Often in football, success is only sustainable for a certain period of time and as Cork City took to the field without John Caulfield in the dug-out for the first time in five years, there was a real sense of a fresh start.
Having only collected three points from their last seven league games, John Cotter was named as the interim Cork City boss as Caulfield and Cork parted ways on mutual consent.
A difficult task stood in their way though, a Bohemians side flying high in the league, unbeaten at home and with the league's top goalscorer - Dinny Corcoran - in their starting line-up.
Cork were aware of the danger posed by the poacher and indeed of Bohemians' young gun Danny Mandriou with Conor McCormack playing a man-marking role in the midfield five.
After a slow start to the game you could see why the visitors were cautious of the Ireland U-21 player as he began to pull some strings at the edge of the of the Cork City box.
Just as Keith Long's side were bursting into life and enjoying some good spells in possession, they found themselves a goal behind when Conor McCarthy got his head on a free-kick to give the visitors the lead with 21 minutes on the clock.
The free-kick came from around 30 yards out to the right of Bohemian's box, James Tilley floated the ball to the back post and McCarthy headed back across goal into the far corner of the net.
Nice Football
Despite the goal, Bohemians still looked the better side for the majority of the first-half, playing some nice football but failing to break through the resolute Cork defence as they found themselves still trailing at the break.
Cork came close to doubling their lead straight out the gates of the second half when a loose pass played James Tilley in on goal but James Talbot made a great save to deny the winger.
A strong defence was always the back-bone of John Caulfield's Cork sides and it appears that John Cotter's ideas are cut from a similar cloth with the away side sitting deep in the second half, soaking up pressure and keeping goal-scoring opportunities to a minimum.
Much like the first half, Bohs controlled the play in the second forty-five but ultimately were lacking that little bit of imagination up front and failed to register a chance of real purpose.
The closest the home side would come to an equaliser came when Dinny Corcoran headed the ball over the bar from six yards out on the sixty minute mark.
Cork got the win that they so badly needed as they get a chance of a fresh start to the season - the performance however, leaves a lot to be desired.
Bohemians now have some ground to make up on Dundalk in second place and they'll get the chance to do so when they host the Lilywhites next Friday night.
TEAMS:
James Talbot, Derek Pender, Darrah Leahy, James Finnerty, Michael Barker, Keith Buckley, Kevin Devaney, Conor Livingston, Danny Grant, Danny Mandiu, Dinny Corcoran.
Mark McNulty, Conor McCarthy, Dan Casey, Sean McLaughlin, Garry Comerford, Georoid Morrissey (OFF 43' Pierce Phillips), Conor McCormack, Kevin O'Connor, James Tilley, Darragh Rainsford (OFF 52 Cummins), Karl Sheppard.
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