City shut out battling Shels

Cork City 2 Shelbourne 0

Damien Richardson's team now await the winners of tonight's second semi-final between Linfield and Drogheda United to see who they will meet in the final on April 22.

While City were missing the suspended Roy O'Donovan as well as injured goalkeeper Michael Devine and striker John O'Flynn, Shels manager Pat Fenlon made six changes from the side which beat Waterford 1-0 to deliver the Dubliners their first league victory of the season. One of the changes came at the 11th hour, with out-of-favour keeper Dean Delaney returning in place of Steve Williams, who had taken ill in the team hotel.

Cork's Liam Kearney, confined to the bench at the start, had to put up with the inevitable jeers of "Judas" from the Rebel Army but his presence took some of the heat off another Turner's Cross old boy, Ollie Cahill.

It was Shels who turned the temperature up in an opening half-hour during which all the major incidents were at the Cork end.

First, a Danny Murray miskick allowed Jason Byrne through on goal and only a last-ditch tackle from Danny Murphy prevented the Shels marksman from adding to his Setanta Cup tally of three goals.

A minute later, it was Stuart Byrne's turn to leave Murray trailing in his wake, but this time McNulty got down quickly to take the ball cleanly off his feet. As Shels continued to press, driven on by the combative Jim Crawford and Stuart Byrne in midfield, Glen Crowe directed first a close-range header and then a shot wide of the target, when he was in a good position on both occasions to turn Shels' dominance into a goal.

But the game was turned on its head in the 34th minute when City managed to score with almost their first clear sight of goal.

And it was all down to a combination of Colin O'Brien's persistence and composure. Playing in Roy O'Donovan's position on the right of midfield, O'Brien exploited some poor Shels defending, winning the ball back in a tackle on Jamie Harris inside the box, before quickly regaining his feet to sweep a left-footed shot inside Dean Delaney's far post.

With half-time approaching, Denis Behan came close to adding to Cork's lead, flashing an angled drive across Delaney's goal, but it was Shels who came closer still right on the whistle when, after Dan Murray had headed away Owen Heary's deep cross,

McNulty was forced to react smartly to tip a thunderous Stuart Byrne volley over the top.

Eight minutes into the second half, Cork almost made it two. Neal Fenn and Denis Behan combined brilliantly on the edge of the Shels box before the latter saw his shot on the turn crash back off a post.

Almost immediately at the other end, Shels were offered a lifeline when referee David Malcolm judged that Colin O'Brien had brought down Stuart Byrne in the Cork box.

With most of Turner's Cross baying its disapproval, Jason Byrne stepped up to the spot only to see his shot parried by McNulty. And the home cheers had hardly died down when Cork went two up on the hour mark.

The goal was simplicity itself: Danny Murphy took a throw in from the left, Denis Behan flicked the ball on, and Fenn finished from close range.

At the other end, McNulty continued to lay claim to the man of the match award with fine saves from Bobby Ryan and Stuart Byrne, as Shels desperately sought a way back into the game.

To a predictable chorus of boos, Fenlon sent Kearney into the fray to replace Ollie Cahill on 73 minutes, but it was an unrewarding homecoming for the Corkman, as City took the sting out of the game with passages of controlled possession football.

They restricted Shels to mainly long-range efforts and left them, ultimately, with no hope of getting to the final of the Setanta Cup for the second year in a row.

And there was a final ignominy for the visitors when, to the evident anger of manager Pat Fenlon, David Crawley was shown a red card in the dying seconds.

CORK CITY: McNulty, Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy, Gamble, O'Brien, O'Callaghan, Woods, Behan, Fenn (Softic 87).

SHELBOURNE: Delaney, Heary, Rogers, Harris, Crawley, Baker (Ryan 13), S. Byrne, Crawford (Dillon 58), Cahill, J. Byrne, Crowe Ref: David Malcolm (Bangor).