Derry City saw off Dundalk 4-2 in the Cup of Ireland quarter-finals on Saturday evening. The hosts took an early lead through S. Tracey's goal in the thirteenth minute and added a second just before the break courtesy of P. McClean.
M. Duffy doubled his tally from the penalty spot in the forty-fourth minute before Dundalk pulled one back through K. Santos in the eightieth minute. Duffy struck again in the eighty-fifth minute to restore the two-goal cushion, but L. Gaxha's late effort in the ninety-first minute ensured a nervy finale.
Derry made three changes at the same time in the fifty-seventh minute, bringing on C. Dillon, A. Dervin and D. McDaid. Dundalk responded with substitutions from R. Cornwall in the sixty-fifth minute, D. Burns in the sixty-eighth and T. Smith in the seventy-sixth minute. Duffy was subbed off late on for M. Duffy.
The statistics tell a story of two sides sharing possession evenly at 0.5 apiece. Derry registered more attacks with 87 to 73, but Dundalk were more clinical with six shots on target compared to Derry's four. Both teams had two yellow cards in the closing stages.
Derry's recent form shows inconsistency with a 3-3 draw against Shamrock Rovers and a heavy 3-5 loss to Bohemians in their last two outings. Dundalk came into the tie with an 8-0 win over Castlebar Celtic but had also suffered a 2-3 defeat to Shamrock Rovers.
The result keeps Derry City in the Cup of Ireland race and sends Dundalk packing after a quarter-final exit. The visitors had looked dangerous from distance but could not find the equaliser they needed.
