City book last four spot

However Mark Farren will grab all the headlines as he helped himself to a hat-trick and in doing so over took Liam Coyle’s all time goalscoring record at the Brandywell.

Farren now has 113 goals for the Candy Stripes and rightfully so he was awarded the man of the match accolade and was giving a standing ovation from the Derry supporters when he was replaced by Kevin Deery on 75 minutes.

Although Farren will be the man everyone will be talking about, youngster Barry McNamee deserves a special mention, as he had a hand in at least three of the seven goals and his passing and crossing all night caused the Galway men problems.

The home side took the lead on 12 minutes when McNamee’s right wing corner found an unmarked Davy McDaid who gleefully headed home from close range.

On 35 minutes Farren scored his first of the night when he was quick to react inside the Mervue penalty box and slid the ball home past Conor Gleeson.

Just before the break Patrick McEleney scored a wonder goal when from just inside the Mervue half he spotted Gleeson off his line and coolly lobbed the back tracking keeper.

Early in the second half Johnny Glynn’s side pulled one back when Pat Hoban’s long range strike flew past City keeper Gerard Doherty and into the bottom left hand corner.

Any thoughts of a Mervue fight back were ended on 56 minutes when another McNamee pass released McDaid and the front man blasted home his 13th goal of the season.

After McDaid’s goal it was then time for Farren to take centre stage as he broke the record by scoring a brace in the space of a few minutes.

Firstly he reacted quickly to pick up Michael McSweeney’s terrible back-pass before calmly slotting the ball past Gleeson, then following a super through ball by McDaid, the Greencastle man side footed home his 113th goal for the Candy Stripes.

Derry’s goalscoring night was complete on 75 minutes when McDaid’s right wing centre found substitute Ryan Curran totally unmarked and he calmly turned home his first goal for his home town club.

The draw for the semi-finals will take place on Monday and will be broadcast live on RTE Two’s MNS programme.

The semi-finals have been fixed for Sunday, October 7 with the first match kicking-off at 1.45pm and the second at 3.55pm. Both games will be televised live on RTE Two.

Derry City: Doherty, Madden, S McEleney, McBride, McCaffrey; P McEleney, Molloy, McNamee, McLaughlin; McDaid, Farren. Subs: Brolly & Curran for P McEleney & McLaughlin (64); Deery for Farren (77).

Mervue United: Gleeson, McSweeney, McBrien, Elwood, Walsh, Keogh, King, Varley, Molloy, Biansumba, Horan. Subs: Conneely for Elwood (64).

Referee: Mr Tomas Connolly (Dublin).