FAI Cup wrap: Shels hang on against Pat’s

St Patrick’s Athletic 1 Shelbourne 1

Shelbourne survived an onslaught in Inchicore to somehow bring St. Patrick’s back to Tolka Park.

Liam Buckley’s league champions utterly dominated for virtually the whole 90 minutes at Richmond Park. But poor finishing, and a couple of fine saves from man-of-the-match Greg Murray, meant they couldn’t put the First Division promotion-chasers away.

In an open game from the kick-off, Shelbourne were unconvincing defensively, gifting Conor McCormack a free header from Ian Bermingham’s cross which he planted wide inside the first minute. John McDonnell’s side were not so fortunate two minutes later when St. Patrick’s took the lead.

Again it came down the left as Keith Fahey and Bermingham worked the ball to Chris Forrester. Defender Adam O’Connor appeared to slip as the low cross came in, allowing Christy Fagan all the time in the world to pick his spot.

But St. Patrick’s were the ones then left asking questions at the back as Shelbourne punished poor defending to equalise on 10 minutes.

Jordan Keegan picked out Alan O’Sullivan down the inside left channel. The big striker was then allowed turn a little too easily and appear to catch Pat’s keeper Brendan Clarke by surprise with a low shot that beat him at his near post.

Utterly dominant thereafter, Brennan, Forrester (twice), Fagan, Conan Byrne and Fahey peppered the Shels goal with Forrester also forcing the save of the half from Murray.

Service soon resumed after the break with Byrne shooting wide before Willo McDonagh did well to nick the ball away as Fagan lurked behind him; Brennan, Fahey and Byrne having carved Shels to shreds down the right.

Shelbourne were hanging on with Philip Hand well positioned at a post to clear off the line from Fahey following a scramble from yet another St. Patrick’s corner.

Substitutes Gareth Coughlan and Luke Gallagher provided some respite for Shelbourne on 72 minutes, the latter blazing over when put through.

Back down the pitch, Murray soon had work to do again, pushing Byrne’s low drive away at full stretch.

St. Patrick’s Athletic: Clarke; O’Brien, Hoare, Foran (Oman, h/t), Bermingham; Brennan; Byrne, McCormack, Fahey, Forrester; Fagan.

Shelbourne: Murray; Gannon, McDonagh, O’Connor, Hand; Dempsey; Connolly, Keegan (Coughlan, 67), McDonnell (Gallagher, h/t), Murphy; O’Sullivan (Murtagh, 81).

Cork City 2 Bohemians 2

Dan Murray’s first goal in five years for Cork City rescued a dramatic replay against Bohemians at Turner’s Cross on Friday night.

The visitors thought they had secured a momentous victory six minutes from time through Dinny Corcoran’s effort, but Murray’s close range finish moments later ensured the teams will face-off again this coming Monday at Dalymount Park.

Corcoran put the visitors into the lead; a simple throw-in was knocked on by Kevin Devaney into the path of the midfielder who beat Mark McNulty low at the near post.

After countless chances for the visitors to double their lead City equalized with 20 minutes remaining. Billy Dennehy’s strong run drew a foul from Keith Buckley. Dennehy dusted himself off and, despite Dean Delany saving the penalty, the Tralee native slotted away the rebound.

Cork City: McNulty; McSweeney (Kavanagh 80), D. Dennehy, Murray, Dunleavy; O’Shea (D. Morrissey 53), Healy, G. Morrissey, Buckley (Morisson 83), B. Dennehy; O’Sullivan.

Bohemians: Delany; Buckley, Price, Mulcahy, Beattie; Wearen, Moore, Devaney, Corcoran, D. Byrne; J. Byrne.

Dundalk 2 GalwayUnited 1

Donal McDermott hit his first goal for Dundalk as the Lilywhites booked their place in the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup with a 2-1 win over Galway FC at Oriel Park.

Stephen Kenny’s side dominated the first-half but they only had one goal to show for their efforts at the break.

Galway goalkeeper Ger Hanley was kept busy throughout, saving from Seán Gannon and Richie Towell but there was nothing he could do to prevent the opening goal in the 28th minute.

Towell’s quick throw released the ever willing Gannon on the right. His cross was blocked by Galway defender Alex Byrne but it fell perfectly for McDermott who swept home from close range.

The second-half continued in the same pattern and John Mountney was very unlucky not to make it 2-0 after 55 minutes when his effort hit the bottom of the post with Hanley beaten.

The midfielder was not to be denied, however, and he looked to have killed the tie off with 18 minutes to go with a 25-yard rocket that left Hanley with no chance.

The First Division side responded 10 minutes later when substitute Pádraic Cunningham capitalised on a mix up between Gabriel Sava and Chris Shields to make it 2-1.

That ensured a nervy ending for the Premier Division side but they held on to keep their hopes of a domestic treble alive.

Dundalk: Sava; Gannon, Gartland (Massey 79), Rossiter, Shields; Towell, Higgins; McDermott (Ward 69), Mountney, D Horgan (Griffin 76); McMillan.

Galway FC: Hanley; C Horgan, Byrne, Walsh, Ludden; Shanahan, Sinnott, Connolly (Egan 76), Molloy; Faherty (Curran 76), Keegan (Cunningham 76).

Derry City 3 Malahide United 0

Malahide United managed to frustrate Derry City at the Brandywell during the opening period, but the Leinster Senior League side ran out of gas after the break.

Two goals within the space of a minute after the break saw the North-West progress to the quarter-finals.

Michael Duffy, Stephen Dooley, Rory Patterson and Philip Lowry all spurned glorious chances during the opening period but Derry finally grabbed the breakthrough they deserved in the 53rd minute.

Patrick McEleney crashed home a shot from 35 yards, his effort cannoning off the upright on its way to the net. And 60 seconds later it was 2-0 when Michael Duffy hammered the ball home from a tight angle past Brian Kane.

In the 73rd minute Malahide were punished for failing to clear their lines when Philip Lowry sealed the win with Derry’s third.

Derry City: Doherty; Molloy, McBride, Barry, Timlin; Dooley, Lowry, McNamee (Houston, 78), Duffy (Tracey, 78); P. McEleney, Patterson (Curran, 71).

Malahide United: Kane; Daley (Kinsella, 84), Cronin, Whelan, Dooney; McArdle; Timmons, Craven (Vickers 76), Scott, McGinty, Morley (Mahon, 68); Scott.

Shamrock Rovers 3 Longford Town 0

Shamrock Rovers booked their place in the quarter-finals with a commanding victory over Longford Town.

Pat Fenlon’s charges were welcoming Tony Cousins’ First Division leaders to Tallaght for the third time this season, but even though the appearance of seven former Rovers players in the Longford squad added spice to the proceedings, it wasn’t until the second-quarter that the action truly burst into life.

The ever-reliable Barry Murphy denied Longford striker David O’Sullivan on 24 minutes after Gary Shaw had profited from a mistimed Robert Bayly pass towards Conor Kenna, and less than a minute later, Rovers clinically punished their second-tier opponents by breaking the deadlock themselves.

Fine approach work by Dean Kelly and Karl Sheppard provided the platform for Seán O’Connor to finish impressively beyond the reach of Town’s Paul Hunt from an awkward angle.

Nine minutes before the interval, Gary McCabe doubled their lead with an outstanding first-time volley from the edge of the box.

Rovers capped off a fine display when home debutant Patrick Cregg’s remarkable composure in front of goal produced a third in second-half stoppage-time.

Shamrock Rovers: Murphy; Madden, McGuinness, Kenna, D O’Connor; McCabe (Waters, 65), Bayly (Cregg, 73), McPhail, S O’Connor; Sheppard, Kelly (Kilduff, 82).

Longford Town: Hunt; Haverty, Sullivan, Flynn, G O’Connor (Mulhall, 77); Cowan, Rice, Gorman, K O’Connor (Shannon, 69); Shaw (Hynes, 65), D O’Sullivan.

Wexford Youths 1 Finn Harps 2

A goal in each half gave Finn Harps a comfortable victory over a disappointing Wexford Youths at Ferrycarrig Park.

Enjoying plenty of possession through the opening half hour, they took the lead after 25 minutes when Tommy McMonagle got his head to a Gareth Harkin cross to glide the ball just inside the right hand post.

The goal poked Wexford Youths into life but they were unable to pull the goal back despite efforts Danny Furlong and Ben Ryan both easily dealt with by goalkeeper Conor Wynn, leaving the visitors leading 1-0 at the interval.

Within six minutes of the restart the homeside came close to levelling when Peter Higgins’s low drive was pushed around the post for a corner that was subsequently cleared. Youths were playing with more impetus but were unable to break down the visitors’ back four.

It was Harps who took full advantage. With central defender Killian Cantwell failing to clear his lines it was sub Michael Funston, just into the game a minute, who took full advantage to drive the ball under advancing keeper Graham Doyle to make it 2-0 after seventy-three minutes.

Dean Broaders forced the ball over the line from close range in the 89th minute, but it was too little too late.

Wexford Youths: Graham Doyle; Craig McCabe (Dean Broaders 67), Killian Cantwell, Stephen Last, Ryan Delaney; Craig Shortt, Peter Higgins, Shane Dunne, Eric Molloy, Danny Furlong, Ben Ryan (Shane Nolan 67).

Finn Harps: Conor Wynn; Damien McNulty, Keith Cowan, Tommy McMonagle, Ciaran Coll; Josh Mailey, Brian McGrory (Michael Funston 72), Pat McCann, Sean McCarron (Ger O’Callaghan 79); Kevin McHugh, Gareth Harkin.