Soccer

Derry City hoping dire season has silver lining in FAI Cup Final against Drogheda United

Co Louth finalists no easy opponent as European qualification beckons if northern rivals can be overcome

Progress at Derry City under manager Ruaidhrí Higgins stalled this season as the side stumbled out of the Uefa Conference League. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Progress at Derry City under manager Ruaidhrí Higgins stalled this season as the side stumbled out of the Uefa Conference League. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Gavin Cummiskey
Sat Nov 09 2024 - 06:00
FAI Cup Final,
Derry City v Drogheda United,
Aviva Stadium, Sunday 3pm,
Live on RTÉ2

It was November 2022 and the Ruaidhrí Higgins-managed Derry City had just wiped the Lansdowne grass with Damien Duff’s Shelbourne, winning 4-0 in a one-sided FAI Cup final played before a healthy 32,412 attendance.

The Candystripes were the epitome of squad building, funded by Derry businessman Philip O’Doherty who placed his trust in Higgins to unseat Shamrock Rovers as Premier Division champions, if not in 2023 then surely by November 2024.

The group stages of Europe seemed like the next inevitable step as Duff paid tribute to the rise of Derry by highlighting their “League of Ireland superstars” Patrick McEleney, Michael Duffy and Will Patching.

“It came down to that bit of quality,” said the Shelbourne manager.

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Derry appeared to reduce the gap between themselves and Rovers in 2023 but for numerous reasons, progress halted this year as Higgins’s side stumbled out of Uefa Conference League qualification, losing to a semi-professional Gibraltar team before an abysmal run-in had them winning one of their last eight league matches.

It must have been excruciating for everyone associated with the club to stand aside and watch Duff’s men and 300 Shelbourne fans celebrating on Derry’s AstroTurf pitch late last Friday night. Finally, the FAI’s giant league trophy was held aloft at the Brandywell Stadium. Only Duff, and not Higgins, had delivered.

Derry City's Michael Duffy was nominated for Player of the Year. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho
Derry City's Michael Duffy was nominated for Player of the Year. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho

Derry’s dire season seemed unconscionable until it unravelled before our eyes. The prolific Patrick Hoban arrived from Dundalk, scoring 15 goals before injury slowed his march to Sunday’s decider in Dublin. Ireland under-21 striker Collie Whelan also signed, only to tear his cruciate ligament. Either Hoban or Whelan could yet prove the match-winner and save Derry’s nosediving campaign.

McEleney, Duffy and Patching remain in situ. Injuries have interrupted progress, yet Duffy was nominated for Player of the Year. So much of what has happened makes no sense, but Higgins’s future as the manager might come into question if they miss out on the Europa League qualifier spot that comes from winning a second cup in three years.

“We were too inconsistent and that’s the bottom line,” Higgins conceded. “It’s horrible at times and then it’s brilliant at times and you have to take the good with the bad and roll with the punches. It’s extremely tough and there’s an element of jealousy when you see other clubs achieving what you want to achieve.

“We now have an opportunity in the final game of the season to finish on a positive note and give this city something to really cheer about and make people happy.”

For multiple reasons, partial redemption should be a formality for Derry. On paper, they possess a far superior group to what Kevin Doherty will field. Come 5pm that paper might be worthless, mainly because Frantz Pierrot and Douglas James-Taylor are capable of lighting up the occasion. After sharing 23 goals, the Haiti and English strike partnership has driven Drogheda to the cusp of European football in 2025.

Amazingly, this could happen from the first division as Bray Wanderers are intent on overcoming them in the promotion/relegation play-off next Saturday at Tallaght Stadium.

“Whatever happens we will be training on Monday,” said Doherty.

To those paying close attention to the Irish club scene, the Drogheda juxtaposition of qualifying for Europe and being relegated makes perfect sense. It has been a weird year. Take their run to the final; overcoming Dundalk, non-league Wilton United, Athlone Town and Wexford, which suggests that a seeded draw might make sense in future.

In contrast, Derry accounted for St Patrick’s Athletic, Cork City, Shels and Bohemians with rare reminders that Higgins’s side were supposed to be closing in on the double. Reality intervened. Before a painful analysis of what went wrong can be completed, Derry have the opportunity to splash a silver sheen on a season that, if not for the cup, would already be classified as a regression.

Perhaps, as the Aviva swells with almost 40,000 spectators, the “League of Ireland superstars” might rediscover the form that earned them such a title.

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey is The Irish Times' Soccer Correspondent