Battle of the Rovers pick of cup draw

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI and Marco Tardelli did the honours for the FAI Ford Cup Third Round last night but the new Irish management team couldn’t stage-manage any real blockbuster clashes.

Indeed, the only all-Premier Division match is a battle of the Rovers as the Dublin Hoops welcome Sligo to Tolka Park.

Otherwise, the night belonged to the ten non-League clubs, all of whom will harbour dreams of the big upset.

Cork’s Douglas Hall play host to eircom League champions Drogheda United, with Paul Doolin understandably wary.

“Obviously, we’ll be cast as favourites but we won’t under-estimate Douglas Hall,” he said. “We’ll find out plenty about them and treat them with the respect they deserve. We actually haven’t been past the Third Round since we won the Cup in 2005 so that will be our first target this year.”

In a Premier Division v First Division Munster derby, cup holders Cork open their defence of the trophy away to Limerick 37.

“They’ll be happy with the home draw, it’s what you want in the cup,” said City boss Alan Mathews. “But it’s not a bad draw for either of us. We won’t have to travel far, we’re playing a team from the First Division and what we need to do is to prepare properly.”

Pulling out the away teams, Trapattoni granted the wishes of a noisy Drogheda Town delegation who drew Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

Former Bohs and Rovers star Terry Eviston is the manager at the non-league Drogs and, having just survived a battle against relegation in the Leinster Senior League, he described his imminent return to his own old stomping ground as the “icing on the cake.”