Cork City 3-1 Limerick August 8th 2011 League cup Semi-final

 League-cup semi-final fever didnt quiet grip the city as expected with a crowd of just 2000 turning up. The munster derby between these sides nowadays is much more intense with Limerick sending out a serious message of intent with their summer transfer signings of former Cork city stalwards Denis Behan and Joe Gamble to add to the quality they already had in the shapes of Paudie Quinn, Brian McCarthy and goalkeeper Barry Ryan. This had the makes of a good game which we were not disappointed.
The 4-1 win over Shelbourne saw Cork play poorly for the first twenty
minutes and that was the case once more in this game as Limerick hit the front with a goal on 13 minutes from Peter Hynes which went down well with the 20 or so Limerick fans in the away section.
For the second time in three days, Cork were behind early. That goal kicked Cork into gear and they began to create chances with some nice football being played in between. Any side would struggle to replicate the form they showed in the victory over Shelbourne but Cork did make a good stab at trying. Limerick came with a plan to strike early and keep Cork out and try and hit them on the counter. Limerick did force a few counters which were twarted by the rear guard defense and goalkeeping of McNulty. Just short of the half-hour though, Cork won a penalty. Davin O'Neill stepped up to convert past Ryan and level the scores at 1-1. Limerick though continued with their tactic while Cork seemed to be in a hurry to get in front before half-time.
The game in the 2nd half had chances but neither set of fans could celebrate a goal. As time went on both defenses became tired which explained the raft of attacking chances and personnel. Denis Behan on his first game against Cork always looked for scraps that he could feed off. Joe Gamble couldn't stamp his authority in midfield as he was closed down very quickly once in possession. Paudie Quinn looked dangerous up front and on the wings with some nice touches and almost sent Behan through.
For Cork the usual sight of Cummins and central defender tangling was all to see once more. The central defender in question here was the towering Brian McCarthy who was lucky to stay on the pitch when he bought down Graham Cummins one-on-one.
Extra-time was next and again both sides looking for that vital goal. After 104 minutes of play we had a penalty in front of the shed end. Responcibility was left to Vincent Escudé-Candau to dispatch past Ryan and put Cork 2-1 up with the 2nd half of extra-time to play.
Limerick simply had to attack and they duely did with some close run shots that missed McNulty's goal by centemeters. Then after 118 minutes of play Limerick forced a corner which was cleared to Grahm Cummins, he ran towards goal one-on-one with Ryan and powerfully struck the ball past the Clareman to end the game at 3-1 to Cork. That secured Cork's path to the League cup final to the delight of the fans that turned up on the night.