Cork City 5 Longford 2
A good start ensured that Cork City achieved their first league win since July 10th as they beat Longford Town for the second time in a week.
Having been comfortable in last week’s FAI Cup tie in Longford, the Rebel Army picked up where they left off as Alan Bennett headed home Kevin O’Connor’s corner in the sixth minute.
Stephen Dooley went close immediately after, Yann Mvita Nkelu with a good block, but City didn’t have to wait long as Dooley played in Seán Maguire, who slotted home.
While home goalkeeper Mark McNulty had to tip over Kealan Dillon’s shot on 18, it was brief respite from the flow of pressure and it was 3-0 just before the half-hour, Maguire with his second from the penalty spot after Bennett was fouled.
Coming up to half-time, Dooley had another chance, showing good pace only to be denied by Ryan Coulter, and Longford gave themselves a glimmer of hope then as Peter McGlynn fired home after good work by Eddie Dsane.
Four minutes after the restart, though, the three-goal lead was restored. Maguire was the creator this time, threading a through-ball for Karl Sheppard, who finished well.
Sheppard could have added more and sub Chiedozie Ogbene went close too. McGlynn did strike for a late Longford consolation, but Sheppard had the final say with his second after Ogbene set him up.
St Patricks’s Athletic 0 Bohemians 1
Kurtis Byrne’s free-kick on 57 minutes gave Bohemians all three points and their second league win of 2016 over Dublin rivals St Patrick’s Athletic.
A crowd of 1,486 saw Bohemians start well and they had a chance to opening the scoring on five minutes. Lorcan Fitzgerald’s free-kick came to Byrne about 10 yards out. He turned and fired but his predatory strike went inches wide.
St Patrick’s began to see more of the ball after that though it was Byrne for Bohs who had the next chance. That came on 17 minutes when he tested St Patrick’s goalkeeper Conor O’Malley from distance with a neat shot.
St Patrick’s put together a great move on 26 minutes that started promisingly but eventually came to nothing. Mark Timlin and Christy Fagan were involved in the build-up before the ball was played out to Stephen Kinsella who saw his shot pushed away by Bohs goalkeeper Shane Supple.
Bohs’ Paddy Kavanagh had the first chance of the second half on 49 minutes when he took advantage of a Darren Dennehy mistake but fired his shot wide.
Bohs pushed on and looked the more likely of the two teams to score. And that’s what they did on 57 minutes when Byrne’s free-kick zipped past the St Patrick’s wall and into the far bottom corner.
Finn Harps 0 Shamrock Rovers 2
Shamrock Rovers came good in the second half to secure the points against Finn Harps in Ballybofey. Goal-shy Harps have now gone five games without a goal and the demands of life in the top flight are now beginning to bite.
Rovers, though, are still keeping their hopes of European soccer next season alive.
Harps were always playing second fiddle after Rovers went ahead through Sean Boyd in the 53rd minute.
Rovers had rarely threatened before the break but they improved in the second half and broke the deadlock when Boyd blasted past Richard Brush after a good move involving Simon Madden and Brandon Miele.
Harps battled hard to lift their game but in pushing up they invariably left gaps at the back and Rovers looked increasingly menacing on the occasional counter attack.
Rovers goalkeeper Craig Hyland was never under any serious pressure. Boyd then set up Dean Clarke, who added the second from close range on 80 minutes. Rovers could well have got a third as they finished strongly.
Among the spectators in the small crowd was Irish Olympian Chloe Magee, the Irish number one badminton player who hails from Raphoe in Co Donegal.
