- Gareth O'Reilly
- Sat, Aug 24 2013
Shamrock Rovers progressed to the Quarter-Finals of the FAI Ford Cup with a 3-1 victory over non-league side Sheriff YC.
Goals from Thomas Stewart and Shane Robinson set Rovers on their way before John Rock gave the visitors a glimmer of hope. In the end it turned out to be very much false hope as Mark Quigley converted from the spot after Karl Sheppard had been fouled in the area to ensure a safe passage through to the next round.
The home side found themselves one goal up inside ten minutes as Stewart scored with the first shot of the game. The goal came from poor Sheriff defending when a Conor Powell cross was flicked back across the box by Conor McCormack. A Sheriff defender then got the ball caught under his feet which allowed Thomas Stewart to knick in before smashing the ball past O'Neill off the underside of the crossbar.
The visitors did have their fair share of possession in the opening twenty minutes. Their only shot of this period came from John Lester. The defensive midfielder's effort ended up sailing over the Barry Murphy's goal.
Thomas Stewart was once again at the heart of the Rovers attack as his cross found Gary McCabe who in turn played the ball to Ronan Finn only for Paul Murphy to get a well timed block in.
The second goal of the game was scored in the 21st minute as a beautiful back heel from Mark Quigley found a gap in the Sheriff defence allowing Shane Robinson to finish under O'Neill.
Sheriff had a good chance as half time approached with Darren Dunne forcing Barry Murphy into action after Kevin Lynch played the ball to the midfielder inside the penalty area. It was a great chance for Dunne to get his side back into the game but Murphy dealt with it well.
Shane Robinson looked to punish Sheriff for poor defending but his looping effort from the edge of the box had just too much height as the ball ended up scraping the bar.
Within a minute of the restart Sheriff nearly had the ball in the back of the Rovers net as Stephen Murphy's cross found John Rock inside the six yard box. Jason McGuinness had other ideas as his outstretched leg deflected Rock's shot over Barry Murphy's crossbar.
Rovers were slow out of the blocks as the Sheriff defence seemed to have glued up any of the gaps that were present in the first half.
Just over ten minutes into the second half the small number of Sheriff fans were given hope as John Rock headed a John Lester cross past Barry Murphy with the help of the post.
Rovers restored their two goal advantage when Karl Sheppard was taken down by goalkeeper Austin O'Neill and Mark Quigley stepped forward to place the ball coolly past O'Neill.
Quigley wasn't too far away from getting a second with a header as McCormack beat his man down the right hand side to float the cross into the box.
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Conor McCormack, Derek Foran, Jason McGuinness, Conor Powell; Gary McCabe (Karl Sheppard 56), Richie Ryan (James Chambers 83), Shane Robinson, Ronan Finn, Thomas Stewart; Mark Quigley (Eamon Zayed 85).
Subs Not Used: Shane Fagan, David Elebert, Pat Sullivan, Stephen Rice.
Booked: Jason McGuinness (36).
Sheriff YC: Austin O'Neill; Gavin McDermott (Stephen Larkin 69), Paul Murphy, John Lester, Joseph O'Neill; Sean Murphy, Stephen Murphy, Darren Dunne, Kevin Lynch (David Browne 60); Anthony Kane (Alan McCabe 60), John Rock.
Subs Not Used: Michael Piggott, Joseph Flood, Darren O'Brien, Aidan McGrane
Referee: Robert Harvey.
Attendance: 2,300 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Man Of the Match: Ronan Finn (Shamrock Rovers).
