St Patrick’s Athletic 3-0 Wexford
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC are 90 minutes away from reaching a first FAI Cup final in seven years following a straightforward 3-0 win over Wexford.
The Athletic played virtually the entire game with 10 men as Sam Bone was sent off after seven minutes but prevailed thanks to Darragh Burns’ brace and a Rónán Coughlan penalty.
Northern Ireland youth international Burns caused havoc down the right side whenever he was in possession and capped a fine performance with two top-class finishes.
The scoreline was far from flattering on a Saints side who dominated against a young and well-organised Wexford side, who themselves played half the game with 10 after Conor Crowley was dismissed.
Referee Derek Tomney, who was in the news last week for his haul of three sendings-off when Longford Town beat Dundalk, was again liberal in his use of his feared red ticket.
He had little other option than to reach for his back pocket after seven minutes when Bone recklessly tugged back Jack Moylan after Jimmy Corcoran’s quick kickout set the former Bohs man through on goal.
The Saints bench were incensed, and Paddy Barrett picked up a yellow card for his protests that will see him miss the top-of-the-table clash with Shamrock Rovers next week.
Going a man down did little to alter the flow of the game, however, as Jamie Lennon stepped back to centre half and the Athletic continued to dominate possession.
They should have had a penalty on 20 minutes when Kevin McEvoy brought down Matty Smith in the box, but Tomney was adamant no foul had been committed.
Saints did deservedly take the lead 11 minutes before half time as Billy King slipped in his fellow winger Burns, and the Dubliner finished well from close range.
And Wexford lost their numerical advantage seven minutes later as Crowley was harshly shown a second yellow for a mistimed tackle.
Wexford enjoyed their best spell of the game after the break and it took a fine save from Liverpool loanee Vitezslav Jaros to keep out Harry Groome’s bending effort.
Burns put the game beyond most reasonable doubt midway through the half as he latched onto a Forrester through ball and dispatched another tidy finish.
He’d be denied a chance to take the match ball home in injury time when Forrester was bundled over by ex-Saint Paul Cleary and Coughlan won the argument for the ball.
Corcoran went the right way but couldn’t keep out the Limerick striker’s low shot, his first in three months after a frustrating period out with injury.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Vitezslav Jaros; Jak Hickman, Sam Bone, Paddy Barrett (James Abankwa 89), Ian Bermingham; Jamie Lennon, Chris Forrester, Ben McCormack; Billy King, Darragh Burns (Alfie Lewis 62), Matty Smith (Ronan Coughlan 73).
Wexford: Jimmy Corcoran; Thomas Considine (Daniel Dobbin 87), Kevin McEvoy, Lorcan Fitzgerald, Paul Cleary, Paul Fox; Karl Fitzsimons (Ayman Yousif 87), Karl Manahan (Evan Farrell 68), Conor Crowley, Harry Groome (Jack Connolly 87); Jack Moylan.
Referee: Derek Tomney
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