“It’s important that we do well in the cup”
Blues net minder, Sam Sargeant, is a big doubt for tonight's FAI Cup clash with Cockhill Celtic. Photo: Inpho.
Waterford FC will kick-start their bid to land the famed FAI Senior Cup for the first-time since 1980 when they take on FAI Junior Cup champions Cockhill Celtic in the second round of the competition at the RSC on this Friday evening, July 19.
The Blues last won the cup when they beat St. Patrick’s Athletic thanks to a Brian Gardner winning goal from a brilliant header, and haven’t appeared in the final of the competition since 2004, but have reached the semi-final twice in recent years.
When you consider the fact that some of the top guns in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division have been paired against each other in the first-round ties, the Blues will see this as a big opportunity to secure their spot in the next round.
They come up against a Cockhill Celtic side from Buncrana in County Donegal, are now a junior ranked team after also competing at Intermediate level, after they qualified for the competition by winning the FAI Junior Cup with victory over Gorey Rangers.
Playing in the Inishowen Football League, Cockhill Celtic had to go through the first-round of the cup where they proved far too strong for Ayrfield United at home with a 7-1 success with a hat-trick from James Bradley, two from Luke Rudden, and one each from Lee McColgan and Jack Mullan.
Commenting ahead of the cup game, Waterford FC Head Coach Keith Long said: “We play Cockhill Celtic in the cup, and it’s a different competition. We’ll give it a right go and hopefully we can come out on top, but one thing for sure is that we won’t underestimate the opposition.
“We’ll prepare as best we can for the game during the week. We’ve done our homework so far on them, and we’ll focus in on them from now onwards. In the relation to the cup games, it’s really important for everyone.
“It’s important for us as a club that we do well in the cup. I know that the club hasn’t won the cup in a while, but we won’t take the opposition for granted. It’s also a break away from the league.
“The game against Galway was our third game back from the league and I think that we’ve done well. We’ve kept two cleansheets up to tonight, but whilst we’re disappointed to lose the game, we have to look to the next game now.
“What I’d like to see now ahead of the cup game against Cockhill Celtic is something that we’ve done previously, which is bounce back well after a defeat. We’ll prepare for the game and give it our best shot to try get into the next round.”
Sam Sargeant is a doubt for the game against Cockhill Celtic, while Christie Pattisson, Rowan McDonald and Kyle White remain out injured.
Barry Baggley is continuing his return to training, while Connor Evans & Gbemi Arubi have overcome knocks to be involved tomorrow evening.
