Derry City 4 (McGonigle 18, McJannet 35, 61, McEneff pen 91) Shelbourne 0
No contest. Derry City seemed light years beyond Shelbourne in this smokey, flare-induced FAI Cup final, held before 32,412 raucous fanatics inside the Aviva stadium.
Most of them travelled from early morning, so the return journey on this red-letter day for the Candystripes, must have been sound-tracked by The Undertones football anthem. The club’s sixth cup success from 11 finals was claimed by Jamie McGonigle and Cameron McJannet goals, both scored before Shels found any sort of competitive stride.
McJannet’s second, Derry’s third on the hour mark further exposed the north Dubliners’ array of limitations. The fourth, in injury time, came after Luke Byrne fouled Jordan McEneff for a penalty the Derry native converted, to provide clear proof of the mismatch.
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“The big grass pitch, the athletes we had in the team ate the ground up,” said Derry manager Ruaidhrí Higgins, while emphasising “grass” in reference to the Brandywell’s artificial pitch. “Our top, top players came to the party today.”
Under Damien Duff’s leadership, Shelbourne had a solid plan in place. A plan that secured mid-table status on return to the Premier Division. A plan that worked until Michael Duffy and Patrick McEleney bloodied their nose. Repeatedly. The Drumcondra outfit sought to frustrate Derry with compact defence before picking the visitors off with counter punches. Not a one was landed.
The established Irish footballing system of 3-4-2-1 works whenever it avoids being squashed into 5-4-1, but Higgins’ side had Duff’s men backtracking from the off. This meant that Shane Farrell, a winger masquerading as a left back, could be harassed into error.
It took McEleney 18 minutes to peel back the skin. Spotting Ryan Graydon wide right, he dropped a ball over Farrell’s head and three touches later Jamie McGonigle was celebrating his 12th goal of the season. Graydon had the auxiliary defender beaten with one touch, taking a second to square for McGonigle’s sweeping finish past Brendan Clarke.
Farrrell did not reappear for the second-half as the game became a study in “low block” defending but the Shels ploy failed, miserably, which meant the contest was cooked by half-time.
Duff and Higgins both came to League of Ireland management following stints on Stephen Kenny’s Republic of Ireland management team, with Duff parting ways a 3-0 loss at Wembley in November 2020. “[England] forced us into a low block,” said Kenny of that night. “We couldn’t get out of it in the second half, and after that I said: ‘Never ever again will that ever happen.’”
The cruellest lessons come in cup finals. Several Shelbourne players, all caught ball watching, must take responsibility for the second Derry goal, started and finished by McJannet. The Milton Keynes native sauntered forward, sliding a pass for Duffy to reach the end line and send in a dangerous cross which Shane Griffin cleared straight for McJannet to score despite being surrounded by Shels players.
It would have been 3-0 at the interval, only Graydon blazed over after he skipped around Griffin.
Shelbourne, having achieved their primary target in 2022 of avoiding relegation, seemed unready for the occasion while Derry’s superior individual talent seized the opportunity.
The third goal was inevitable, especially with Shels failing to create space for Jack Moylan and Sean Boyd, in a game that passed over both attackers. Not long after McGonigle’s header landed on the roof of Clarke’s net, a Duffy corner cleared a clump of bodies for McJannet to score with his hip, having been lost by Byrne.
Soft goals all – Derry are streets ahead of Shels, with the Tolka Park club at least being on the cusp of investment from Southampton’s Serbian owners. But streets ahead on the pitch, because skipper Patrick McEleney – winning his fourth cup medal – Duffy and Will Patching are the calibre of player every League of Ireland club seeks to attract.
Even McEneff’s late cameo, the Arsenal academy recruit who returned home this year via a brief stint at Shels, showcased the final’s lop-sided nature.
“It came down to that bit of quality,” Duff concurred. “We know they have proper League of Ireland superstars in their team. The one regret, maybe, quite a few of us will go home and look ourselves in the mirror and ask, ‘have we given the best version of ourselves?’
“No. Four-nil on paper, a horrendous result but I’ve had more difficult days, a lot more difficult days.”
Undeterred, and with a winter of recruitment to focus the mind, Duff added: “I walked in 10 foot tall into Lansdowne today and I’ll walk out 10 foot tall.”
Derry City: Maher; Boyce, Connolly, S McEleney (Coll 82), McJannet; Graydon (Thomson 82), P McEleney, Dummingan, Patching (McEneff 90), Duffy (Kavanagh 90); McGonigle (Akintunde 75).
Shelbourne: Clarke; Wilson, Negru, Byrne, Griffin, Farrell (McManus HT); Lunney, Dervin (Ledwidge 64); Moylan, Molloy (Cloyle 71); Boyd.
Referee: Damien MacGraith.
