With the final whistle of yesterday's Extra.ie FAI Cup Final, the curtain came down on what has been an eventful season in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division. As with all cup finals, there is lots to unpack on the back of it.
A disappointing day for Shelbourne but a positive season
In his post match interview with RTÉ, Damien Duff alluded to how yesterday's result could be described as "humiliating" for his side, although he mentioned how proud he was of his group of players. Overall, Duff's first season in charge of Shelbourne has been an overwhelming success and the decision to replace Ian Morris after he had won them promotion, a decision I was surprised by at the time, has been more than vindicated. The primary objective for this season had to be to stay up and they did so comfortably. Shels finished a comfortable 21 points ahead of Finn Harps in the automatic relegation spot and only 20 off St. Pat's who qualified for Europe on the back of yesterday's result. Shels' women's team secured the double after seeing off Athlone Town in last week's Evoke.ie FAI Cup Final in Tallaght. It has been a very successful year for Shelbourne as a football club and while yesterday's performance was incredibly disappointing for Shels, they were simply comfortably beaten by a team of much superior quality.
A poor spectacle
While their season was very positive, Shels fans will be understandably disappointed with both their side’s performance and result yesterday. There was always a fear that they would be dominated on the big pitch and unable to play their disciplined style of condensing their opponents which has worked so well in Tolka Park this year. Once they conceded first, it was always going to be a tough ask for them to emerge victorious from the game and when Cameron McJannett netted the first of his brace ten minutes before half time, the game began to look over as a contest. Derry were professional and showed their quality from the first minute but for neutrals, it was an incredibly underwhelming final.
When we compare Derry’s mauling of Shels to last season’s penalty shootout drama between Pat’s and Bohs, the two gripping Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk finals of 2019 and 2020 or the titanic struggles between Cork and Dundalk, the reality is that yesterday flattered to deceive. A one-sided final, regardless of who is dishing out the destruction or on the receiving end, does not create a great spectacle for the league. I know the primary objective of neither team is to create a spectacle but the cup final is one of few opportunities the League of Ireland receives to showcase the quality and excitement of the league. The game is televised and hosted in the national arena. The hope is for an exciting game of football which forces the neutral to acknowledge the league’s entertainment value. Unfortunately, yesterday couldn’t do that.
The pitch
I saw a few comments on social media regarding the pitch and the decision to play a rugby match the day before. I know the pitch is a hybrid pitch and this is in no way an attack on the ground staff in Lansdowne Road who do trojan work to keep the pitch in the condition we’ve seen it in so many times. However, I completely see the argument made by those who perceive playing what is little more than a friendly the day before the national cup final as disingenuous towards the FAI Cup Final. In reality, I think it just reflects the league’s position in the pecking order. Dundalk’s clash with Molde in a European group stage competition was moved out of the Aviva Stadium to Tallaght because it clashed with the IRFU’s kicking schedule. In reality, Ireland and Fiji on Saturday had a higher attendance than Derry and Shels yesterday. As a league, we need to persevere in gaining the respect of those who have little time for us and hopefully one day we will be seen on an equal footing as other sports in this country. I would also like to note here the disappointing turnout from Shels, in contrast with Derry who travelled in numbers. For a club founded in Ringsend, I had hoped they would bring a few more than they did.
Deserved Derry
There is no question about it, Derry were deserved winners yesterday and we must give credit for their exceptional performance. They bossed the game for 90 minutes and got their reward. The city of Derry embraced ‘Cup Final Fever’ and it is a huge win for the club and for their young manager. The question will be, once the celebrations have died down a bit, where this leaves them for next season.
Many people would point to Shamrock Rovers’ cup win in 2019 as the fulcrum of the Stephen Bradley era. They have gone on to win three consecutive league titles since and Ruairdhí Higgins will be hoping the Candystripes can do likewise. Derry flirted with a title challenge this year and had Rovers sufficiently worried to put out majorly weakened sides in the Conference League with the aim of securing that Champions Path route again. But in the end, the Tallaght outfit won the league by 13 points, the same margin as they did last year.
City will be hoping to mount a real title challenge next year and their squad is certainly filled with quality. Some would argue that a team needs to be there or thereabouts for a few years before they finally win a title but yesterday’s success will certainly do Derry no harm. It remains to be seen but there is an opportunity for them to use this cup victory as a springboard to really compete with Shamrock Rovers next year as the Hoops bid for four-in-a-row.
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