Limerick 0 Derry City 4
DERRY CITY RAN out convincing 4-0 winners over Limerick FC at Thomond Park, with goals from Patrick McEleney, Michael Duffy, Philip Lowry and Ryan Curran securing the points for Peter Hutton’s side.
The Candystripes bossed the game from the outset, with the Limerick defence under considerable pressure before being breached on 21 minutes. McEleney was in yards of space in the penalty area and swept the ball home to open the scoring.
The hosts then lost Sammy Oji to injury before Derry struck again in the 34th minute. Barry Ryan saved from point blank range from McEleney but the ball fell kindly for Stephen Dooley to supply Duffy with a tap-in to make it 2-0.
A brief spell of Limerick pressure early in the second half went unrewarded and instead it was Derry who surged further ahead on 63 minutes, with Lowry volleying home exquisitely to end the game as a contest.
It could have been worse for the home side a couple of minutes later, with Ryan saving brilliantly from Ryan McBride’s close-range header, and then a Derry counter-attack should have been finished to the net by Dooley.
Curran inflicted more damage on Limerick in the closing minutes when he curled a 12-yard shot past Ryan to make it 4-0.
Meanwhile, a Dinny Corcoran goal six minutes before the half earned Bohemians a 1-0 win over Cork City in their FAI Cup third round replay.
LIMERICK FC: Ryan, Nzuzi, Oji (O’Connor 25), Folan (Whitehead 78), Williams, Turner, Hughes, Duggan, Lynch, Djilali (Doherty 71), Gaffney.
Substitutes: Abass, Whitehead, Doherty, Tracy, Agyemang, O’Connor, McManus.
DERRY CITY: Doherty, Kelly, McBride, Barry, Jarvis, Lowry, McNamee (Curran 82), Molloy, Dooley (Timlin 71), P McEleney, Duffy (Tracey 86).
Substitutes: Gallagher, S McEleney, Tracey, Curran, Timlin, Boyle, Patterson.