Emma Byrne, up in the RTÉ studio with Peter Collins and Stephanie Roche, was hoping nerves on the big occasion wouldn't "dampen" Wexford Youths' fire, but even before they kicked off they were saturated, the heavens having opened and forgotten to close.
Their opponents Shelbourne, who Wexford hoped to dethrone and become, well, raining champions themselves, were equally drenched, so at least there was a level, if greasy, playing field. And much of the credit for that has to go to the whatever company installed the drainage system at the Aviva. That Dundalk weren’t doing their lap of honour in kayaks come several hours later was, frankly, miraculous.
It is November, though, so we have to expect these things, but still, the small gathering of people who turned up for the women’s FAI cup final, and will be squeezing the water out of their pants until January, deserve to be saluted.
Divil a goal to stir them in the first half, Byrne worried for Wexford at the break that they’d pay for those missed chances, and not a whole lot later they did, Siobhan Killeen doing her thing. But whoever put the Shelbourne ribbons on the cup had to take them off again when Ciara Rossiter equalised so deep in to injury time it was almost Monday.
Extra-time. Whoever put the Wexford ribbons on the cup after Maria Delahunty put them 2-1 up had to take them off again when Dearbhaile Beirne equalised for Shelbourne.
Mad, gas, lovely stuff.
Penalties. And then a sizeable helping of gobshitery as the Cork City lads came out to warm-up on the pitch while Wexford and Shelbourne were contesting their shoot-out, like subs do at half-time while the under-5s are having a kick-about at the other end of the field. You really don’t have to be a Feminazi to conclude that was a touch discourteous. Instead of intruding on the biggest moment in these young sportswomen’s lives, have a word with the powers-that-be about delaying your kick off.
“Can I say this,” said Ger Canning. “I think the men’s teams should not have come out on the field until the penalty shoot-out was completed, I think it’s disrespect to the women – they’re not just a sideshow.”
They’re not just a sideshow.
Gawd, that’s worth tattooing on any sporting bosom. Bonnets off to the Ger man.
Wexford triumphed, unlike Cork, so maybe that lengthy warm-up left them fatigued.
The pundit lads – Richie Sadlier, Stuey Byrne and Tony McDonnell – looked at it from the lads' point of view, the delay irksome, suggesting those powers-that-be had erred by not giving the women's final an earlier kick-off, as if 12.20 wasn't unnatural enough.
If Emma and Stephanie had still been on punditry duty you suspect they might have suggested a later boys’ kick-off.
Any way, the boys finally got going and it took them a whole 107 minutes to score, leaving the crowd chanting “all we are saying, is give us the girls”. Ah no, jesting.
The Richie Towell man settled it in the end, which wasn't the most massive of surprises, his goal denying us a penalty shoot-out and the pleasure of seeing Wexford Youths returning to the pitch bang in the middle of it for their lap of honour, to the tune of "Sisters are doing it for themselves".
That would have been a heckuva sideshow.
