Dream draw for cup minnows

Leinster Senior League clubs Rathcoole Boys and Dublin Bus were last night handed dream Harp Lager FAI Cup ties with Derry City and Shamrock Rovers when the draw for the second round of the competition was made at the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin.

Rathcoole manager Mark Ennis described the opportunity to take on his former club as "heaven" and promised that, having worked so hard to get to this stage of the competition his players would not make it easy for Kevin Mahon's side to progress.

"It would have been lovely to get St Patrick's after spending so long there," said Ennis, "but I had a couple of seasons up at Derry and it'll be great to see some of the people from up there again. We'll be aiming to cause an upset but whatever happens this is a great opportunity for the club."

Paul Campbell, in charge at Dublin Bus these days, said that he and the other representatives of the club "had come here tonight looking to get a big Dublin club and to get Shamrock Rovers is just fabulous".

If Campbell is looking forward to a good day out Damien Richardson welcomed the draw as a great opportunity for Rovers to make it into the third round, although, he stressed "We will treat them with respect because the cup has a habit of punishing clubs who fail to do that."

While four of the non-league sides were drawn against each other, thus ensuring that at least two will make it through to the third round of the competition, the match of the round will be the meeting between Longford Town and Cork City in Strokestown Road.

When the two sides met there recently Longford beat City 2-1 but neither manager was setting much store by that last night. "It won't count for anything," said Stephen Kenny who admitted to being slightly disappointed with the draw. "At this stage of the competition the main thing you are looking for is to get someone who you are confident you will progress against but Cork will be very hard to beat.

"But we are keen to keep getting new people to our games from all over Longford and a game like this, a big cup match against one of the best sides in the country will certainly be another opportunity for us to do that."

Derek Mountfield could have done with a slightly less challenging draw but said that the challenge for his players now "is to knuckle down because when we played there recently we defended poorly but still managed to give them a game so it is a match that we can win if we play to our potential but it will be hard."

The only other tie of the round involving two premier division sides is the meeting of Galway United and Kilkenny City but there are a number of interesting looking games including the clash between old rivals Dundalk and Limerick at Oriel Park, the visit of Bobby Browne's Monaghan United to his old club and current holders Shelbourne and the pairing of Bray Wanderers and Sligo Rovers. Most remarkable, though, is the fact that no fewer than 11 of the second round ties are scheduled to take place around the Dublin area over the first weekend in January. Rathcoole's tie with Derry City may be switched to the Brandywell but even then there will be plenty of competition for supporters on a weekend when a number of FA Cup third round games in England are also due to be broadcast live on television.