FAI Cup SF - Derry City 1 - 1 Shelbourne

Derry City and Shelbourne will have it all to do again on Wednesday night in Tolka Park after playing out a tense 1-1 draw at the Brandywell on Sunday afternoon.

The old cliché of 'a game of two halves' was probably coined for occasions just like this. Alan Matthews will probably be the happier of the two bosses at the end as it gives his side home advantage in the replay.

Derry City sprung a surprise by naming Rory Patterson in the starting line up as he hadn't played in over three months but it was the visitors who started the game with more urgency. And their quick start was rewarded in the 5th minute when captain David Cassidy opened the scoring.

A clearance from Shane McEleney ricocheted back over his head off one of his own players and landed at the feet of Cassidy who looked up and coolly slotted the ball past a despairing Gerard Doherty in the Derry goal.

A shell shocked Derry took a couple of minutes to compose themselves and in the 9th minute almost garnered a spectacular equaliser. Patrick McEleney picked up the ball 30 yards out and hit a rasping dipping shot that Bennion did brilliantly to tip over his bar.

It was the visitors however that were dealing with the occasion better as Derry seemed to be unable to string any decent passages of play together. The rest of the half was played out in the midfield area without either goalkeeper being called into serious action at any point. A few speculative efforts from both sides were in evidence and Shelbourne were edging the game as Damien Hancock blew for half time.

Whatever Declan Devine said to his men at half time however seemed to have the desired effect. His side restarted the game at a much higher tempo and in the 49th minute they thought they had equalised when a goal mouth scramble saw the ball cross the line but Damien Hancock decided that Chris Bennion had been fouled during the action much to the disappointment of the home crowd.

In the 51st minute a foul on Rory Patterson saw him react and raise his arms at Cassidy and he was very lucky that Mr Hancock only produced a yellow card. Derry were clearly in the ascendancy at this juncture and the goal their play deserved duly arrived in the 58th minute.

A Dermott McCaffrey cross was glanced towards goal by David McDaid and nestled in the back of the net off the post.

Shelbourne were offering very little going forward and it was a surprise to see Philly Hughes being replaced on the hour. In the 79th minute man of the match Chris Bennion pulled off another stunning save. The ball fell at the feet of Simon Madden 25 yards out and his swerving shot bounced in front of the netminder and he did brilliantly to turn it round his post.

The rest of the game was played out with the two sides simply looking like they did not want to make a mistake and there will now be a replay on Wednesday night at Tolka Park with the glorious prize of the final awaiting the victors.

Derry City: Gerard Doherty; Simon Madden, Shane McEleney, Stewart Greacen, Dermot McCaffrey; Patrick McEleney, Barry Molloy, Kevin Deery (c), Stephen McLaughlin (Mark Farren 84); Rory Patterson (Barry McNamee 69), David McDaid (Marc Brolly 90+2).
Subs not used: Eugene Ferry, Ryan McBride, Ruaidhri Higgins, Ryan Curran.

Booked: Patterson (51), Greacen (76), Madden (90).

Shelbourne: Chris Bennion; Ian Ryan (Brian Shortall 90+4), Andrew Boyle, Stephen Paisley, Sean Byrne; David Cassidy (c) (Conan Byrne 78), Glenn Cronin, Kevin Dawson, Paddy Kavanagh; Paul Byrne; Philip Hughes (Philip Gorman 62).
Subs not used: Paul Skinner, Barry Clancy, Stephen Hurley, Anto Murphy.

Booked: Shortall ().

Referee: Damien Hancock.
Attendance: 1,800 (estimate).
ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Chris Bennion (Shelbourne).