No time to feel sorry for ourselves ahead of crunch clash

Last Saturday evening, we suffered a major disappointment, failing to beat Galway United, which meant we finished ninth in the league table and will now be in the promotion/relegation play-off final this Friday against Bray Wanderers in Tolka Park.

Heading into the Galway game, we knew a win would keep us safe and put Galway or Sligo into our position. The game in the RSC started very tentatively from both sides as we both knew the consequences of defeat. Once the game settled, we began to dominate possession, but we conceded a silly free kick, switched off, and ultimately gave ourselves a mountain to climb after going 1-0 down.

We spoke about the possibility of falling behind during the week and how we weren’t to panic and to be fair to the lads. After a shaky five minutes, we did that and deservedly got ourselves back into the game just before half-time.

I scored the equalising goal for us after a great cross from the left-hand side from Conan Noonan, and we got to half-time level. We knew that Sligo were winning in Tallaght against a Shamrock Rovers side who were most likely (and rightly so) nursing a hangover from their league title celebrations from Wednesday night, and that meant we needed to find the winning goal in the second half to be safe.

We huffed and puffed but couldn’t find that goal that we desperately craved, and when the final whistle went, the whole ground, bar the Galway contingent, fell silent.

CREDIT GALWAY 

Credit where it is due: Galway United defender heroically, and their manager, staff, and players all deserve huge plaudits for staying in the division, especially after the tragic passing of their assistant manager, Ollie Horgan, recently. He would have been very proud of how Galway dug deep in the second half to get the point they needed.

You could feel the sense of disappointment after the game around the ground and in the dressing room, but we haven’t got time to feel sorry for ourselves as we have to go to Tolka Park on Friday night and get the win.

Bray are going to be coming into the game full of confidence and belief that they can get back into the Premier Division for the first time since 2018. They have had a very good season in the First Division, and they have some excellent young players at their disposal, most notably 17-year-old Billy O’Neill, who was very unfortunate to miss out on selection for the Ireland U17 World Cup squad in Qatar this month.

Another of their young guns, Justin Ferizaj, who scored the winner for them in their play-off semi-final last Sunday vs Treaty United, has experience of playing in Italy for Frosinone, so he is a player that we will have to pay particular attention to on Friday night.

We will head into the game knowing exactly what is required of us: to win no matter what. This is the last chance saloon for us to save the season for the club and to secure our Premier Division status for 2026.

FAI CUP FINAL 

The FAI Cup final is on Sunday in the Aviva Stadium, and it is a game that I am really looking forward to. I will be at the game working for RTÉ Radio as Shamrock Rovers aim to complete the domestic double for the first time since they did it in 1987.

This Rovers side are very special, and they will go into the game as heavy favourites to beat a Cork City side who were relegated this season. They will have to be wary of Cork, though, who put in their best display of the season in the FAI Cup semi-final when they beat Saint Patrick's Athletic 3-0 at Turner's Cross, and they have nothing to lose going into this game and everything to gain.

Even though they were relegated this year, they have some very good players who can cause Shamrock Rovers lots of trouble. Irish international Seani Maguire will lead the line for the Rebels, and he is a big game player and one who has experience of winning cup finals, and he will want to add to his collection.

I still think Shamrock Rovers will be too strong for Cork, and they will add to their trophy cabinet on Sunday.