Pat’s look to pop open Cork in FAI Cup

Daire Walsh

St Patrick’s Athletic will seek to leave the disappointment of last week’s Premier Division defeat to Finn Harps behind them when they face Cork City in the second round of the FAI Cup at Turner’s Cross tonight (kick-off 7.45pm).

As a result of their 3-1 reversal in Ballybofey six days ago, the Saints lost further ground to Shamrock Rovers in the race for top-flight supremacy. Despite having two games more played than the Hoops, the Inchicore men are three points adrift of their fellow Dubliners.

While there will be opportunities in the coming weeks for Stephen O’Donnell’s charges to bridge the gap to the defending champions, the Cup may well represent their best shot at silverware in 2021.

It is seven years since the Saints got their hands on the FAI Cup, but they couldn’t have asked for a better start to the latest edition of the competition. Supplementing a brace from Scottish winger Billy King, Jason McClelland, Ben McCormack, Sam Bone and Paddy Barrett all found the net in a 6-0 first round success against Bray Wanderers.

This game showed the gulf that can exist between Premier Division and First Division clubs in a competitive fixture, though Cork City did their best to dispel this notion in their opening round bout with Sligo Rovers.

Although the Leesiders are currently 11 points behind Bray in the second-tier league table, a last-gasp Dale Holland goal earned them a 3-2 win over the Connacht side at The Showgrounds. Liam Buckley’s Bit O’Red currently occupy third spot in the Premier Division table, but couldn’t find a way past City in a tense knockout affair.

This excellent victory is something of an outlier for Cork when compared to their league campaign, which has seen them recording just five wins from 20 games thus far in 2021. Previously one of the most formidable teams in the land, the Rebel Army have struggled for consistency since John Caulfield departed as first-team manager in May 2019.

Now under the guidance of former Republic of Ireland midfielder Colin Healy, there seems little prospect of Cork City returning to the top-flight in the near future. Still, there is always the possibility of them pulling off a big result in a one-off game and, particularly in light of their loss to a Tunde Owolabi-inspired Finn Harps, St Pat’s will not be taking them for granted.