Tonight sees the first legs of the Setanta Sports Cup semi-finals take place, and offers up a pair of intriguing ties. The seemingly rejuvenated Shamrock Rovers host Cork City, while runaway leaders Sligo travel to last year’s surprise package, Drogheda United.
Until last Friday evening Shamrock Rovers’ year had been remarkable only for its failings, as Trevor Croly’s side stumbled from disappointing draw to disappointing draw (a total of six from their first seven league games) until a 7-0 hammering of Bray last Friday seemed to make a mockery of worries that Rovers would struggle to score in a post-Twigg world.
Croly, speaking to the official club website, has since spoken of his belief that the result was a sign of the team’s early work paying off.
“We were excellent on Friday [against Bray] and the players deserve every credit for the result and the performance; it was also obviously great to get so many goals. The performance was the result of a lot of hard working coming together.
Cork City have had a similarly inconsistent start to the season, sitting three points behind Rovers with a game in hand, and manager Tommy Dunne knows the importance of putting in a solid performance in Tallaght tonight.
“We are going to go and give it everything we have, as we did in the Sligo game, but I think the most important thing for us tomorrow is to keep the tie alive and bring it back to Turner’s Cross next week,” he told the club website.
Cork have a litany of injuries to deal with as Dan Murray, Neal Horgan, Danny Murphy and Shane Duggan are just some of the names unavailable tonight.
The other semi-final pits runaway league leaders Sligo Rovers against a side who qualified for this competition by virtue of a stunning season of relative success last year as Mick Cooke’s young, inexpensively assembled squad marched to a second place finish.
This year has not been as fruitful thus far, with Cooke’s men sitting on eleven points after eight games and already 13 points behind tonight’s opponents.
Ian Barraclough brings his Sligo team to Louth keen to push on the club’s first Setanta Cup final appearance, despite this being their fourth consecutive appearance at the final four stage.
Barraclough’s side defeated Cork City 2-0 last Friday to make it eight wins from eight so far this season, and looking ahead to tonight’s fixture he told the club website:
"We've talked about the performance against Cork City where we were not at our best. I don't think it was a game to dwell too much on, we came away with three points and now we have a semi-final to look forward to. I think we prefer playing games rather than training and we will try to produce a more complete display tomorrow (Tuesday) night.
"We have had a few days to get ready to go again and there is a final at stake over these two legs. I want to win this competition, it is a chance for some early-season silverware and it is one that has eluded the club.
"A cup semi-final is a game to perk players up. I was in Tolka Park to see Drogheda beat Shelbourne last Friday and they will not let us have it our own way. We have to make sure we are strong, we have to make sure we are strong mentally and play and get back to the way we know."
Image: Cork City's Darren Dennehy ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
