FAI Cup 1/4 Finals

Omackeral

St Patrick's Athletic v Bohemians
Richmond Park

Drogheda United v Derry City
Hunky Dorys Park

Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk
Tallaght Stadium -Live on RTE 2-

Avondale United v Finn Harps
Avondale Park

The FAI Ford Cup Quarter Finals kick off tomorrow night and throws up some interesting ties. The Dublin derby between St Pats and Bohemians is sure to have a big game atmosphere as the Saints look to claim their first Blue Riband in over 50 years while their Northside rivals aim to march to the Aviva in November for the first time.

Damien Richardson's Drogs look to put the memories of a poor season behind them following the Boynesiders unimpressive 2014 League of Ireland campaign. Standing in their way is Peter Hutton's Derry City who's focus seems to be on the FAI Cup and European football next season.

Top billing goes to the game which will be shown live on RTE Television as seeming Champions-elect Dundalk take on the mighty Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium. These two clubs are getting to know each other extremely well as by season's end they will have also contested the League Cup final as well as the Setanta Cup semi final. Which of these two famous clubs will claim bragging rights this time around?

Rounding out the last 8 are MSL side Avondale United. The club from Carrigaline, Cork welcome 1st Division Finn Harps to the Rebel County for the only non-premier tie of the quarters. One of these sides will progress to the semi final meaning that a dream date at Lansdowne Road will only be one hurdle away. That is the magic of the cup.

I'll be at the Inchicore game myself with a few non regulars, hope it lives up to expectation. Let us know your thoughts/predictions.

CSF

How good are Avondale? Have they a real chance?

GLaDOS

Our season is tapering off into mid table mediocrity (which is a welcome relief after last season) so that makes the cup all the more important. Hoping for a good crowd and atmosphere out in Inchicore tomorrow night.

Gavin "shels"

CSF wrote: »

How good are Avondale? Have they a real chance?

I'm have a dabble on them to win. Was tempted to pop down to Richmond but think I'll couch it out and watch Rovers/Dundalk.

Omackeral

Gavin shels wrote: »

I'm have a dabble on them to win. Was tempted to pop down to Richmond but think I'll couch it out and watch Rovers/Dundalk.

Couch-stooler.





:P

kksaints

Gonna be a tight match in Richmond tomorrow night. Bohs form is fairly good atm and they seem to be scoring more recently aswell. However we played very well against Dundalk last Friday and our first team should all be fit to play so I think we might win it 1-0 or 2-1.

Tough one in Tallaght aswell. Dundalk recovered from their loss last Friday quite well hammering a weakened Derry on Monday. Shams form hasnt improved that much under Fenlon but they do have home advantage and they put it up to Dundalk in Oriel earlier in the season. I have a feeling this might end in a draw on Friday and add another matchto the fixture list between Dundalk and Shams. I still think that Dundalk will go through but after a replay.

I think home advantage will be enough for the Drogs to go through against Derry. Richardson and Kiernans have done a fine job improving the Drogs and Derry are a patchy enough side capable of some great performances but throwing in some horror ones aswell.

Dont really know enough about Avondale or Finn Harps to make a prediction but I hope that Finn Harps do enough to go through. I dont really like non-league teams getting too far in the cup as it makes people believe that the gap between non-league and LOI teams isnt too big.

NIMAN

Fingers crossed for a win in Hunky Dory Park, or our season's over.

anncoates

kksaints wrote: »

Shams form hasnt improved that much under Fenlon

Nutsy has been in charge for 5 games:

3 Wins 1 Draw 1 Loss F 7 A 2

Dundalk last 5 games:

3 Wins 1 Draw 1 Loss F 7 A 5

GavRedKing

I'll be down at the Avondale game anyway. Theyve dominated amateur football down here and won the FAI Intermediate Cup 4 in a row too.

They'll have a chance against Finn Harps, being the "weakest" of the teams left so its probably their best chances of making the Semi Final.

The pitch down in Carrigaline is usually in good shape too, while not up to LOI standard, it'll allow both to play a bit of ball.

Parking is a disaster down there as its main gate is on a local access road so car are usually abandoned on the ditch or down towards a few housing estates a few mins walk down the road.

Theyve a few Irish amateur internationals among their ranks so they'll fancy their chances, I hope they can do it, I've a few buddies playing with them so would be brilliant to see them go through.

gimmick

When is the Avondale Harps game? Might head along

Gavin "shels"

gimmick wrote: »

When is the Avondale Harps game? Might head along

Sunday 2pm

Pighead

anncoates wrote: »

Nutsy has been in charge for 5 games:

3 Wins 1 Draw 1 Loss F 7 A 2

Dundalk last 5 games:

3 Wins 1 Draw 1 Loss F 7 A 5

Seven goals in five games for the league's most entertaining free scoring team? No chance. Also Fenlon has had a pretty cushy opening five games including Longford, Athlone and Derry and Sligo at home. Only tough game he's had so far he's lost. Don't think Rovers have shown too much improvement as of yet. But it is obviously very early days so far. Three games in three weeks against Rovers should be fun.

GavRedKing

gimmick wrote: »

When is the Avondale Harps game? Might head along

Should be a decent crowd down there too by all accounts.

dfx-

Pighead wrote: »

Three games in three weeks against Rovers should be fun.

My bet would be a replay..

anncoates

Pighead wrote: »

Seven goals in five games for the league's most entertaining free scoring team? No chance.

If it's wrong, fire your webmaster :pac:

Hard to predict tomorrow. Dundalk favourites but we're a far more solid team under Nutsy and we've played OK against you so far this season.

Amazed also people not giving Baz Murphy the credit he's due. He's in the form of his life.

overshoot

GavRedKing wrote: »

I'll be down at the Avondale game anyway. Theyve dominated amateur football down here and won the FAI Intermediate Cup 4 in a row too.

They'll have a chance against Finn Harps, being the "weakest" of the teams left so its probably their best chances of making the Semi Final.

I thought it was 3 in 4? either way they will certainly fancy their chances, unless your saying avondale are better than us, no need for the inverted commas on weakest... even if you are....

our good run has come to a crashing end in the last 2 games so hopefully it was one eye on the cup.

wouldnt expect much of a travelling support. lot of anger that the venue/date was only sorted last weekend... its not like it was an easy trip to start with. Joke as usual with the FAI

GavRedKing

overshoot wrote: »

I thought it was 3 in 4? either way they will certainly fancy their chances, unless your saying avondale are better than us, no need for the inverted commas on weakest... even if you are....

our good run has come to a crashing end in the last 2 games so hopefully it was one eye on the cup.

wouldnt expect much of a travelling support. lot of anger that the venue/date was only sorted last weekend... its not like it was an easy trip to start with. Joke as usual with the FAI

It was 4 from 5 finals, they equalled a pretty long standing record, think it was set back in the 60's.

Not implying Avondale are better just that of all the teams left it was the weakest they could have hoped for, in relation to the the other LOI teams.

I'm not 100% but I think Avondale wanted the game out in Turners Cross but there was an issue over payments and revenue surronding renting it out so it was brought back to Carrigaline. From what the players said they had no idea about the venue until Avondale announced it themselves. TBH, having it played on a pitch of slightly less standard might give them a tiny edge but it would be an upset if Avondale got through and one of their best players is away for a wedding this weekend.

Roar

after Peter Hutton doing his buddy Steven Kenny a massive favour by not turning up against Dundalk on Monday night, I hope Derry City get absolutely hammered by Drogheda.

overshoot

GavRedKing wrote: »

It was 4 from 5 finals, they equalled a pretty long standing record, think it was set back in the 60's.

Not implying Avondale are better just that of all the teams left it was the weakest they could have hoped for, in relation to the the other LOI teams.

I'm not 100% but I think Avondale wanted the game out in Turners Cross but there was an issue over payments and revenue surronding renting it out so it was brought back to Carrigaline. From what the players said they had no idea about the venue until Avondale announced it themselves. TBH, having it played on a pitch of slightly less standard might give them a tiny edge but it would be an upset if Avondale got through and one of their best players is away for a wedding this weekend.

sounds right actually

ha no... i think i was even saying id even give you calling them better than us! (Bit depressed after the last 2 results!)

as a Harps man... we have no right to complain about pitch & stadium standards! thought it was the other way around tho, that Carrigaine wasnt up to spec and the FAI wanted it in Turners. nevermind

kksaints

Phew! Sounded like a cracker in Inchicore. Roll on the Semi Finals!

COME ON YOU SAINTS!!!

Roar

Apparently a Bohs fan was arrested tonight for simply trying to bring a Palestinian flag into the ground.

Didn't know flags were illegal? What the actual fcuk like

kksaints

RTE really picked the wrong match to show. Seemed like a mental match up in Drogheda aswell. Drogs holding on to a draw after being reduced to 8 men. Seemed like 3 straight red cards for the Drogs. Was anyone here at the match? Would be interesting to hear if they were deserved reds, was the ref just looking to be the centre of attention or was it just pure crap reffing?

overshoot

kksaints wrote: »

RTE really picked the wrong match to show. Seemed like a mental match up in Drogheda aswell. Drogs holding on to a draw after being reduced to 8 men. Seemed like 3 straight red cards for the Drogs. Was anyone here at the match? Would be interesting to hear if they were deserved reds, was the ref just looking to be the centre of attention or was it just pure crap reffing?

justice for last year :pac:

Pighead

What a horrible match in Tallaght. Horgan the only bright spot for us. Third game in a row he's been our best player. Sad to see Keith Ward not even making the bench. Thought he might seeing as it was a cup game. Looks like he'll definitely be out the door at the end of the season. Real shame. Would much rather see him get game time over McDermott who has been pretty underwhelming so far. Replay Monday night. Bring it on.

dreamers75

**** drogs....Fcuk drogs and fcuk drogs........./rips up 16/1 betting slip.


great game tonight, we well on top at 3-1 until Bolger sent off. Took a while for Bohs to come into but when they did they scared the fcuk out of me

At 11v11 with them having Byrne on the pitch we had a man over, when we went down to 10 Byrne was a threat. he really should have scored, their keeper kept them in it with some great saves before the sending off.

2158 there tonight about 800 Bohs imo, was expecting an official attd of 5.

Pighead

dreamers75 wrote: »

**** drogs....Fcuk drogs and fcuk drogs.........

Wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments. What was Brennan's free kick like? Proper top corner job or one of those where the keeper is rubbish?

dreamers75

Pighead wrote: »

Wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments. What was Brennan's free kick like? Proper top corner job or one of those where the keeper is rubbish?

Wall was **** Keeper had no chance.

Decent free tho.

The Showstopper

Not sure on the first red in the Drogheda game because I was too far away to see but it looked like a stupid tackle to make regardless. Derry fella certainly made the most of it with a few rolls along the floor for effect.

The red for Grimes I don't have a clue about because it was for something he said, which really isn't good to see the captain sent off for that.

The red for Holohan was for two yellows, the first for telling the ref to book the Derry player for a high foot. Certainly looked like a yellow card offence to me but the ref I think only brought his cards for one team. Second yellow was for kicking the ball away after a foul.

I thought the Derry free that led to the equaliser shouldn't have been given. To me Holohan was first to the ball long before the Derry player even though Holohan did slide in. The goal itself was also a fairly soft goal to concede.

Drogheda were actually shocking in the first half and should have been further behind but once they got the goal they were right in the game. It was a fair gutsy performance in the 2nd half then from Drogheda to hold out for so long. Keeper made three great saves but Derry also kicked some woeful shots way off target.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

Superb game in Richmond Park, Keith Fahey was outstanding and is easily the best player in the League of Ireland. Sad to see just 2,200 fans at the game I thought that it would have been close to full for a Dublin Derby Cup Quarter final. Bohs didnt get much fair play from the ref but Pats were the better side on the night and good luck to them in the semi finals

Omackeral

Savage match in Richmond Park tonight. Had 1 lapsed fan and two semi regulars with me and even though we lost, they're mad up for doing more away days. That's the magic of domestic football right there. Very proud of Bohs tonight. 3-2 was a fair reflection and I think even 5 more mins would have been enough for us to equalise. Take nothing away from Pats though. Great game, great occasion.

Ps I'm posting this from the back of a commercial Ford Transit on the M50, I drew the short straw.

GLaDOS

Horrible to go out like that. Pats were well worth their 3-1 lead and I'd pretty much given up. Then Bolger had to go get sent off and get my hopes up :mad: We really should have equalised . Pats the better team though, can't really complain.

Amirani

Fairly sick to be honest. We had the chances, we really gave it a good go after Bolger went. Pats are a good side, and I can't say they didn't deserve to go through.

While Clarke's celebrating pissed me off at the end, I can sympathise with him now that it's sunk in a bit. He got a lot of fairly harsh abuse second half.

steirishrover

Any ideas what dates/weekend the semis is on lads?

anncoates

Jaysus, that will be replay Monday or Tuesday(?), EA Cup final Saturday, Bohs away Tuesday and Pats away Friday.

dreamers75

Everyone who scored tonight is Ex other team #greatestleagueintheworld

major bill

Gutted.....Brilliant last 20 mins for Bohs we did give it a go and as mentioned should have equalized, I need to see Clarke's save again but from standing right behind the goal it looked like a save of the season contender. Soft goals to give away but Pats were the better team. Great game of ball pity RTE didn't show this one.

Off the pitch Bohs support was very impressive, great atmosphere and Clarke got the last laugh, he had to deal with some awful abuse

dfx-

anncoates wrote: »

Jaysus, that will be replay Monday or Tuesday(?), EA Cup final Saturday, Bohs away Tuesday and Pats away Friday.

And the UCD game to be re-arranged. I wouldn't have thought either side wanted the replay but it was always going to be..

10green bottles

Pighead wrote: »

What a horrible match in Tallaght. Horgan the only bright spot for us. Third game in a row he's been our best player. Sad to see Keith Ward not even making the bench. Thought he might seeing as it was a cup game. Looks like he'll definitely be out the door at the end of the season. Real shame. Would much rather see him get game time over McDermott who has been pretty underwhelming so far. Replay Monday night. Bring it on.

Might get a chance on Monday with McDermott and Gartland suspended.
Awful match!

dreamers75

dfx- wrote: »

And the UCD game to be re-arranged. I wouldn't have thought either side wanted the replay but it was always going to be..

I wanted a replay cos i had pats drogs and the draw at 16-1.


yeah so **** drogs........*****

10green bottles

steirishrover wrote: »

Any ideas what dates/weekend the semis is on lads?

Usualy played on the 1st Sunday in October(5th) but don't quote me on that.

anncoates wrote: »

Jaysus, that will be replay Monday or Tuesday(?), EA Cup final Saturday, Bohs away Tuesday and Pats away Friday.

Repaly on Monday @ 7.45 in Oriel.

BOHtox

dreamers75 wrote: »

**** drogs....Fcuk drogs and fcuk drogs........./rips up 16/1 betting slip.


great game tonight, we well on top at 3-1 until Bolger sent off. Took a while for Bohs to come into but when they did they scared the fcuk out of me

At 11v11 with them having Byrne on the pitch we had a man over, when we went down to 10 Byrne was a threat. he really should have scored, their keeper kept them in it with some great saves before the sending off.

2158 there tonight about 800 Bohs imo, was expecting an official attd of 5.

Pretty fair analysis. We couldn't give you a game 11 vs 11 like we did in Dalyer a few weeks ago. First half was okay. Pats on top but we could contain them. Second half Pats were on top and deservedly got a 3-1 lead. Sending off was fair and we had chances to score at 11 vs 10. Clarke and Delany both made good saves during the match but Pats' midfield is just phenomenal and was probably what won it for them! Brennan, Bolger, Fahey, Byrne are just magnificent! Totally dominated at times! We defended poorly and afforded Fagan (had no business celebrating in front of us like that. Left amicably and was treated with respect by fans) too much space in the box. Clarke got dogs abuse and his celebration was justified

Our squad is young and is only together a few months. Even since Wearen came in, in July, we're a different team. They learned a lot tonight. Pender, Lopes and Beattie were all good tonight. Wearen too has potential to be the best player in the league but doesn't show it enough. I hope to god we can keep the same team together for next year with just a few additions and we'd have a real go at the top 4 or 5!

After going out to Pats tonight I don't think it would be any shame going out to the eventual winners so I wish them the best of luck and will be at the final anyway but I'd hope they'll be there.

jacool

10green bottles wrote: »

Might get a chance on Monday with McDermott and Gartland suspended.
Awful match!

At least they got a referee to match the quality of football.
Denied both sides a penalty and gave a free kick against, I think either Kenna or McGuinness, for having the temerity of getting their cheek split open, but that was in the opposition box so would have to be a free out. He was utterly useless, booking Gannon for repeat fouls and then letting Finn commit three fouls in about as many minutes!
Three players looked above the rest, Finn, Towell and the one that I thought was Damien Duff in disguise (in more ways than one), MOTM, Daryl
Horgan (although RTE called him Daryl Corcoran when he was getting his award!)

Gavin "shels"

Roar wrote: »

Apparently a Bohs fan was arrested tonight for simply trying to bring a Palestinian flag into the ground.

Didn't know flags were illegal? What the actual fcuk like

That's been basically disregarded now, the lefties had their moan but supposedly there's a lot more too it! Cans in a Tesco bag, chap refusing to be searched, etc...

Hard Worker

Gavin shels wrote: »

That's been basically disregarded now, the lefties had their moan but supposedly there's a lot more too it! Cans in a Tesco bag, chap refusing to be searched, etc...

You don't get arrested for either of those "offences". If you refuse to be searched, you just don't get in.

southlouth type

Ref in utd park was pathetic . Every single decision went the Derry way . Tues is gonna tough 4 of first 11 out . Can't see is getting anything from it but who knows . Gary o Neil and mick daly where immense last night .

Omackeral

I'm sure most people know this already but Avondale United drew 1-1 with Finn Harps today forcing them to a replay on Wednesday. They're not going down without a fight anyway, keep that European dream alive!

dundalkfc10

Omackeral wrote: »

I'm sure most people know this already but Avondale United drew 1-1 with Finn Harps today forcing them to a replay on Wednesday. They're not going down without a fight anyway, keep that European dream alive!

Would they get a licence to play in Europe? Anyone know if a Non-League team (from anywhere) has won a cup or got to the final and made Europe

Omackeral

I know there was a 3rd tier team playing in Europe this year. I'll try look it up.

It was FC Santos Tartu of Estonia.

From Wikipedia

In 2014 Santos, while competing in the third tier of Estonian football, reached the 2013–14 Estonian Cup final. Their opponent in the final was the reigning Estonian champion FC Levadia, already qualified for the Champions League, therefore Santos qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League as cup runner-up. Santos went out on aggregate 13-1 to Tromso of Norway but scored their first ever goal in European competition leading to much dancing on the streets of Tartu.[2]

the bolded part is historical undisputed fact.

Pighead

Cup replay about to get underway. Keith Ward makes the bench. I would LOVE it if he comes on to grab a second half winner. Let's do this. Prediction: 2-1 to the entertainers.

Pighead

1-0 to Dundalk at half time. Hoban with a powerful header from an inch perfect Darren Meenan cross. Is there a better header of the ball in the league? Dean Kelly's got away with two sneaky kicks at Massey. Wouldn't surprise me if he sees red in the second half.

anncoates

Any updates pighead?