the final pass was a poor one. Tony Cousins and Stephen Grant, therefore, had little chance to escape the attentions of Hill and Hartigan and get a shot on target.

Both front men did their bit, however, and it was as they pulled their markers wide during the closing stages that gaps began to open up for the likes of Williams and Fenlon, both of whom went close from the edge of the area.

Rovers were unfortunate to come across a City team that was every bit as determined as themselves. As the tackles flew in with growing ferocity and Brian Barry Murphy dropped back on the left to complete a five man defence with increasing regularity in the second half there simple wasn't the time or space to make the breakthrough.

Still, they looked for it relentlessly and when O'Connell drove the ball low past Horgan few of the Dubliners could disguise their dismay at the unexpected blow. Shortly afterwards it was hard not to feel sorry for them as they picked themselves up to head for the dressing room but a few Rovers fans managed to resist the temptation, opting instead to boo their men.

After finally answering their manager's call to prove they really wanted to play for the club, it must have been enough to make them wonder why.