As he stood just in front of the stand at Dalymount Park on Saturday evening, hands on hips, alone, watching the Cork city players collect their Harp Lager FAI Cup winners' medals it was impossible not to feel sorry for Damien Richardson. The fact that for the third time this season his side had deserved to finish in second place only seemed, in the circumstances, to makes things worse.
To contribute so much to a season, as the Dubliners have done over the past nine months, and get so little back is likely to test the character of many at the club over the summer and, perhaps, well into the next campaign. In attempting to transform themselves from a team capable only of cup success into something greater they have, for the moment, found themselves between stools, unable to grind out the results in the league to quite the same extent that St Patrick's Athletic achieved, no longer the best in the country at raising their game for the one-off occasion.
It could hardly have helped that the goal which won City their first ever Cup had more than a hint of what has brought Shelbourne to the brink of triumph this season about it, a big centre half, in this case Derek Coughlan, causing havoc amongst defenders and heading home from a set piece. Sometimes when this game knocks you down, it makes sure to give you a good kicking as well.
If that had been the only difference between these two sides over their two cup meetings then it would easier to say that the wrong team won. Nobody, however, certainly not Richardson, was disputing that City deserved their win afterwards. They had shaded the match a week ago with a more focused second-half performance, the gap was a good deal wider this time with the switches made by City always looking more likely to pay dividends than those made by the holders and their creative players rather than the likes of Mark Rutherford, Dessie Baker and Liam Kelly doing far more to open up the game.
This, Richardson said afterwards was down to fatigue, and the fact that his team have played more games than Manchester United over the past season is without doubt a daunting one, but it hardly explains away the fact that Patsy Freyne, with more miles on the clock than just about anyone else involved emerged as the key figure in midfield.
Playing in what will, almost certainly be his last senior game, the 34-year-old was inspirational and those around him, most notably Coughlan, Ollie Cahill and Dave Hill amply displayed their willingness to be inspired.
Dave Barry had said before the game that City would have won at the first attempt had their strikers performed and had the two he replaced them with, John Caulfield and Noel Hartigan, done better in this game then the margin of victory would surely have been greater. What did make a difference, though, was Freyne's switch from wide on the right to the centre, with the former Cobh player and Kelvin Flanagan, who moved the other way, making more of a mark on the proceedings.
Shelbourne, for their part, moved Dessie Baker and played Liam Kelly out on the right but Kelly failed to make a mark in an unfamiliar role which, combined with another disappointing display by Mark Rutherford went a long way towards blunting the Dubliners' attacking edge.
By the time the second half started it looked as though changes would have to be made but they weren't until after Coughlan's timely rendezvous with Kelvin Flanagan's corner from the left in the 75th minute. That proved to be the third strike against the Dubliners' season and it left them looking decidedly down and out.
Cork City: Mooney; O'Donoghue, Coughlan, Daly, Cronin; Flanagan, Freyne, Hill, Cahill; Caulfield, Hartigan. Subs: Glynn for Hartigan (55 mins), Long for O'Donoghue (76 mins).
Shelbourne: Gough; Smith, Scully, McCarthy, D Geoghegan; Kelly, Fitzgerald, Fenlon, Rutherford; S Geoghegan, Baker. Subs: Neville for Fitzgerald (84 mins), Morley and Sheridan (80 mins).
Referee: G Perry (Dublin).
