Details

Date Time League Season
17 September 2023 2:00 pm FAI Women's Cup 2023

Match Report

Rovers Book Comfortable Passage To Semi-Finals

Shamrock Rovers booked their tickets into the FAI Cup semi-finals with a comfortable 5-0 win over Cork City.

Stephanie Zambra starred in the first half as Rovers took advantage of a loosely-constructed Cork midfield. Their first goal came in the 14th minute, a quick move seeing Scarlett Herron float a ball into the box and finding Zambra who fired into the roof of the net.

Zambra picked the ball at her feet at the edge of half-time, playing in the on-rushing Áine O’Gorman who produced a calm finish to make it 2. A second yellow for Jesse Mendez in the second half saw the Cork defence buckle, Joy Ralph and O’Gorman netting again to put the game firmly beyond doubt. Lauren Kelly added the fifth in the first minute of stoppage time.

Despite the one-sided scoreline Cork enjoyed a largely positive start to the clash, stringing together some slick passing moves that resulted in a handful of half-chances in the Rovers’ box.

The writing on the wall soon began to form for The Rebel Army, where in spite of their promising forward exploits, looked far too exposed and easy to play through.  

Soon enough the deadlock was broken, as Shamrock Rovers moved through the Cork midfield seamlessly, Jessica Gargan sending a direct ball down the right wing into the feet of Scarlett Heron.

Heron took a quick look-up on the edge of the area and lofted a perfectly placed ball into the six-yard box, Stephanie Zambra beating out the Cork defence to get there first and fire into the roof of the net.  

History repeated itself for Rovers’ second, Zambra taking the ball down with too much time and space, turning to play in the on-rushing Áine O’Gorman who finished coolly to put her side in the driving seat on the brink of half-time.

The Hoops continued to dominate possession throughout the second half yet Danny Murphy would have counted his side unlucky to not get on the score sheet, having been forced to witness what must have been one of the most absurd passages of play this season.   

Eva Mangan went for a spectacular effort thirty yards out and found her shot rattle off Lawless’ crossbar before the ensuing goal-kick was intercepted by Lauren Walsh and played to Heidi Macken, who went for a near-identical shot, and like Mangan saw her shot smash off the crossbar.

Those near-misses marked the beginning of a sharp down-turn for Cork, Jesse Mendez receiving her marching orders minutes later after a high boot led to her second yellow card of the match.

Mendez’s absence saw the Cork defence buckle, appearing more and more exposed on the wings as Gargan began to put in more and more dangerous crosses into the corridor of uncertainty.

Joy Ralph, O’Gorman, and Lauren Kelly all scored in the final 20 minutes to round up a dominant victory for The Hoops.

Shamrock Rovers will go on to face one of last year’s runner-ups Athlone Town, last year's winners Shelbourne or Sligo Rovers in the semi-finals, squaring off against Wexford Youths in the league the week after.

Cork welcome Athlone Town to Turners’ Cross in two week’s time, Danny Murphy’s side hoping to improve on their meagre league form, The Rebel Army residing at the bottom of the table with just two points. 

Cork City

29Clodagh Fitzgerald Goalkeeper
2Lauren Walsh 3 Defender
4Ciara McNamara Defender
11Shaunagh McCarthy Defender
17Heidi Mackin Defender
28Kiera Sena 16 Defender
10Eva Mangan 19 Midfielder
18Jesse Mendez Midfielder 39'
69'
9Christina Dring Forward
13Ellie O’Brien Forward
23Fiana Bradley 22 Forward
3Danielle Burke 2 Defender
14Aoibhinn Donnelly Forward
16Laura Shine 28 Forward
19Niamh Cotter 10 Midfielder
25Lauren Singleton Defender
26Hannah Walsh Goalkeeper
22Erin O’Brien 23 Midfielder

Shamrock Rovers

25Summer Lawless Goalkeeper
2Jessica Gargan Defender
3Savannah McCarthy Defender
4Shauna Fox 16 Defender
5Jessica Hennessy Defender
8Aoife Kelly Midfielder
12Scarlett Herron 21 Midfielder
9Joy Ralph 14 Forward 72'
10Stephanie Zambra 9 Forward 14'
11Lia O’Leary 22 Forward
13Aine O’Gorman Forward 41', 76'
9Alannah McEvoy 10 Forward
14Lauren Kelly 9 Forward 90'
16Abby Tuthill 4 Defender
21Jaime Thompson 12 Midfielder
22Melissa O’Kane 11 Defender
30Jayne Merren Goalkeeper
  • Full-time. Cork City 0-5 Shamrock Rovers.

  • 90'

    Goal! Lauren Kelly finishes off another cross from Gargan to make it 5.

  • 86'

    Tuthill comes on for Fox in the last Rovers substitution of the game.

  • 82'

    A double header substitution for Rovers. Lauren Kelly and Thompson come on for Ralph and Herron.

  • 76'

    Goal! Rovers punish Cork down the wings again, this time McEvoy squaring the ball to O'Gorman in the centre of the box to make it four.

  • 72'

    Goal! Gargan squares the ball to Ralph in the box, who does well to separate herself from McNamara and fire past Fitzgerald.

  • 69'

    Things go from bad to worse for Cork, as Mendez leaves a high boot on Heron and receives her marching orders with her second yellow card of the match.

  • 66'

    Alannah McEvoy and Melissa O'Kane to replace Zambra and O'Leary.

  • 62'

    Danielle Burke comes on for the injured Lauren Walsh.

  • 56'

    A crazy thirty seconds in Bishopstown! Mangan finds herself in acres of space thirty yards out from Lawless' goal and goes for a spectacular effort that rattles the crossbar. Lawless builds back up but has her goal-kick intercepted by Walsh, who finds Mackin. Mackin goes for a near identical shot, and just like Mangan, finds her effort smashing off the bar!

  • 50'

    Erin O'Brien replaces Bradley at the interval.

  • 46'

    Action gets back underway in Bishopstown.

  • Half-time. Cork City 0-2 Shamrock Rovers.

  • 41'

    Goal! Rovers are again left with too much space to operate in, Zambra finding the ball at her feet with her back to goal. She takes the ball on the turn and finds the on-rushing figure of O'Gorman who calmly slots the ball past Fitzgerald to make it 0-2.

  • 39'

    Jessie Mendez receives the first booking of the game for a late tackle on Ralph.

  • 36'

    Sena breaks down the line and tries to find O'Brien in the box, Lawless reading the cross well to collect the ball and restart the Shamrock Rovers build up.

  • 31'

    Bradley breaks down the line for Cork for and sends a dangerous ball into the Rovers\' box that\'s cleared by Hennessy. The clearance falls to O\'Brien outside of the box, her effort overhit as it flys over the Lawless\' crossbar.

  • 27'

    Cork have had some bright spells moving forward but what may prove to be their eventual undoing is their lack of solidity in defence...Rovers have able been able to progress the ball through the lines far too easy so far, especially on the counter-attack.

  • 20'

    O\'Leary floats a ball into the box from a set-piece and finds the head of McCarthy. McCarthy-recently called up to the Irish squad-gets good contact on the ball but is unable to direct her effort goal-bound as play restarts with a goal-kick for Fitzgerald.

  • 14'

    Goal! A positive start for Cork is wiped away early as they\\\'re left far too exposed on the break. Gargan sends the ball down the right flank and finds Herron on the byline. Herron takes a quick look up and lofts the ball to Zambra six yards out, the veteran striker finishing well into the roof of the net.

  • 9'

    No clear-cut chances as of yet. A slick attacking move sees Fox spray the ball to O\'Gorman on the wing, where Gargan is fed the ball on the overlap. Gargan\'s cross on the edge of area fails to find Ralph or Zambra in the box and instead falls to the feet of Mangan as Cork begin to build from the back.

  • 1'

    Shamrock Rovers get action underway in Bishopsgate!

  • Afternoon all and welcome to our coverage of Cork City vs Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup Quarter-Finals. Shamrock Rovers enter the tie as favourites, having logged a comfortable 4-0 victory over Cork two weeks ago. Cork have failed to regain form since that loss, falling to a 5-0 defeat at the hands of league-leaders Peamount United last Saturday. The winner of today's tie will face Athlone Town in the semi-finals.

Past Meetings

(Round 16)
0 - 4
LOI Women's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

(Round 26)
2 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC 2-1 Cork City FC

(Round 17)
1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC 1-0 Shamrock Rovers FC

(Round 9)
5 - 0
LOI Women's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC 5-0 Cork City FC

(Round 4)
4 - 4
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC 4-4 Cork City FC

3 - 0
eLOI

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

(Series 11)
0 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City v Shamrock Rovers

(2nd Round)
2 - 1
FAI Cup
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

(Series 2)
6 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

3 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

2 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

1 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

3 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

4 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

8:00 pm
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

7:45 pm
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

8:00 pm
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers FC v Cork City FC

3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City FC v Shamrock Rovers FC

(Round 19)
5 - 0
LOI Women's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

(Round 12)
0 - 3
LOI Women's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City v Shamrock Rovers

(Round 5)
6 - 1
LOI Women's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

(Round 14)
3 - 0
LOI Women's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City v Shamrock Rovers

(Round 8)
2 - 2
LOI Women's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

(Round 1)
2 - 1
LOI Women's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City v Shamrock Rovers

(Round 14)
0 - 1
LOI Women's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

(Round 10)
2 - 0
LOI Women's Premier Division
Turner's Cross

Cork City v Shamrock Rovers

(Round 4)
0 - 1
LOI Women's Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers v Cork City

Ground

Turner's Cross
Beaufort Park, Turner\'s Cross C, Cork, County Cork, Munster, T12 E3H5, Ireland

Alex is a second-year Journalism student at DCU. As well as being a soccer enthusiast, he's also an avid athletics fan, competing in the sport for over ten years.