Final defeat brings the curtain down on Anderson's loan

FREDDIE Anderson's time on loan at Cork City has come to a close with a heartbreaking Irish FA Cup final defeat.

- PETE SMITH

The 19-year-old Stoke City centre-back has spent the last 10 months on loan in Ireland to gain his first experience of regular senior football as the next stage of his development. He has featured in 37 games for a struggling side which slipped to relegation from the Irish Premier Division but beat the odds to reach a cup final against champions Shamrock Rovers.

The United States youth international started in front of a 35,252-strong crowd at the Aviva Stadium, in Dublin, on Sunday but Cork’s already-difficult task became that much harder when they were reduced to 10 men just before halftime. Harry Nevin was sent off for a lunging tackle on Josh Honohan.

Anderson had a good header saved at 0-0 but Shamrock broke their resistance at the other end midway through the second half with a quickfire double from Rory Gaffney.