Cork face tricky trip to Limerick 37

FAI CUP DRAWCORK CITY will start their campaign to retain the Ford-sponsored FAI Cup with a trip to Limerick 37 a little over a month after knocking the first division outfit out of the League Cup thanks to goals from Neal Horgan and George O'Callaghan.

"We've played them in the League Cup down in Cork but they'll be delighted that this time they've got the home draw, which is what you want in the cup," said City boss Alan Mathews last night.

"Having said that, it's not a bad draw for us, although I'm sure Mike (Kerley) would say the same. We don't have to travel too far, we're playing a team from the First Division and what we have to do is make sure that we prepare for it properly."

Last night's draw threw up just one all Premier Division tie - between Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers - and two involving only non-league sides. One of those is a repeat of the Intermediate Cup clash between St Mary's of Cork and Wayside Celtic, an encounter that went so well that the Dubliners, who won in a replay, were already making plans to wrap up their season with a return visit to the southerners.

The management team at another non-league side, Drogheda Town, has a distinctly Bohemian-looking flavour to it these days and when the Dalymount outfit were handed a home game, the clubs officials could be heard imploring Giovanni Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli on stage to pick out the ball with their number - nine - next.

The Italian looked down and advised: "Number nine . . . concentrate!" When he then drew the desired ball, there was a huge roar of approval and Terry Eviston as well as his assistant Lee King were amongst those on their feet celebrating. "It's a dream come through," said King who, along with Pat Fenlon, was a member of the Bohemians team that won this competition in 1992. "Everybody else wanted Drogheda United beforehand but this is the one I always wanted," he beamed.

The cup will eat into the close season of a club whose season would otherwise have ended when they won a local derby against Boyne Rovers to avoid relegation from Division One of the Leinster Senior League on Friday night. Amongst the team that avoided the drop was Killian Brennan's brother, Seán.

Drogheda will travel to Douglas Hall in Cork where Paul Doolin insists the league champions will take nothing for granted. "Obviously we'll be cast as favourites," he said, "but they've been involved in the cup for a few years now and they'll have some decent players. I'll look to find out a lot more about them between now and then but we haven't got past the third round since winning the cup (in 2005) and that'll be our first aim for this year."

Another notable tie thrown up by the draw was the pairing of Shelbourne and Dundalk, the First Division promotion rivals who met in the 1993 final when Greg Costello's goal decided the game in favour of the Dubliners.

Ian Bermingham of UCD and Bray's Derek Pender, meanwhile, have been called into the Republic's under-23 squad for tonight's game against Northern Ireland at Mourneview Park in Lurgan. The team's manager, Pat Fenlon, brought the pair in after losing Joe O'Cearuill, Stephen O'Donnell and Séamus Coleman to injury on Sunday.

The Republic won its first group game in the International Challenge Trophy qualifying competition back in November when they beat Slovakia 2-0 in Dublin and would go top of a group that also includes Belgium if they win this evening.

Third round draw

Wexford Yths v Killester Utd

Galway Utd v Waterford Utd

Douglas Hall v Drogheda Utd

Everton v Carrick Utd

Shelbourne v Dundalk

Rockmount v Bray Wanderers

Monaghan Utd v UCD

Limerick 37 v Cork City

St Patrick's v Longford Town

Kildare County v Fanad Utd

Athlone Town v Finn Harps

Derry City v Liffeys Pearse

Sporting Fingal v Cobh Ramblers

Bohemians v Drogheda Town

Shamrock Rvrs v Sligo Rovers

St Mary's v Wayside Celtic

Fixtures to be played weekend ending, Sunday, June 8th