Cork City (0) - St Patrick's Athletic (1)

Cork City 0 - St Patrick's Athletic 1

Pete Mahon's St Patrick's Athletic side took a major step towards lifting their first FAI Ford Cup since 1961 when a lone strike from Danny North sent them through to the semi-finals after a hard-fought victory over Cork City at Turner's Cross.

The crucial score came after half an hour when North found the bottom corner of James McCarthy's net to settle this quarter-final clash in front of an attendance of 2337.

A fine defensive performance and another Ford man-of-the-match display from Daryl Kavanagh saw the Dublin side continue their search for Cup glory.

Cork manager Tommy Dunne showed he had other priorities outside of the FAI Cup in a team selection that saw top scorers Graham Cummins and Davin O'Neill, who had scored 32 goals in all competitions between them, left on the bench.

The home side also rested goalkeeper Mark McNulty, who has a back injury, with reserve stopper McCarthy taking his place as Cork kept one eye on next week's EA Sports Cup final meeting with Derry City and their push for promotion to the Premier Division.

Mahon would love to be the man to lead the Inchicore club to their first FAI Cup success in 50 years and he was delighted to see his side hit the front after half an hour.

Defender Derek Pender sent a through ball into the path of striker Danny North and he struck a low shot from 15 yards into the bottom corner of the diving McCarthy's net.

The home side might have scored just a minute before the opening goal. A good pass from Vincent Escudè-Candau sent Ian Turner racing into the penalty area and his chip over goalkeeper Gary Rogers was half-blocked by the Pat's netminder, with defender Evan McMillan completing the clearance as he took the ball off the line.

The in-form Daryl Kavanagh, who had scored two goals for the Dubliners in their previous round win in Waterford, then tested McCarthy with a 40-yard dipping shot which had to be tipped away for a corner.

Cork introduced both Cummins and O'Neill early in the second half and it certainly lifted the crowd.

But the nearest the home side came to equalising was a 25-yard screamer from Danny Murphy which brought a fingertip save form goalkeeper Gary Rogers, and a stoppage-time header from midfielder Shane Duggan which Rogers dealt with comfortably.

So will this be the Inchicore club's year? Well they are now just 90 minutes from a final appearance at the Aviva Stadium.

© rte.ie

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Cork City 0 - St Patrick's Athletic 1

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