Cockhill Celtic 0 Longford Town 2
Plucky Donegal side Cockhill Celtic's FAI Cup adventure ended on home soil as they lost out to Premier Division Longford Town at the Charlie O'Donnell Sports Grounds in Buncrana on Saturday night.
The Ulster Senior League champions battled hard throughout but Longford always had the slight edge and followed up on their win over First Division outfit Finn Harps in the last round with this win to book their place in the last eight for the first time since 2009.
The visitors looked lively from the start with Gary Shaw emerging as the biggest threat and along with Stephen Rice he gave Cockhill a few anxious moments.
But Cockhill provided stern resistance and mounted the occasional counter-attack with Mark Moran twice having chances to put the home side ahead.
After the break Peter Doherty squandered the opportunity to put Cockhill ahead when heading wide from a good position.
Longford broke the deadlock on 62 minutes when, following a corner there was a real goalmouth scramble and although goalkeeper Gavin Cullen stopped David O’Sullivan’s shot, the ball eventually squirmed into the net off James Bradley who was trying to clear.
Moments later, Cockhill could have drawn level as Paul McKinney latched on to a Christopher McLaughlin cross in a menacing position but failed to make the chance count. Benny McLaughlin also went close and Cockhill also had a penalty plea for handball dismissed.
Longford effectively wrapped it up on 80 minutes when Kaleem Simon whipped the ball in for Lorcan Shannon to connect with in some style.
Cockhill Celtic: Cullen, K. McLaughlin, P. Doherty, O'Connor, G. McLaughlin, Bradley, D. Doherty, B. McLaughlin, McKinney, Moran, C. McLaughlin. Subs: O'Donnell for P. Doherty (68 mins)R. Doherty for Moran (60 mins).
Longford: Hunt, Rice, Shannon, Shaw, O'Connor, Powell, Sullivan, O'Sullivan, Mohamed, Rossiter, Gorman. Subs: Simon for Rossiter (70 mins).
Referee: Mr. M. Connolly (Monaghan)
Cobh Wanderers 0 Sligo Rovers 4
Sligo Rovers recent good form continued as they defeated Cobh Wanderers in their quarter final also on Saturday night, dismissing the challenge of non-league Cobh Wanderers in St. Colman’s Park.
Both sides had progressed to this stage by defeating non-league opposition Avondale United and Crumlin United with Sligo defeating the latter.
The premier division side were ultimately too strong for their Cork opposition on the night though and this was reflected in the scoreline with Dinny Corcoran (2), Raffaele Cretaro and David Cawley all finding the Cobh net despite the best efforts of the home side.
Cobh Wanderers were committed throughout the game but Sligo’s class showed over the 90 minutes. The breakthrough arrived on 26 minutes when Cretaro found Corcoran and the striker fired into the top corner from 25 yards. The lead doubled on 32 minutes, as Rob Lehane played in Cretaro and he chipped Michael Devine from 12 yards. The third goal arrived on 37 minutes with Cawley’s pile driver following Lehane’s pass.
The second half saw Sligo pile further pressure on Cobh and they got a fourth goal on 84 minutes when Corcoran scored his second goal of the game to ensure Sligo can still dream of the Aviva.
Cobh Wanderers: Devine; Hastings (Nolan 77), Collins, Fitzgerald, Nolan; Stoat (O'Flynn 60), Stapleton, O'Shea, Barrett (O'Hanlon 52), Meade; O'Neill
Sligo Rovers: Brush; Boylan Keane, Peers, Donelon; Puri (Elding 54), Russell (Hughes 45), Cawley, Cretaro (Ward 45); Lehane,
Referee: Anthony Buttimer (Cork)
