Cork City 1
St Patrick’s Athletic 1
(St Patrick’s Athletic win 4-1 on penalties)
Andrew Horgan reports from Turner’s Cross
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC survived a huge scare to reach the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup as they needed a penalty shootout to defeat Cork City at Turner’s Cross.
It was 0-0 after 88 minutes, but a converted penalty by Chris Forrester gave St Pat’s a late advantage, only for Barry Coffey’s close-range finish in the 95th minute to send the game to extra-time, where the sides remained level.
And then it was heartbreak for City as misses from Coffey and Darragh Crowley allowed Alfie Lewis to seal a 4-1 triumph for Pat’s on spot-kicks to ensure they progressed.
City came into this game in promising form as they remained unbeaten in their last seven games -–although their supporters will feel they should have won more of those – including a well deserved victory away at Sligo Rovers in the first round of this competition.
FT | @CorkCityFC 1-1 @stpatsfc (1-4 pen)
— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) August 27, 2021
A disappointing end for Cork City, who staged a gallant comeback. Alfie Lewis' deciding penalty booked the Saints passage into the next round of the @ExtraSportIre FAI Cup.
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Their confidence showed early on as they looked the more dangerous side going forward. St Pat’s, who currently lie 15 places above their opponents in the League of Ireland’s standings, were pedestrian in the opening exchanges in contrast.
But the First Division side’s best chance of the first period came from a set piece and the towering George Heaven could only send his header from a Barry Coffey corner wide of the near post.
St Pat’s best sight at goal came shortly before the half time break but Mark McNulty did brilliantly to tip Jason McLelland’s low drive wide of his far bottom right corner.
City remained the better team in the second period and after Dylan McGlade saw his long range curler turned past the far post by the outstretched Viteslav Jaros, both Cian Murphy and Alec Byrne threatened with fierce strikes.
But in the final minute of normal time, Pat’s looked to have snatched the win when Chris Forrester calmly tucked the ball into the bottom right corner from the penalty spot, sending the McNulty the wrong way in the process.
The Rebel Army though are made of sterner stuff these days, and they levelled in the 95th minute when Barry Coffey fired home Cian Coleman’s flick on from close range to send the Shed End into raptures.
After an uneventful extra time, a penalty shootout was required, and misses from Coffey and Crowley allowed Alfie Lewis to convert the winner to send Pats through.
Elsewhere, Colm Whelan’s 80th-minute strike helped UCD to a 2-1 win over Longford Town, while Tunde Owolabi scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win for Finn Harps against Derry City.
Dundalk were 5-1 winners against St Mochta’s and Waterford cruised to a 4-1 win over Kilnamanagh.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; Gordon Walker, Cian Coleman, George Heaven (Cian Bargary 89), Ronan Hurley; Darragh Crowley, Alec Byrne, Barry Coffey, Dylan McGlade; Cian Murphy (Aaron Bolger 103), Beinéon O’Brien Whitmarsh (Sean Kennedy 59).
St Patrick’s Athletic: Viteslav Jaros; Jack Hickman, James Abankwah (Shane Griffin 78), Ian Bermingham, Jason McLelland; Jamie Lennon, Alfie Lewis; Darragh Burns (Kryan Nwoko 95), Chris Forrester, Billy King; Ronan Coughlan (Nahum Melvin-Lambert 59).
Referee: Derek Tomney.
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