Shels v Sligo FAI Cup final - Lansdowne Road 6th Nov

[S.E.P.1990]

I'm bored, I feel like stirring again for the craic......it was definitely a dive. 100%. I was speaking to 61.56% people who said it was definitely a dive. 23.23% said it wasn't a dive. 15.21% said they were undecided. Theres your proof. It's a unanimous decision.

Ah ha! Good try but to be unanimous it would have to be 100%.......

[Dodge]

Of course the opinion of the media matters, if they were all saying that the diving Clancy deserved to be sent off then we could say that the ref actually didnt have that bad a game.

You can say what you like, you don't need media validation for it.

They were not, all the reports have in common the same theme - there was contact, Clancy went down, it should not have been/may have been a pen, it was not a yellow card, the ref made the wrong decision.

Now you're just making stuff up. Not a single person I read or spoke to thinks it was a pen

Still I am bemused that anyone could think it was a dive and that the yellow card was warranted. That is all....

Clearly thats all, as its only your 7th or 8th post the matter...

[dong]

The media in this country is only interested in all things Dublin anyways and are none too happy when it doesn't work out their way. We are well used to it.
A few hours of rain in the capital there last week and you would swear it was the end of mankind as we know it.

[Charlie Darwin]

The media in this country is only interested in all things Dublin anyways and are none too happy when it doesn't work out their way. We are well used to it.

I really hope you're not suggesting the Dublin media give a toss about Dublin soccer teams.

A few hours of rain in the capital there last week and you would swear it was the end of mankind as we know it.

People died in the floods. It was a big deal. I know Sligo has had flooding too recently but it's not on anything close to the same scale.

[Spudulika]

Was surprised at how poor Sligo were as I have the height of respect for their normal manner of play. Watched between 2 Russian Premier League matches with a mixed bunch of people, was slagged for constantly saying how good the standard in the LOI is now and how Sligo are a really good side etc. Dreadful officiating, a throwback to the rugby world cup final (in terms of inconsistency). Don't believe Sligo deserved to win, Kelly's "professional" cheating in the penalties goes to show how the laws are never enforced in football though I'm just glad Shels are alive, that Pats can once again fly the fly in Europe and hope Paul Cook stays in the LOI, despite yesterday's match. Looked like a great atmosphere.

[Dodge]

its funny that non Dubs STILL don't get this.

When a country team plays a Dublin team, the whole league wants the country team to win. Country folk want the country team to win, and Dubliners want their local rivals to lose.

A Bohs fan in the media (of which there are many...) isn't going to be pro Rovers/Pats/Shels, even if he was going show any bias, as he dislikes them more than he dislikes country clubs

And as for your comment on the floods...

[bluewhitearmy]

its funny that non Dubs STILL don't get this.

When a country team plays a Dublin team, the whole league wants the country team to win. Country folk want the country team to win, and Dubliners want their local rivals to lose.

A Bohs fan in the media (of which there are many...) isn't going to be pro Rovers/Pats/Shels, even if he was going show any bias, as he dislikes them more than he dislikes country clubs

And as for your comment on the floods...

Id be fairly sure that is complete bull.

[Dodge]

Its as bull as saying the Dubs want the Dubs to win

[bennocelt]

Eh sorry bennocelt, care to explain the "tsk" for this post? The keeper was obviously off his line..

That it happens all the time in football, sour grapes and all

As for the "dive", have to be honest all the guys I were with in the pub thought it was a dive as well, but then we did have a skinful!

[GalwayRed]

Found time to post on this now. I haven't seen any replays and I've only seen one article about the match so I'm still going on what I saw at the time.
I think the sending off was a terrible decision and am absolutely adamant he didn't dive and I would be genuinely shocked if the replays prove me wrong. I didn't think it was a penalty either. Think it was just well defended by the Sligo player. It was a game changing decision. We were competing very well and looked like we might create a few chances. After that I can't blame us for sitting back or time wasting. We were playing a full time side who just finished second in the league and pride themselves on their attacking play and we were a man down.
Having said that Sligo was poor and its hard to know would they have scored 11 v 11. I don't know was it arrogance on the players part or what but they just didn't perform.
Paisley was absolutely immense and deserved his man of the match award but our whole defence was superb.
In general I thought Richie Winters was absolute rubbish and there was no consistency to his decisions. I was too far away to tell with the penalties but have heard from a lot of people that Kelly was miles off his line. The penalties weren't great but it doesn't help if the keeper has that much of an advantage.
As for the couple of Sligo fans criticising our crowd. I'd wager at least 10000 of those Sligo fans there haven't been to a Sligo match since last years final so give it a rest. We had about 5000 which was alright I thought even though most of them haven't been seen at Tolka in a long time if at all. We didn't stop singing either and I thought even though there were less of us we created a good atmosphere.
I was so proud of our players as well. They gave it absolutely everything and unfortunately just fell short. We have a lot to celebrate and a lot to be proud of this year so don't worry about the champagne lads.

[bluewhitearmy]

. We had about 5000 .

I really dont think so.

[WoodquayBoy]

Congrats to Sligo, and in particular their Galway lads Alan Keane and John Russell. Went to the game, sat in the Sligo end behind the goal and for my sins I wore my GUFC jersey with pride - it's the only way one will ever be seen at a Cup final. Lots of Sligo fans came up and commiserated on the season we had, and with the wish that we'll be back in the top flight sooner rather than later. Appreciated that.
As for the game, my first reaction to the 'penalty/red card' was that Clancy had dived and deserved the booking. Having watched replays, I'm not that sure, but the referee had a split-second to make a decision, so I can see why he booked the player. Having seen Sligo tear us apart in Terryland, and a few times in the Showgrounds as a neutral, I can say they are rarely that boring to watch, but Christ they were brutal yesterday. For courage alone Shels deserved it, but courage doesn't win you anything, and after the sending off, I can't remember one clear chance they had. That said, apart from Davoren's goal and Russell's header late in the first half, Delany didn't have a lot to do either. Which is just as well, considering the bags he made of Davoren's shot. Kelly may have come off his line for the penalties, but that's up to the officials to sort out, it's not his fault he got away with it. And it is very unfair to suggest Shels 'bottled' it - they played against the defending Cup champions, and a side that finished second in the Premier Division, for 90 minutes with just 10 men. One last note in relation to Shels - I thought, considering how the game panned out, it took great strength to come down to where the Sligo fans were gathered to applaud them after the trophy presentation, a gesture which was returned in kind by the Sligo fans. We all have our rivalries - me, a United fan, sitting with the great unwashed of Sligo being one example - but at the end of the day, we're all in this madness of a league together.
UTID

[sligoman]

Disgusted that Kellys chearting on the penos wasn't spotted by the ref ... terrible way to "win" a cup final.

No need for ""...FAI Cup Champions 2011 is a fact. We won.

find it stange that sligo have been in the last 3 cup finals, won 2 but never won one of the games.

Haha, good man. We won the cup, that's all that matters and all that will be remembered. Winning in 90mins produces same result as winning on penalties.

WE were the better side until the sending off.

In your opinion. In mine you weren't.

As for the comments about us not creating much of an atmosphere, that was partly due to the fact the stewards down our end were the most ignorant I've ever seen at football match. Trying to force everyone to sit in their specific seat meant that some of the 'singing' crowd were spread around. Caused more trouble than if they had to just leave us like last year.

[Hairy Bowsie]

I really dont think so.

Over 5000 actually.

Great display and atmosphere from BD. Very disappointed with the display and atmosphere from Sligo

[Spudulika]

Congrats to Sligo, and in particular their Galway lads Alan Keane and John Russell. Went to the game, sat in the Sligo end behind the goal and for my sins I wore my GUFC jersey with pride - it's the only way one will ever be seen at a Cup final. Lots of Sligo fans came up and commiserated on the season we had, and with the wish that we'll be back in the top flight sooner rather than later. Appreciated that.
As for the game, my first reaction to the 'penalty/red card' was that Clancy had dived and deserved the booking. Having watched replays, I'm not that sure, but the referee had a split-second to make a decision, so I can see why he booked the player. Having seen Sligo tear us apart in Terryland, and a few times in the Showgrounds as a neutral, I can say they are rarely that boring to watch, but Christ they were brutal yesterday. For courage alone Shels deserved it, but courage doesn't win you anything, and after the sending off, I can't remember one clear chance they had. That said, apart from Davoren's goal and Russell's header late in the first half, Delany didn't have a lot to do either. Which is just as well, considering the bags he made of Davoren's shot. Kelly may have come off his line for the penalties, but that's up to the officials to sort out, it's not his fault he got away with it. And it is very unfair to suggest Shels 'bottled' it - they played against the defending Cup champions, and a side that finished second in the Premier Division, for 90 minutes with just 10 men. One last note in relation to Shels - I thought, considering how the game panned out, it took great strength to come down to where the Sligo fans were gathered to applaud them after the trophy presentation, a gesture which was returned in kind by the Sligo fans. We all have our rivalries - me, a United fan, sitting with the great unwashed of Sligo being one example - but at the end of the day, we're all in this madness of a league together.
UTID

This is one of the best and most intelligent posts on these boards for quite some time. Thank you!

[Dunny]

That it happens all the time in football, sour grapes and all

Hardly sour grapes like. The keeper was off his line.

[Sean South]

Over 5000 actually.

Great display and atmosphere from BD. Very disappointed with the display and atmosphere from Sligo

Shels end was more impressive over all through out the game it was a security nightmare as mentioned above our end.

On displays it was easier for Shels having the north stand. It suits all league of Ireland ultras groups better because of the size but BD reused a old crowd cover and their tifo would be lost and not really noticed if it was in the south stand. Both tifos in this video but I think ours was better but I'm biased. Rovers fans also had a load of pyro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Dz-yqB6Jw

[Fivesilver]

Thought WoodQuayBoy and GalwayRed's posts were pretty good considered summations of it, despite the fact I don't agree with everything.

Two more thoughts:

If Delany was aware that Kelly was coming off his line, gaining a huge advantage and not getting punished, why didn't he try it himself?
and

Very disappointed with the display and atmosphere from Sligo

Presumably you had no problem with the shootout taking place at our end, then. Personally, I thought it was unfair on Shels, but what do I know?

[CSFShels]

If Delany was aware that Kelly was coming off his line, gaining a huge advantage and not getting punished, why didn't he try it himself?

Wouldn't really make alot of sense to change the technique he has used for years for that reason.

[dong]

This thread is some craic. Keep it up lads.