The introduction from presenter Peter Collins, far from the safety of his RTÉ studio, welcomed us to the Aviva Stadium for the FAI Cup final. “The biggest day in domestic football,” PC told us; and before a ball was kicked in anger, the flares and the smoke bombs and the general pyrotechnics provided the backdrop to let us know this was no ordinary match between Derry City and Drogheda United.
Indeed, the amount of bodies which the host station threw at the big day was impressive, with Collins joined for prematch analysis by some great football men in Alan Cawley, Gareth McGlynn and Graham Gartland. These guys know their onions and, thankfully, managed to steer clear of the usual cliches that so frequently worm their way into football talk.
From the off, these former footballers were on their game. As Gartland informed us of how the Drogs had survived some dark financial days: “A lot of people worked hard to keep the club alive for days out like this.”
And, in fairness to RTÉ, its team of pundits and commentators matched the occasion. The prematch mix of analysis and interviews – with the respective managers Kevin Doherty and Ruaidhrí Higgins sportingly sharing their thoughts with the gang at their pitch pitchside – was informative, especially given that many of those tuning in were among the casual soccer viewers who required backstories and more. They got it.
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Derry City might have carried a heavy favouritism into the final but, not needing the benefit of any hindsight, Cawley – not a man to mince his words, it must be said – got it spot on in his pregame observations: “Derry are coming in fragile, vulnerable. They were in a two-way league title race and finished fourth ... the damage that’s done to them psychologically must be huge,” said Mystic Alan, who clearly had some crystal ball tucked away somewhere.
Gartland, too, showed his wisdom in advance. “You’ve got to be selfish in your preparation to be selfless for your team,” he observed, with a nod towards Drogheda’s work ethic and spirit. Yep, these guys know their onions.
With the prematch punditry done and dusted, the baton was handed over to commentator Des Curran and sidekick Stuart Byrne, who earlier had walked the pitch with reporter Tony O’Donoghue and explained how the dimensions actually looked bigger because of the scale of the stadium.
Curran and Byrne, it must be said, make for a good combination, well able to fill time when needed during breaks in play. The thought, more than once, came to me that Byrne – who clearly knows his domestic football – would be worthy of elevation to doing a similar role come international matches. His views are insightful and knowledgeable and worth hearing. Just a thought, mind.
For his part, Curran has a wide vocabulary and unquestionably does his research, with stories and anecdotes and good statistical information about players. Clearly, he doesn’t just roll up to a match.
He’s capable of vivid imagery when needed, too. “The underdogs bare their teeth and show their fight,” said Curran on Andy Quinn’s opening goal for Drogheda which set the Boynesiders on their way to victory.
Byrne was caught up with the emotion of it all in looking down from his television berth and seeing his old pal Doherty, the Drogheda manager, hugging his wife in celebration when it was all over.
“Drogheda United had no right to go and win this game,” said Byrne of a team who face a playoff next Saturday to stay in the Premier League, adding: “But because of their sheer will and aggression and wanting it more, that teaches the greatest lesson you will ever learn in football. If you want it, you go and get it.”
That Drogheda victory was matched by the passion of the pundits post-match, for good and bad.
As Cawley put it, “People want to bombard you with tactics and analysis, [but] a bit of hard work and a bit of fight and a bit of desire [is what wins]. And every single one [of the Drogheda team] showed that.”
Which left us with the words of McGlynn. Honest. Despairing. Passionate. “The Derry City players have let the city down ... you can have all the technical ability in the world but if you haven’t got the heart to go and do something, then you’re not going to achieve it. They need to be damned ashamed of themselves.”
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