Dundalk's double bid under way
Dundalk began their quest to retain the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup with a comfortable 2-0 win over Shelbourne at Oriel Park.
It was the league champions' sixth consecutive victory and their second cup win of the season over Shels, who they also knocked out of the Leinster Senior Cup earlier this year.
The highlight of the first half was a terrific goal from the in-form Darryl Horgan, who curled in a superb opener from a fine Robbie Benson pass.
Ciaran Kilduff celebrated his return to action for the Lilywhites after injury with a spectacular second goal late on, dispatching Darren Meenan's corner into the net with a spectacular scissor kick.
Bohs end the drought at last
A break from league action proved to be fruitful for Bohemians as they progressed to the last 16 of the FAI Cup with a 2-0 win over Galway United at Dalymount Park.
Bohs had gone seven league games without a win, and hadn't scored a goal, but within 10 minutes Paddy Kavanagh had broken the duck with an opening goal, and Mark Quigley's second half penalty wrapped up a welcome win for Keith Long's side.
Ayman Ben Mohamed, called up for the Tunisian national squad earlier in the week, was involved in both goals, sending in a cross that was cleared only as far as Kavanagh who fired in the opener, and in the second half he was brought down in the box by Galway's Gary Shanahan to earn the penalty that Quigley converted to wrap up the win.
Game of the round at UCD
The weekend's most exciting tie saw First Division UCD eventually edge out Premier Division opponents Bray Wanderers with a 4-3 win in an incident packed game at the UCD Bowl
The Students cruised into a three goal lead at the break through goals from Gary O’Neill, Gregory Sloggett and Kieran Waters, but within 11 minutes of the restart Ryan Brennan had struck a hat trick for Bray to bring the Seagulls back on level terms.
Gary O’Neill then missed a penalty for UCD midway through the second period to give Bray another lifeline, but a goal from Ryan Swan shortly after ensured victory for UCD over last year's semi-finalists in a thrilling encounter.
Harps shocked by minnows
Leinster Senior League side Crumlin United rounded off a memorable week by knocking Finn Harps out of the FAI Cup with a 1-0 win over the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division at Finn Park.
The Dublin side are the first non-league club to knock a top flight team out of the FAI Cup since 2000, when Sligo Rovers lost to Bluebell United, and Drogheda United went out to Bangor Celtic.
Seven days on from their FAI Intermediate Cup final triumph at the Aviva Stadium, United's Greg Moorhouse - a cup final hat-trick hero in their 5-0 defeat of Letterkenny Rovers last week - kept up his fine run with an early second half winner to earn his side the accolade of being the weekend's most notable cup giant killers.
In contrast, it ended a miserable eight days for Harps, who followed up a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Dundalk with a 4-0 defeat at St Patrick's Athletic in midweek, giving manager Ollie Horgan plenty to ponder.
Record win for Pats
St. Patrick's Athletic recorded the biggest FAI Cup win in their history, with a 8-0 thrashing of beaten FAI Junior Cup finalists Pike Rovers at Richmond Park.
The Limerick side lost narrowly to Sheriff YC in their Aviva final last weekend but their return trip to Dublin was something of a mismatch, with Pats running up one of the biggest winning margins in the history of the competition, despite having several first team regulars missing.
Doubles from Billy Dennehy, Graham Kelly and Mark Timlin and further goals from Michael Barker and Dinny Corcoran made it a good afternoon for Pats, but one to forget for the visitors.
Results:
Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup Second Round:
Athlone Town 0 Letterkenny Rovers 0, Bluebell United 2 Limerick 5, Bohemians 2 Galway United 0, Cobh Ramblers 2 Cherry Orchard 1, Cork City 4 St Peters 0, Derry City 1 Drogheda United 1, Dundalk 2 Shelbourne 0, Finn Harps 0 Crumlin United 1.
Firhouse Clover 0 Wexford Youths 3, Janesboro 2 Sheriff YC 1, Ringmahon Rangers 2 Glebe North 1, St. Patrick's Athletic 8 Pike Rovers 0, Sligo Rovers 3 Cabinteely 0, Shamrock Rovers 4 Midleton 0, UCD 4 Bray Wanderers 3, Waterford United 0 Longford Town 2.
