SHAMROCK ROVERS AND Sligo progressed to the semi-finals of the EA Sports Cup following their respective wins over St Patrick’s Athletic and Derry City this evening.

Sligo eased to a 4-0 victory over Derry, thanks to a flurry of late strikes at the Showgrounds.

Raffaele Cretaro opened the scoring from close range shortly after half-time, before Ryan McBride was sent off.

Danny North then scored a rebound from his own penalty, and Cretaro and North both added to their tallys late on to ensure a relatively comfortable win for the hosts.

Shamrock Rovers, meanwhile, triumphed 4-2 on penalties against St Pat’s at Richmond Park, as the teams drew 1-1 after 120 minutes of play.

Killian Brennan gave Rovers an early lead from a free kick, before Sean O’Connor levelled the sides as the game approached the half-hour mark.

And despite no shortage of chances thereafter, the match ultimately went to penalties.

Rovers converted four of the their five attempts, with Gary McCabe, Stephen O’Donnell, Gary Twigg, and Conor McCormack all scoring, with Pat’s ultimately failing to capitalise on Aaron Greene missing the fourth Rovers spot kick.

For Pat’s, James Chambers and Ian Daly both missed their attempts, while John Russell and Sean O’Connor scored.

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