EA Sports Cup Report: Limerick 0 - 3 Cork City

Cork City defeated Limerick 3-0 at the Markets Field for the second time in three weeks to advance to the third round of the EA Sports Cup.

Goals from Garry Buckley and Shane Griffin either side of a Shane Tracy own goal provided the Rebels with a well-deserved victory.

Cork began brightly and the lively Garry Buckley beat Shane Tracy to get to the by-line, but Conor Ellis failed to covert his clever pull-back. Immediately, Ellis turned provided for Steven Beattie but his weak effort was easily saved by Brendan Clarke in the Limerick goal.

The visitors took a deserved lead when Steven Beattie’s right wing cross was powerfully headed into the roof of the net by Garry Buckley.

Limerick were particularly sloppy in possession and Cork midfield duo Greg Bolger and Buckley were comfortable throughout the opening stages, while the home side looked vulnerable from set pieces.

Limerick struggled to create any chance of note and could only manage wayward shots from Stephen Kenny, Garbhan Coughlan and Bastien Hery which failed to trouble experienced goalkeeper Mark McNulty.

Approaching the hour mark, Stephen Dooley received possession in acres of space and supplied the ball to Ellis who somehow placed his effort wide with the whole goal to aim at.

Limerick's first clear effort on goal came from Stephen Kenny, but his drilled shot was well held by veteran McNulty.

Cork doubled their lead from a corner as Dooley’s in swinging cross was headed into his own net by Tracy. Limerick had no time to recover as Cork added to their lead after a great run and finish from left-backGriffin, who easily beat Tobiaz Kainz.

Cork were running riot at this point but it was Limerick who fashioned the next chance as substitute Sean McSweeney blazed over from 18 yards from a Dean Clarke pass.

Great link up play between Sean Maguire and Dooley resulted in the latter forcing a great save from Clarke. With ten minutes remaining, rampant Cork should have scored a fourth as Ryan Delaney misjudged a header from a Dooley corner.

The visitors had no difficulty in the remaining minutes and comfortably dealt with the feeble attacks offered up by Willie Boland’s men.

With 17 changes made overall by both teams, it was no surprise that it was a relatively poor game. John Caulfield will be happy with his own team’s dominance.

However, Limerick were poor in attack and defence, which will disappoint Boland considering a lot of these players had a chance to stake a claim for a place in the first team on a regular basis

Limerick: Brendan Clarke; Tobiaz Kainz, Barry Cotter (Tony Whitehead 81), Dave O’Connor, Shane Tracy; Bastien Hery, Stephen Kenny (Sean McSweeney 67), Tom Wash, Dean Clarke, Ian Turner; Garbhan Coughlan (John O’Flynn 46).

Subs not used: Freddy Hall (gk), Tommy Robson, Lee-J Lynch, Chris Mulhall.

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Conor Mccarthy, John Dunleavy, Ryan Delaney, Shane Griffin; Greg Bolger, Garry Buckley (John Kavanagh 72), Stephen Beattie; Stephen Dooley, Achille Campion (Alec Byrne 55), Conor Ellis (Sean Maguire 55).

Subs not used: Alan Smith (gk), Aaron Drinan, Conor McCormack, Christian Nanetti.

Referee: Jim McKell.

Attendance: 847 (official).

Extratime.ie Player of the Match: Stephen Dooley (Cork City).