2024 FAI Cup

[ger121]

Congrats to Drogheda. Well deserved on the day. One down..one to go..

[CorribsideSteve]

God almighty Derry. The phrase "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" comes to mind. What a rubbish useless waste of a season. They could have had it all and end up with absolutely nothing.

[pineapple stu]

God almighty Derry. The phrase "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" comes to mind. What a rubbish useless waste of a season. They could have had it all and end up with absolutely nothing.
You'd have to feel for Higgins in a way. I'm sure he had visions of being the local legend, using the money to take Derry to new heights. Instead he's made an almighty balls of things this year in particular. That'll surely be his last game in charge too

[Jack B]

Congrats to Drogs, very much deserved on the day but I also felt leading up to it they felt like the "right" team to win it based on how each side's respective seasons had ended up playing out. Have seen them a few times since the summer window where they added some smart signings and been quite impressed by them at points. It's tough for them to put together proper consistency in a league campaign but in a one-off game like today they can be very tricky given they can be organised, play to the fine margins and obviously have some good individual talent in their own right.

What can you say about Derry though, deary me. Can only feel extremely fortunate that we managed to finish 3rd and not have to rely on them to win today. They've managed to be disappointing to varying degrees over the past few seasons but this one really has been something else. Somehow managing to finish 4th in a two-horse race was bad enough without compounding matters today. Seen some quotes from Higgins already ripping into the mentality of the squad whilst saying that he has the fight for the job, which doesn't bode well.

In such a mad season we have quite fitting league and cup winners to reflect that, although Bray have the opportunity to make things particularly hilarious next week...

[CorribsideSteve]

You'd have to feel for Higgins in a way. I'm sure he had visions of being the local legend, using the money to take Derry to new heights. Instead he's made an almighty balls of things this year in particular. That'll surely be his last game in charge too
Has to be. He couldn't have got it more wrong. At least they'll be spared the embarrassment of being knocked out of next year's Conference 1st round again.

[oriel]

38,723 attendance, brilliant stuff. Nobody tell Oriel about the few thousand no shows though ;)

Ha - give you that one TYC - bit of banter !

Great to see the crowds continuing to be very healthy at the cup finals.

[El-Pietro]

I went to the game today and met up with Brendyeire and co pre match.
It felt to me like there was a cloud over the Derry fans pre match. They seemed to come into the day with everything yo lose and nothing to gain.

Based on the game I think the same was true of the players. Derry came in with a European spot to defend and Drogheda came in on a run of form and a feeling if optimism.

It's probably easy to say after the game but I think Derry were beaten before a kick of the ball today.

[oriel]

Drogs def deserved to win it, amazing feat really.

I mentioned it before, has to have been easiest ever route to a cup final, 1 to be relegated PD, 1 Non League and 2 x FD sides, all bar one at home, but make no mistake they were big underdogs in this and most expected Derry to win it, so hats off to them.

Higgins is surely gone now, not even making europe is a disaster for them.

[Dalymountrower]

Delighted for Gary Deegan and for the Drogs.Been going up there for over 40 years , for Bohs games..Thoroughly decent people.

[legendz]

Congratulations to Drogheda! They pulled off the shock! They have jumped ahead of Rovers and Pat's into Q2 next summer.
Triple whammy for Derry it has to be said. Embarrassingly knocked out of Europe, 4th in a two horse title race and the Goliath beaten by David in the Cup final.
In a year of shocks, Drogheda better be careful next weekend. Bray have already pulled off their own surprise by being the first 5th placed side to win through the First Division playoffs.

[Neish]

Big congrats to Drogheda fully deserving of the win, few gave them a chance but that is the magic of the cup


They worked hard as a team unit and were the better team by some distance. They chased everything down and barely gave Derry a moment to think. They got got a bit of luck with the peno it was a foul but contact happend just outside the box, it was kind of irrelevant in the end anyway as Derry never really threatened Dennison( who really only had to make a few half decent saves). Ahui in particular was great havn't seen Duffy contained like that in a long time

Can't see Higgins being there next season, considering the resources he has had one cup win and two league runner ups ain't great

[Dermobohs]

Huge well done to the drogs, won a real battle today, and won it well.
Hard luck to Derry a town and people I’m hugely fond of, I feel sorry for ruari, a decent bloke but under pressure his big players didn’t turn up.
Anyway, Doherty is definitely my pick as the best manager, huge achievement given the pressures all season , massive respect.

[CorribsideSteve]

My rant at Derry was absent of any praise for Drogheda. But good luck to them. What an incredible achievement today. Nearly 20 years on from their 1st. And now off to Europe. It'd be funny if they got Dynamo Kyiv again! They should be able to see Bray off also, though few would have had them beating Derry today, so there's a double edged sword. Still, I imagine there'll be some scenes in the town tonight.

[Pablo Escobar]

I went along again as a neutral and thoroughly enjoyed it. My only, but very annoying bugbear, in the first half I sat by the aisle and the amount of people going up and down the steps for the half was staggering. I was also quite high up so it really shouldn’t have been much of an issue. I saw some people pass by 3 or 4 times. I also missed the opening goal because of it. Thankfully at HT was able to move to the unsold seating section high up behind the goal. I suppose if you’re going to attract multiples of an average league attendance you have to expect a lot of people that aren’t really there for the football.

[da bishop]

Congrats to Drogs,well organised,defended stoutly ,took the few opportunities ,Derry were miserable given the talent and possession they had,

[dcfc_legend9]

There seems to be a perception around Derry that they have the squad and players. I genuinely don't see it and I haven't seen it for a while. The players are not good enough nor do they have the mentality to be good enough.

Drogheda didn't have to come out of second gear to win yesterday. They got the job done quite easily. Fair play to them.


We need a complete revamp... management, coaches and playing staff all need to be shown the door to do this. It will take years for us to at least try and compete again with the purse strings having to be tightened somewhat with no Europe and the ever growing list of teams improving.

[D24Saint]

If players can't get up for a cup final, they don't deserve to be in professional football.

Today says a lot more about those players than Higgins for me.

The manager sets the tone. His dour demeanour has rubbed off on his players. He isn’t up to it.

[Nesta99]

There seems to be a perception around Derry that they have the squad and players. I genuinely don't see it and I haven't seen it for a while. The players are not good enough nor do they have the mentality to be good enough.

Drogheda didn't have to come out of second gear to win yesterday. They got the job done quite easily. Fair play to them.


We need a complete revamp... management, coaches and playing staff all need to be shown the door to do this. It will take years for us to at least try and compete again with the purse strings having to be tightened somewhat with no Europe and the ever growing list of teams improving.

Off season securing a proven striker with Whelans injury issues, was the final piece in the puzzle, that was was more or less said. They got Hoban in, were 2nd in the league for much of the season. Losing away to Sligo in the run in when Shels were imploding seemed to be the start of Derry's own run in implosion. I dont see where the squad wasnt there to win a league when the table topper couldnt win for 8 games in the final round. Same could be said for others but Derry didnt have the gap to make up.

Yeterday was an extension of things where players just didnt seem capable of getting involved in the battle. Drogs were playing like a side that had eveything to lose, as if this was a win or relegation rather then cup, and were throwing bodies in the way, meaty tackles without being dirty, kept compact as if they were playing on s small pitch happy to concede possession stats and Derry found it hard to break down or play through. It is possible that McEleney going off meant that there wasnt that guile to unlock things with a smart pass but you wouldnt bet that was likely either. The liabilty of the game was Connolly, he got away with things until he didnt for the 1st goal, he had an awful game for a quality player, for whatever reason his head seemed to be on his holidays 90minutes too early.

[pineapple stu]

I dont see where the squad wasnt there to win a league when the table topper couldnt win for 8 games in the final round.
Agreed - when was the last time the league was won with so few points?

(2012, a search tells me - when Monaghan withdrew so there was only 30 games in the season and Sligo got 61 points. On a points per game basis, you're certainly going back to the time of two points for a win, which I couldn't be bothered adjusting for)

Had it been a regular season where 75 or so points won the league, that argument might stack up. But not this year I think.

[Martinho II]

Can’t believe Ahui has barely played a game for Drogheda,looks a great prospect….

Was wondering why I never heard of Ahui!

Delighted for Kevin Doherty and Daire Doyle plus Gary Deegan and Luke Dennison from their spells with us. I would have met Kevins late dad years ago when he was in his first spell with us and was a lovely man.

[oriel]

There seems to be a perception around Derry that they have the squad and players. I genuinely don't see it and I haven't seen it for a while. The players are not good enough nor do they have the mentality to be good enough.

Drogheda didn't have to come out of second gear to win yesterday. They got the job done quite easily. Fair play to them.


We need a complete revamp... management, coaches and playing staff all need to be shown the door to do this. It will take years for us to at least try and compete again with the purse strings having to be tightened somewhat with no Europe and the ever growing list of teams improving.

Some of our ex players have either been mis-managed or just didn't fit into Higgins style or maybe other reasons? Connolly positioning for the opening goal was shocker, I co-manage an u12 team, you wouldn't see that in our group. Why didn't Hoban start? Fats has been on / off all season, Duffy to be fair is a brilliant talent and got you to the final, not sure how Dummingan or Patching played this year, and where was Dan Kelly yesterday?

Said it time and time again, Higgins is a coach, not a manager, nice guy to be fair and was very decent to make some very kind words on Maxi live on tv after a game once, I also chatted to him a few times, very friendly, but back to business, I can't see him surviving this. All of this shows one thing, you can throw all the money you have on player wages, if the dressing room is not in a good place and the manager is not strong enough, you can forget about it.

[2 Year Contract]

Some of our ex players have either been mis-managed or just didn't fit into Higgins style or maybe other reasons? Connolly positioning for the opening goal was shocker, I co-manage an u12 team, you wouldn't see that in our group. Why didn't Hoban start? Fats has been on / off all season, Duffy to be fair is a brilliant talent and got you to the final, not sure how Dummingan or Patching played this year, and where was Dan Kelly yesterday?

Said it time and time again, Higgins is a coach, not a manager, nice guy to be fair and was very decent to make some very kind words on Maxi live on tv after a game once, I also chatted to him a few times, very friendly, but back to business, I can't see him surviving this. All of this shows one thing, you can throw all the money you have on player wages, if the dressing room is not in a good place and the manager is not strong enough, you can forget about it.

Agree with most of that. Hoban, Dummigan and Kelly were injured though. It was the 50/50 decision with Hoban, do you start him and hope to get a good 50-55 mins out of him or do you spring him from the bench against what you hope to be tired legs and hope he can get you a goal. The decision backfired anyways.

I remember the exact same situation in the 2021 cup final when Georgie Kelly was coming back from injury for Bohs and they opted to start him, he did nothing in the game and was subbed off early in the second half, while in hindsight it probably would’ve been better to bring him off the bench in that game

[brendy_éire]

I went to the game today and met up with Brendyeire and co pre match.
It felt to me like there was a cloud over the Derry fans pre match. They seemed to come into the day with everything yo lose and nothing to gain.

...It's probably easy to say after the game but I think Derry were beaten before a kick of the ball today.

I think I said to you before the game that we could win 4-0 or lose 2-0. None of us have had any faith in our ability to put a performance in recently, despite all the quality in the side. For most it has probably been the case since the humiliating loss to Bruno's Magpies. Personally, it was our gutless draw away to HB Tórshavn last year, which Higgins considered a decent result.

On the match, Drogheda were up for it, simple as that. We hadn't the backbone to stand up to them. What else can you say? Fair play to them, they had a gameplan and it worked. I've a real admiration for the job Doherty has done there. Duff will probably get manager of the year, but I'd give to Doherty.

I know we've had worse seasons in terms of league position and cup progression, but that's probably the most unpleasant season I've had supporting us for many a year. Said elsewhere, but a serious refresh needed.

[Straightstory]

Drogheda fans have sold out the East Stand for the play-off v Bray. The North Stand now open...

[nigel-harps1954]

By looking at things, Bray have only been given two blocks in the West Stand and haven't sold them out yet.

[EatYerGreens]

Looking forward to the play-off on Saturday now. Hope it's a good game with a few twists and turns in it.

[Tomas]

Their season was sinking already. Just a single win in last 5 league games was a giveway. 5/1? Only an idiot like me didnt put a fortune on Drogheda to win the final. Derry had tried their best but mentally they were done after loosing the league tittle fight.

[EatYerGreens]

Their season was sinking already. Just a single win in last 5 league games was a giveway. 5/1? Only an idiot like me didnt put a fortune on Drogheda to win the final. Derry had tried their best but mentally they were done after loosing the league tittle fight.

With the team Derry has and the peformance they put in on Sunday, and don't think anyone would genuoney say they tried their best. They were just not up for a fight for the cup the way Drogs were.

[Nesta99]

So who has been abusing the FAI Cup in Drogheda? Did someone fill it with Walker instead of Hunky Dory crisps