Rovers end Dundalk’s treble hopes

Substitute Karl Sheppard hit a late double as Shamrock Rovers came from behind to see off league leaders Dundalk 2-1 in last night’s FAI Ford Cup quarter-final replay at Oriel Park.

The home side’s treble dream looked very much on when leading scorer Patrick Hoban fired them in front five minutes before half-time.

However, Sheppard’s goals in the 81^st and 87^th minutes rocked Oriel Park.

Just as in the first game, which finished 0-0 in Tallaght last Friday, Dundalk were left to rue a series of misses when they were on top with Barry Murphy excelling for Pat Fenlon’s side in goal.

Hoban deservedly headed them in front in the 40^th minute when he headed home from Darren Meenan’s delivery.

Murphy was superb though to twice deny Hoban on the restart before doing likewise from Andy Boyle.

Having weathered the storm, Rovers began to pile on the pressure and it finally told as they grabbed an equaliser nine minutes from time when Sheppard raced onto Sean O’Connor’s pass to slot past Peter Cherrie.

The real drama was yet to come, however, as three minutes from time Sheppard broke clear on the right to fire his side into the last four.

Dundalk: Cherrie; Gannon, Rossiter (Higgins 88), Boyle, Massey; Meenan (McMillan 88), Shields, Towell, Horgan; Byrne (Mountney 68), Hoban. Subs not used: Ward, Griffin, Kaguako, Sava.

Shamrock Rovers: Murphy; Madden, Kenna, McGuinness, Byrne; Brennan (Waters 53), Robinson (McPhail 62), Cregg, Finn, O’Connor; Kelly (Sheppard 77). Subs not used: Cornwall, Bayly, McCabe, Hyland.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).

Dundalk and Rovers must meet again after Tallaght stalemate

Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers must meet again on Monday night to determine which of the two sides will advance to the semi-finals of the FAI Ford Cup after playing out a goalless stalemate in Tallaght Stadium last night.

In a game of few chances, Pat Fenlon’s side thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half when Karl Sheppard headed home only to see his effort chalked off for offside.

Richie Towell had Dundalk’s best opening of the half soon after when he latched onto a Sean Gannon pass only to be denied by Barry Murphy.

The best opening of the second half also fell the Lilywhites’ way when substitute Kurtis Byrne was slipped through by David McMillan only to curl his effort just wide.

A deep free kick from Daryl Horgan then had to be finger-tipped over by Murphy right at the end as a replay was required.

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, Jason McGuinness, Luke Byrne; Shane Robinson, Patrick Cregg, Ronan Finn; Kieran Marty Waters (Ciaran Kilduff, 88), Karl Sheppard (Dean Kelly, 66), Gary McCabe (Ryan Brennan, 74).

Dundalk: Peter Cherrie; Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle, Brian Gartland, Dane Massey; Richie Towell, Donal McDermott (Kurtis Byrne, 54), Chris Shields; Darren Meenan(John Mountney, 83), David McMillian (Patrick Hoban, 74), Daryl Horgan.

Referee: Padraigh Sutton

Dundalk advance to last eight of FAI Cup with victory over Galway

Dundalk had to survive a late scare before booking finally seeing off Galway FC 2-1 at Oriel Park last night to book their place in the FAI Ford Cup quarter-finals.

Having bossed the game from the very start, Stephen Kenny’s side took the lead on 28 minutes when Donal McDermott slammed home his first goal for the club from eight yards.

Despite being frustrated for long periods, the Lilywhites looked to have sealed the win when John Mountney rifled home a 25 yard screamer to the top right corner in the 72^ndminute.

However, after goalkeeper Gabriel Sava was caught in possession nine minutes from time, Galway substitute Padraic Cunningham was on hand to punish him to make it 2-1 but the Louth men were able to see the game out despite late pressure from the Tribesmen.

Dundalk: Sava; Gannon, Gartland (Massey 79), Rossiter, Shields; McDermott (Ward 69), Higgins, Towell, Horgan (Griffin 76); Mountney; McMillan. Subs not used: Boyle, Hoban, Meenan, Cherrie.

Galway: Hanley; Horgan, Byrne, Walsh, Ludden; Shanahan, Sinnott, Connolly (Robbie Egan 76), Molloy; Keegan (Cunningham 76), Faherty (Curran 76). Subs not used: Richard Egan, Manning, Rafferty, Gleeson.

Referee: P Tuite (Dublin).

Dundalk cruise to victory in FAI Cup

Kurtis Byrne scored Dundalk’s third goal last night

Dundalk FC comfortably booked their place in the third round of the FAI Ford Cup after seeing off non-league Phoenix FC 4-0 in Oriel Park last night.

The game was effectively over as a contest early on with two headed goals from Patrick Hoban in the eighth and 25th minutes respectively putting the Lilywhites firmly in the driving seat.

Kurtis Byrne then put the result beyond doubt with a superb finish five minutes before the break before substitute Tiarnan Mulvenna put the icing on the cake with a close range finish in the 90th minute.