Setanta Cup Final

**LeviathanNI** · 13/05/2007, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by oriel

Well done to the drogs, a fantastic achievement considering their huge injury problems not to mention playing in linfields back yard. I thought they were brilliant in the first half and overall deserved to win. Also fair play to the drogs support, i`ve been critical in the past of the towns luke warm support but last night it looked great, a real family day out and must have been 1,500 up.

So much as it pains me to say (again) congratulations to a great performance and to a very good side.

Also David Jeffrey came across very well on tv, vert dignified in defeat.

Ps david/steve bruce/other lfc fans - could he not have got an up to date training top - the one he wore had 'ifa cup final 2007 v dungannon' on the front !

ffs it was only last week!

Linfield supporters are probably one of the most demanding set of supporters you will come across, but as long as the team gives all it has, and if we are beaten, we are beaten by a better team, we are happy with that. It is one of the very few games I have been to where there was mutual admiration for the opposition. It was a pleasure to be at, and as I have said before, we look forward to meeting you in the final next year

**Needtoknow** · 14/05/2007, 7:52 AM

Well done to the Drogs, good performance & good game overall. Felt for Lingfield keeper who was outstanding.

**gspain** · 14/05/2007, 8:42 AM

Great game. Well done Drogheda although it should have been over after an hour. Linfield battled very well and I thought they'd win when they went ahead.

Full credit to the Linfield fans for appluading Drogheda afterwards. I see the sunday Life (NI paper) gave 7 page sof coverage yesterday to the game. I wish some of our papers would give that type of coverage to a local game.

**Monkfish** · 14/05/2007, 8:56 AM

Originally Posted by Needtoknow

Well done to the Drogs, good performance & good game overall. Felt for Lingfield keeper who was outstanding.

Does the race track have a football team now?!!!

**Conor H** · 14/05/2007, 9:51 AM

Full credit to Linfields supporters,players and Management for the way they took the defeat.

Great to see alot of the Linfield fans applauding Drogheda afterwards.Well Done!

**GavinZac** · 14/05/2007, 9:54 AM

Originally Posted by LeviathanNI

It is one of the very few games I have been to where there was mutual admiration for the opposition.

Wait til you get to know them better

**pete** · 14/05/2007, 9:55 AM

Originally Posted by ger121

The Indo's report said the attendance was 7700. Does that sound about right? How many did Drogs bring with them?

Not sure what the total was but apparently the lower section of Drogs stand holds 3000. If thats true Drogs brought somewhere between 1500 & 2000 but looked closer to 1500.

**BohsPartisan** · 14/05/2007, 10:09 AM

This is the Irish Times report, as a subscription is required I'm posting the whole thing.

Drogheda build up capital
Emmet Malone At Windsor Park

Setanta Cup Final : The taunts of "small team from Dublin", directed by a few Linfield supporters at the Drogheda team bus as it pulled away from Windsor Park on Saturday evening suggested the Irish "football family" have a way to go in terms of cross-Border awareness.

In just about every other department, however, the third Setanta Sports Cup final provided strong evidence of recent progress within what was the island's most divided sport during the bad times.

Apart from the few national flags displayed by the two groups of fans, a political subtext to Saturday's game would have largely escaped the uninitiated, the jibes exchanged no worse than what you would hear at any game and the universal appreciation shown at the end for two teams that had pushed themselves to exhaustion quite impressive.

That Drogheda deserved to win was undisputed, Linfield manager David Jeffrey, a number of his players and the reaction of the home fans to Mikko Vilmunen's decisive penalty save all evidence of the fact.

That Linfield had enhanced their reputation for character was also beyond doubt, for manifestly struggling in game 57 season of another double-winning season, they had survived as one-sided a half of football as any of the 6,300-strong crowd is likely to see to first take the lead during the 90 minutes and then go within a whisker of winning the penalty shoot-out.

Along the way Alan Mannus, outstanding against Cork in the semi-final, made a strong case for being considered the best goalkeeper in the two leagues, while players like Noel Bailie, William "Winky" Murphy and Mark Dickson all ably answered those who say Linfield's domestic success is mostly thanks to the Irish League's lack of quality.

Unfortunately, a number of Jeffrey's key players were struggling. Pat McShane succumbed to injury in the first 20 minutes and Peter Thomson limped off in the second half. Others, including Murphy, looked at times to be in trouble.

Linfield's one injury doubt before the game, Paul McAreavy, never looked right and his failure to cope in central midfield with Stuart Byrne was a key factor.

For 45 minutes Byrne and Stephen Bradley were utterly dominant, providing their wide men and strikers with a stream of quality possession, while Thompson and Glenn Ferguson were largely reduced to spectating.

United, and in particular Eamon Zayed, had a hatful of chances before the break. But instead it was McAreavey who scored for Linfield, midway through the second half, with a close-range header after Aidan O'Kane's corner was headed back across the goal by Murphy.

Tony Grant levelled 10 minutes later with a close-range shot, after which two tired-looking sides largely cancelled each other out.

Among chances spurned by Drogheda while the game was scoreless had been a Damien Lynch penalty, saved well by Mannus.

And so it went to spot kicks, and after Lynch's effort was again stopped and Linfield scored their first three it seemed the home side were on the brink of victory.

But Vilmunen then saved from Dickson and, spectacularly, O'Kane, leaving Byrne to send Mannus the wrong way with the decisive kick.

"It's ironic that after missing our first two (penalties) in last week's cup final and going on to win, we've scored our first three today and lost," observed Jeffrey. "But to be fair it would have been an injustice had we lost against Dungannon just as it would have been one if Drogheda hadn't won there today."

Paul Doolin praised Linfield but was too honest to disagree with Jeffreys' summing-up, the Drogheda manager clearly revelling quietly in the fact his players had maintained their recent average of a trophy a season, while there is still time this year to improve upon that tally.

"Nobody," he said, "had previously been able to truly claim to be champions of Ireland, and after today we have the opportunity now to become the first."

LINFIELD : Mannus; Ervin, Murphy, Bailie, McShane (McCann, 14 mins); Dickson, McAreavey, Mulgrew (Mouncey, 93 mins), O'Kane; Ferguson, Thompson (Gault, 54 mins).

DROGHEDA UNITED : Vilmunen; Lynch, Shelley, Gartland, Webb (Gray, 57 mins); Robinson, Byrne, Bradley, Cahill (Keegan, 77 mins); Zayed, O'Brien (Grant, 64 mins).

Referee: A McCourt (Bangor).

� 2007 The Irish Times

**GavinZac** · 14/05/2007, 10:15 AM

"Nobody," he said, "had previously been able to truly claim to be champions of Ireland, and after today we have the opportunity now to become the first."

What? even if he ignores the previous all-ireland cup competitions, its the second time they've won it.

Funny that Jefferies is willing to say it would have been an injustice had Linfield won, given his response to similar claims after the even more one-sided semi-final.

**gspain** · 14/05/2007, 10:21 AM

The "small team from Dublin" chant has been directed at Bray and Drogheda for quite a while in the EL. Not sure what this has to do with a lack of cross border awareness.

**BohsPartisan** · 14/05/2007, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by gspain

The "small team from Dublin" chant has been directed at Bray and Drogheda for quite a while in the EL. Not sure what this has to do with a lack of cross border awareness.

More a lack of football humour awareness from EM.
Good article other than that though, V Positive.

**David** · 14/05/2007, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by GavinZac

Funny that Jefferies is willing to say it would have been an injustice had Linfield won, given his response to similar claims after the even more one-sided semi-final.

Nobody, including David Jeffrey, denied that Cork were the better team but I think some of the statements coming from the Cork camp were worded a bit stronger than it being an injustice. Those statements were downright insulting to our club. We showed the stature of our club at the weekend by showing how to lose yet keep your dignity. Cork failed miserably in that respect.

**gspain** · 14/05/2007, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by GavinZac

What? even if he ignores the previous all-ireland cup competitions, its the second time they've won it.

Funny that Jefferies is willing to say it would have been an injustice had Linfield won, given his response to similar claims after the even more one-sided semi-final.

Probably down to the fact that the previous winners of this cup failed to win their own domestic title in the same season. No LoI club has ever won a north south cup and the domestic title in the same season. I believe Linfield are the only club to have won both outright - 61/2 & 70/1. Belfast Celtic did share the Inter city Cup in 1948 and win their domestic title.

**Jerry The Saint** · 14/05/2007, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by GavinZac

What? even if he ignores the previous all-ireland cup competitions, its the second time they've won it.

Funny that Jefferies is willing to say it would have been an injustice had Linfield won, given his response to similar claims after the even more one-sided semi-final.

Maybe he means that Drogheda have the chance to hold both league and Setanta trophies at the same time. But then that would mean that Linfield acheived this when they beat Shels in the inaugural competition, wouldn't it

Basically, Doolin got a bit carried away/was on crack.

**ColinR** · 14/05/2007, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by GavinZac

What? even if he ignores the previous all-ireland cup competitions, its the second time they've won it.

i think he means if we can now go on to win the league, we will then be champions of both (and true champions of ireland)- neither drogs nor linfield done that whilst winning the previous two setanta cups (also ignoring the previous versions of all-ireland cups)

edit - jerry the saint beat me to it, could be wrong but i believe glens won the league when linfield won the setanta??

**GavinZac** · 14/05/2007, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by David

We showed the stature of our club at the weekend by showing how to lose

certainly

yet keep your dignity.

To call the best player on the island, interviewed just moments after being largely at fault for throwing away one of the best games he's played, "pathetic" for being annoyed is not "keeping your dignity". What he's said after losing at the weekend is only to be expected, its very easy to be gracious in defeat when you deserved nothing more. Observe our reaction to being soundly beaten by a deserving Sligo.

Cork failed miserably in that respect.

What would you expect? 2 years in a row, we've had the competition snatched from our grasp in games that we utterly dominated but luck/goalframes/denis behan consipired to keep us scoreless. Its frustrating, and professionals who are aiming to win every competition they are in are bound to be "over the top" a few seconds after leaving the field of play.

**gspain** · 14/05/2007, 10:36 AM

Glens won the league in 2005 when Linfield won the Setanta. they then lost home and away to Shels in the champions league.

**Jerry The Saint** · 14/05/2007, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by ColinR

i think he means if we can now go on to win the league, we will then be champions of both (and true champions of ireland)- neither drogs nor linfield done that whilst winning the previous two setanta cups (also ignoring the previous versions of all-ireland cups)

edit - jerry the saint beat me to it, could be wrong but i believe glens won the league when linfield won the setanta??

Yep, was just thinking that. Wasn't sure of the timing of the final but Glentoran may already have won the league by the time the Setanta was decided. Good achievement all the same if Drogs do it (as they surely will

)

**David** · 14/05/2007, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by GavinZac

certainly

To call the best player on the island, interviewed just moments after being largely at fault for throwing away one of the best games he's played, "pathetic" for being annoyed is not "keeping your dignity". What he's said after losing at the weekend is only to be expected, its very easy to be gracious in defeat when you deserved nothing more.
What would you expect? 2 years in a row, we've had the competition snatched from our grasp in games that we utterly dominated but luck/goalframes/denis behan consipired to keep us scoreless. Its frustrating, and professionals who are aiming to win every competition they are in are bound to be "over the top" a few seconds after leaving the field of play.

You got beat by Linfield because you failed to score, end of story. You don't score, you don't win games. I appreciate the disappointment but we felt disappointment on Saturday despite being second best for most of the game but were still gracious in defeat. The way your players treated your own fans, not to mention Linfield, was a disgrace and disrespectful of those that had made such a journey to support them. Our players and manager acknowledged both sets of fans.