FAI Cup 2021

[pineapple stu]

Third year in a row an ex UCD player decides the cup

[osarusan]

Congrats Pats, had the better nerves/luck in the penalties.

As an aside, whatever happened that penalty shootout modification from a few years ago where they reversed the order half way through? It was brought in after some research apparently showed that going first had some advantage, but seems to have disappeared.

[Philosophizer]

Jaros saved that peno from Wilson I think. Quality save if so
Really. I thought he pulled it wide.
Great result for Derry. Straight into Europe now and with lots of money to recruit more big names before next season too.

[placid casual]

What's another year😅😂😅😂😅😂😅😂😅😂😅😂.

B. A. T. T. B. L. A

[Philosophizer]

Congrats Pats, had the better nerves/luck in the penalties.

As an aside, whatever happened that penalty shootout modification from a few years ago where they reversed the order half way through? It was brought in after some research apparently showed that going first had some advantage, but seems to have disappeared.
There is evidence to show the team that goes first wins 60% of the time. But in the case like this when they're shooting into the opposition fans end I think it equalises it.

[pineapple stu]

Really. I thought he pulled it wide.
Great result for Derry. Straight into Europe now and with lots of money to recruit more big names before next season too.

I thought so too initially, but the replay from behind looked like Jaros got a finger tip to it

[Nesta99]

Congrats to St Pats and fans. I think the deserved it overall. Probably a bit biased due to the former Dundalk legends with the club - we still got a few mentions if our annual day out came to an end this year. I wonder what Stuey Byrne found so amusing after the Forrest interview, the pundits were being careful in what they were saying about his well known off field difficulties and ye cant be anything but delighted for the chap. Would have been a pity if his missed peno decided things after scoring the goal. The old cup hoodoo is now very much put to bed! Bohs, ye feel need to win some silverware to get the monkey off the back and kick on. They could target the nicest trophy in Irish football the LSC!

[joey B]

Pats probably shaded it but Bohs had ample chances in extra time and in the shoot out to win,Fair play to Pats and their fans who made great noise in the second half especially!

[sbgawa]

Keith Long or as he is known 007
Zero leagues
Zero cups
7 years in charge.

and 3 more years on his contract :)

[Calcio Jack]

Congrats to St Pats and fans. I think the deserved it overall. Probably a bit biased due to the former Dundalk legends with the club - we still got a few mentions if our annual day out came to an end this year. I wonder what Stuey Byrne found so amusing after the Forrest interview, the pundits were being careful in what they were saying about his well known off field difficulties and ye cant be anything but delighted for the chap. Would have been a pity if his missed peno decided things after scoring the goal. The old cup hoodoo is now very much put to bed! Bohs, ye feel need to win some silverware to get the monkey off the back and kick on. They could target the nicest trophy in Irish football the LSC!

Agree Bohs needed the win today way more than Pats did - with the annual drain of their best players and no Euro money to replace them ; plus teams above them better off financially ; will take some effort by Long/Crolly to find replacements and improve on this year

As for Pats if they can increase the depth of their squad with quality they’ll push on …. Looking forward to next season already

[ger121]

That is a hard way to lose a final. Will take a while to get over that one… That aside, it was a wonderful crowd and occasion for the showpiece game for our league. Hopefully the league won today too.

[ger121]

Keith Long or as he is known 007
Zero leagues
Zero cups
7 years in charge.

and 3 more years on his contract :)

From the club with Zero class.

[Kiki Balboa]

Apprently a 5 year old was struck with a bottle by Bohs 'fans' at Irishtown House (according to Twitter).

[Jack B]

Hope all the poets and climate change experts that called down the the Irishtown House before hand enjoyed the game. Ya gigantic ********s.

[sbgawa]

Hope all the poets and climate change experts that called down the the Irishtown House before hand enjoyed the game. Ya gigantic ********s.

Bohs PR dept are Champions league class, this stuff never sticks and their journo pals keep their heads down

[sbgawa]

From the club with Zero class.


Hows them lemons? :)
I might even go to Keith Longs testimonial in 3 years time.

[ger121]

Hows them lemons? :)
I might even go to Keith Longs testimonial in 3 years time.

At the rate you lot are losing money, it might be your only opportunity to see a game in 3 years time.

[sbgawa]

At the rate you lot are losing money, it might be your only opportunity to see a game in 3 years time.

LOL love it.
The million in transfers this year 1.3 in Euro money and next years CL money will help :) with the accounts
Is it true that Lambert is thinking of entering the Fontaines in the Eurovision song contest as a back door to Europe?

[DCWA]

Bad season domestically for 007 alright and next year already looking tough for them. You would wonder how many of those 3 years he will see at Bohs.

On the final itself I thought it was a poor game as they generally are, fantastic crowd and the right result for Derry so happy days on those two fronts.

[ger121]

LOL love it.
The million in transfers this year 1.3 in Euro money and next years CL money will help :) with the accounts
Is it true that Lambert is thinking of entering the Fontaines in the Eurovision song contest as a back door to Europe?

The books never lie. We’ll see what the profit and loss is for this year when you file your returns. We’ve all played the win or bust LOI game and we all know how it ends.

[sbgawa]

The books never lie. We’ll see what the profit and loss is for this year when you file your returns. We’ve all played the win or bust LOI game and we all know how it ends.


Indeed we will but the 1m transfers and 1.3 Euro money are facts so im pretty relaxed and then with Europe to look forward to it feels good.
Any chance of a contract extension for 007 and lets not forget Commissar Lambert and his "broad definition of success"

[Crosshead]

That is a hard way to lose a final. Will take a while to get over that one… That aside, it was a wonderful crowd and occasion for the showpiece game for our league. Hopefully the league won today too.


A showcase completely tarnished by that disgraceful carry on at the Irishtown bar before the match. Four years in a row I went to Cup finals against Dundalk, and while there was a strong rivalry there, I thought nothing of bringing a kid along and mingling with Dundalk supporters.

It's not the first time a sizeable group of Bohs' following have made a show of themselves this season, and I wouldn't mind half as much if it weren't for the fact that the entire LOI gets tarred with the same brush.

[Calcio Jack]

The books never lie. We’ll see what the profit and loss is for this year when you file your returns. We’ve all played the win or bust LOI game and we all know how it ends.

Well I know exactly our financial position ; not prepared to reveal on a public forum; but do believe me or don’t when I say it’s extremely healthy and in due course our published accounts will confirm that…. We’re no longer trying to build a sustainable financial/success model - we’ve done that- next phase is to go to next level and that’s the challenge for next season

[Philosophizer]

Agree Bohs needed the win today way more than Pats did - with the annual drain of their best players and no Euro money to replace them ; plus teams above them better off financially ; will take some effort by Long/Crolly to find replacements and improve on this year

I'd say this will be Long's toughest mission yet. Most years they usually lose 2-3 but this year it might be more. We know Tierney is gone to Motherwell already. Buckley heading for Oz apparently. Very possible Devoy will go across the water too. Kelly is likely heading back up north. Burt's contract is up too so I'd suspect he'll have plenty of offers - he looked dangerous every time I've seen him.

That's basically their whole midfield and attack who'll likely be leaving. Long will need to perform some recruitment miracles to keep them competitive next year. Can he do it again??

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Just back and thought that it was a poor spectacle in general. Picked up a bit in extra time as players began to tire but neither team really had a go during the game. Thought Pats were slightly the better team. Super save from Talbot in first half and from Jaros at the end of extra time.

The flares being let off constantly were a complete joke and that the worst attempt at a pitch invasion I think I ever saw. However that withstanding it was a super atmosphere.

[2 Year Contract]

I’d like to dedicate that win to the Bohs fans that decided to attack the pub in Irishtown that was arranged for a family fun day for pats fans and hit elderly women and children with bottles. Enjoy your summer at home next year you absolute cowards.

Other than that a great day, Pats and Bohs fans all over town throughout the day and night, it really was a day that showed what the LOI could and should be in terms of attendance.

Im sure the media are gutted they’ll find it harder to push the Keith Long manager of the year agenda after his incredible achievement of taking bohs from 2nd to 5th in the league

[DCWA]

A showcase completely tarnished by that disgraceful carry on at the Irishtown bar before the match.h.
The entire cup final was not “completely tarnished” by a 30/40 man punch up that is sensationalist b0ll0cks. It was not nice to see but let’s not make more of it than what it was, there will be plenty of others willing to do that.

[Northsider]

What's another year?

[TonyD]

Well I know exactly our financial position ; not prepared to reveal on a public forum; but do believe me or don’t when I say it’s extremely healthy and in due course our published accounts will confirm that…. We’re no longer trying to build a sustainable financial/success model - we’ve done that- next phase is to go to next level and that’s the challenge for next season

Hey, keep your Bohs/Rovers bitchfest out of our celebration thread :cool:

On the game, I thought we were the better side until the second period of extra time. Bohs finished the stronger, and how they didn’t score in that game of ping pong inside our six yard area I’ll never know. Thought we were goosed at that stage. However, all’s well that ends well. I thought the game wasn’t as bad as some here have said, while definitely not a classic it was compelling enough, though I’m not a neutral and maybe it looked different from that perspective.

[Jack B]

It's fair to say that humanity won today. Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.

[sbgawa]

Pats deserved it over the 120 mins SOD has done a great job to be fair to him.
The viewing figs will be interesting, I'd say they will be decent as the extra time and especially pens will have brought people in. Clashing with Chelsea Man U for neutrals won't have helped.

[Crosshead]

The entire cup final was not “completely tarnished” by a 30/40 man punch up that is sensationalist b0ll0cks. It was not nice to see but let’s not make more of it than what it was, there will be plenty of others willing to do that.

It was actually, because guess what a lot of people are talking about this morning? Have a look at the editor of Balls.ie is tweeting this morning. I have mates onto me about it. This bull**** tarnishes the entire league, it's a massive image problem and it arose on the LOI's biggest day of the year. We can't stick our heads in the sand about this.

[pineapple stu]

I thought the game wasn’t as bad as some here have said, while definitely not a classic it was compelling enough, though I’m not a neutral and maybe it looked different from that perspective.
It was awful stuff. I know from a Pat's/Bohs point of view it was probably a tense cagey affair, and that's fine obviously. It was a great occasion for both clubs, and Pat's have a trophy.

But the amount of basic mistakes under little pressure was amazing. Shots were too weak to trouble anyone, needless extra touches were taken in dangerous areas, set pieces were wasted, possession was given away cheaply, chances were very few.

Extra time was much better of course. But if I were Stephen Kenny watching that to see who might add something to a fairly poor national team, I'd have come away empty-handed.

[sadloserkid]

I thought the game wasn’t as bad as some here have said, while definitely not a classic it was compelling enough, though I’m not a neutral and maybe it looked different from that perspective.

As a neutral who went I can confirm that normal time was a very poor spectacle. A handful of moments of quality strangled by an abundance of poor touches and unforced errors. Pats definitely worthy winners though and the athmosphere went some ways towards making up for the football.

A small thing but it annoys me every year that the screens in the ground show replays of goal chances but not of fouls. What is the rationale?

[jbyrne]

i tuned in as a neutral and enjoyed the match and the occasion.
Finals are tense affairs 90% of the time and this was no different. Still enjoyable though.

as for the trouble before the match..... id say most reasonable people will simply see it as the usual scum who if they were not causing trouble in Irishtown yesterday would have been causing trouble elsewhere in town yesterday.

[pineapple stu]

A small thing but it annoys me every year that the screens in the ground show replays of goal chances but not of fouls. What is the rationale?

I think it's so as not to undermine the ref if there's a wrong decision shown on the screens. So either the crowd get on his back more, or he sees he's made a mistake and it impacts his game.

[DCSIL]

It was actually, because guess what a lot of people are talking about this morning? Have a look at the editor of Balls.ie is tweeting.

The name of that website (Come on, it’s a Celtic fan Blog) says it all.

[sadloserkid]

I think it's so as not to undermine the ref if there's a wrong decision shown on the screens. So either the crowd get on his back more, or he sees he's made a mistake and it impacts his game.

Yeah this is my assumption too. I still don't like it though I find it hard to pinpoint exactly why.

[Crosshead]

The name of that website (Come on, it’s a Celtic fan Blog) says it all.

I'm not a fan of it, but it doesn't matter a ****e, it has a following and this morning he's on about the trouble, not the match. We need to stop washing our hands of these scumbags, the 'it's a small minority', 'not representative of our club' nonsense and minimising this stuff. It's a problem for our game.

[D24Saint]

That was an interesting day in the life. I thought it was a poor affair but delighted to be at the right end of it. Neither side was up to the occasion but in particular Bohs didn’t show up. It’s easy to bash both set of players but it was a huge occasion with such a large crowd.

[Kiki Balboa]

My Little take on the game as neutral. Enjoyable game (especially in extra time), very tense affair, and a very typical final. Looked to be two really well coached teams, but once Georgie Kelly went off, the game seemed to be missing a player of real quality. Benson and Forrester had their moments. Pats were very good in the first half, a class above Bohs, even if the latter had better chances. Pats really failed to push on in the second half. Bohs worked hard and gave very little away and fair play to them scoring in extra time. But I think there team had less quality than Pats. I think lesser players would have folded after the opening goal. Overall, the best team won on the day (even if it was on penalties).

Jaros was the best keeper yesterday, and is (or was )in the league. Class above.

[Macy]

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.... Work/ Family/ Life dropped football off my radar for a few years, but the youngest has really taken to both playing and watching, and the realisation that a father needs something neutral to talk to teenage girls about...

Anyway, brought her yesterday... I thought it wasn't a bad game, Pats just lacked quality in the box. They were by far the better team first half, but did kinda peter out over the second half. Notwithstanding we were marginally more towards the Havelock Square end, I thought Pats were much better off the pitch too. My daughter really enjoyed the spectacle of all the flares, and at least there seemed some logic to Pats ones rather than Bohs with the stupid air bombs. We've been going to Women's internationals and been at a good few GAA matches (mens and womens) and her comment on the dart home was "now I know what a proper atmosphere is like". Anyway, no pressure to get there Pats, but she asked could we go in with them the next time rather than on the side....

Over heard about the Irishtown trouble getting off the dart, and have to admit being there with a child did make me more alert. I thought things might have moved on from the bloody bsc being dicks in the intervening years of me paying attention. It doesn't matter that both sides were completely mixed - we were surrounded by Pats/ Bohs/ LoI/ Pure Neutrals and not a hint of trouble - elements of the media have picked on it, and are running "with it never happens in the GAA" as the attendance obviously has them worried. I first saw the whatsapp via a group that no one has any interest in football on. It doesn't matter that it was 30 out of 30,000 - once your explaining, you're losing. Once you're pointing out the multiple incidents at GAA games, including underage, it's whataboutery.

Anyway, I guess I'm at least somewhat back!

[D24Saint]

I do think trouble at football games tends to be over hyped. We don’t live in a utopian society, if certain types want to cause trouble they will. The atmosphere in general was excellent and both sets of fans did themselves and their clubs proud on the day.

[passinginterest]

I thought the game came across well on tv. It was tight and edgy but there was enough happening all the time to keep the interest. Bohs young stars in midfield maybe didn't rise to the occasion as much as the more experienced Pat's counterparts and that tilted the game in Pat's favour. Tierney had one of the poorest games I've seen from him, maybe knowing it was his big farewell go to him a bit, but his touch was off and he hesitated in good positions where when he's been at his best he's been lethal for Bohs and Ireland under 21. Devoy similarly just never seemed to get going. Benson and Forrester had that bit more control and Forrester took his goal brilliantly. If Pat's can find a genuine striker to fit into their system, they have a solid looking team to maybe get a bit closer to Rovers next season. Then again, every league of Ireland side is looking for a centre forward, they're as rare as hens teeth.

[D24Saint]

I thought the game came across well on tv. It was tight and edgy but there was enough happening all the time to keep the interest. Bohs young stars in midfield maybe didn't rise to the occasion as much as the more experienced Pat's counterparts and that tilted the game in Pat's favour. Tierney had one of the poorest games I've seen from him, maybe knowing it was his big farewell go to him a bit, but his touch was off and he hesitated in good positions where when he's been at his best he's been lethal for Bohs and Ireland under 21. Devoy similarly just never seemed to get going. Benson and Forrester had that bit more control and Forrester took his goal brilliantly. If Pat's can find a genuine striker to fit into their system, they have a solid looking team to maybe get a bit closer to Rovers next season. Then again, every league of Ireland side is looking for a centre forward, they're as rare as hens teeth.

P Hoban would be very welcome. We need a out and out striker badly.

[Philosophizer]

elements of the media have picked on it, and are running "with it never happens in the GAA" as the attendance obviously has them worried.
Nailed it!

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Couldn’t believe they didn’t have the squad numbers on the programme. Just a list of players listed in order of their number but not showing their number.

[DCSIL]

Nailed it!

Just need quotes from FF and someone in the Catholic Church as they all **** in the same pot…

[Nesta99]

The entire cup final was not “completely tarnished” by a 30/40 man punch up that is sensationalist b0ll0cks. It was not nice to see but let’s not make more of it than what it was, there will be plenty of others willing to do that.

Any match can absolutely be tarnished by one or a few mindless thugs - just ask the average and decent England football fan. 30/40 man punch up is not insignificant especially in amongst proper fans, families etc. Im pretty sure the entire cup final experience was completely tarnished for some of them at least, especially the kid hit by a bottle if true. It is sad that this may be the case for some, that Bohs fans in general are suffering a backlash in todays media - it may be opportunistic, sensationalised, and exaggerated by some rag press, but the incident happened and people will individually feel how the feel about it. I dont think opinions on it should be dismissed as b0ll0cks any more than it should be sensationalised. Each to their own but i'd be angry today if Dundalk fans behaved in sich a manner, I have been angry with Dundalk fans that have disgraced the club for such behaviour and for giving any hack the opportunity to deflect away from from the sporting occasion, especially for what in general is a great occasion for Irish domestic football. I have zero tolerance on this sort of sh1t be it 1 person or 100. Each and every firework that went off yesterday made me wince and it may only have been 1 person responsible. If a player or official was hit by a coin does it tarnish a game even if the actions of a single individual?? Lable me as a snowflake if thats what it is termed but i will take that before I will ever belittle someone's opinion on a 30/40 man punch up prior to a game as sensationalist ********. A slippery slope to a level of acceptance of thuggery!


J elements of the media have picked on it, and are running "with it never happens in the GAA"

Funny that as I was going to mention the 2010 Leinster Final, I still grimace at the ridiculous refereeing decision that denied Louth the title, but I recall in far more detail the annoyance and embarrassment at the behaviour of some Louth fans after the final whistle!!!

[NeverFeltBetter]

What's to be done about what happened though, that's the question. Can the people involved be identified and banned? And can those bans actually be upheld?