“It’s not in our DNA to just be happy with this”
By Stephen Leonard
SHAMROCK Rovers players Ronan Finn and Roberto Lopes insist the team's victory in Sunday's FAI Cup Final can provide a valuable stepping stone for the Hoops in their bid to become the Number One outfit in the country.
Stephen Bradley's men bridged a 32-year gap since they last raised the FAI Cup after they beat Dundalk 4-2 on penalties in a thrilling decider at the Aviva Stadium.
Shamrock Rovers players celebrate as captain Ronan Finn lifts the FAI Cup following their victory over Dundalk in Sunday’s decider at the Aviva Stadium .(Photo by David Kiberd)
The Tallaght side had looked poised to win the match in regulation time after Aaron McEneff broke the deadlock with a 90th minute spotkick that had been won by Tallaght man Aaron Greene.
Yet the SSE Airtricity League champions salvaged a late late reprieve when Michael Duffy rocked the net with a sublime half volley to make it 1-1 at the death.
Rovers, who had been on top for much of this tie, were rocked, but regained their poise in extra time which failed to determine a winner.
And they carried that same composure into the resulting shootout with Rovers goalkeeper Alan Mannus pulling off a fine stop from Daniel Cleary after Duffy’s attempt had smacked the crossbar.
Jack Byrne, Joey O’Brien and Greg Bolger all converted for the Tallaght side before Gary O’Neill struck the winner, ending the long cup wait for the delirious Rovers faithful.
With a long-overdue cup now in the bag, captain Finn believes they can push on to greater things, telling The Echo “It’s been too long since Rovers had this success. It’s a stepping stone for us, we want to keep building. It’s a work in progress.
“I thought we deserved the result. It’s been a long time coming.
“The club, we’ve got to keep pushing. It’s not in our DNA to just be happy with this. It’s building blocks and we’re just looking forward to next season.
“This club has been starved of success. For a club that’s renowned like ours, it’s been too long. To bring it [the cup] back home and to see the emotion on people’s faces, old players, ex-players, fans, people that have grown up 50, 60 years watching the club, seeing them with the cup in their hands last night in the Burlington, that’s what it’s all about.
“For us as players, it’s our job. As fans they can enjoy it, but we’ll enjoy it too.”
Roberto Lopes celebrates the Hoops bridging a 32-year gap since they last won the FAI Cup. (Photo by David Kiberd)
Lopes echoed these sentiments, saying “It’s given us the confidence to really push on after winning a major trophy over our biggest rivals.
“It’s given us the confidence to go kick on again and hopefully go and compete with them in the league and other competitions, but we’ll enjoy this now and we’re looking forward to next season as well.”
Looking back on Sunday’s epic Cup Final, Lopes continued “It was tough when we conceded the goal. We were a bit deflated, but we gathered ourselves at the end of the game and we knew we had to dig in for the next half an hour because they would have been buoyed after scoring.
“But we kept our head and Al [Mannus] did the stuff on penos. Al is a top top keeper and we had a feeling that he’d save at least one so once we scored our penos and did our job at that end. Gary [O’Neill], as cool as ever, slotted it home, it was just such relief and the joy was just incredible.”
One of those who converted from the spot for Rovers, Greg Bolger recalled his emotion in the shootout.
“It was relief. I took a penalty before on Gary Rogers in the Cup Final and I don’t know what I was thinking, would he guess the right way, but I just thought that if I hit it well enough he shouldn’t be stopping it and luckily it went in.”
“It was a great feeling because we thought we had won it, but they scored late to bring it to extra time, so it was more relief and I felt we deserved it on the day. I thought we were the better team even through they had a few chances.
“It was just pure relief and I’m buzzing for everyone in the club, the players, the fans, management, everyone. It was just a great feeling.
“There’s a lot of young supporters of this club who have never seen Rovers lift the FAI Cup. For them, the fans, it’s just brilliant and hopefully it won’t be so long again in coming around. Hopefully we can get back there next year.”
Ronan Finn in action during the match. (Photo by David Kiberd)
Finn payed tribute to the calming effect of manager Stephen Bradley after Rovers had shipped that last second equaliser against the Lilywhites.
“Stephen said just relax, get back to what you’ve been doing. It was a setback, we all understood that. You’d be foolish not to believe we were there after 91 minutes, 92 minutes. We were all, in the back of our minds, thinking that was it, but we took a body blow.
“Dundalk scored really out of nothing. They’re a good side, but we re-grouped, we got our shape back. I thought in extra time we got to grips with the game again and we managed to nullify them. If anybody was going to win it, it should have been us. It went down to penalties but we got the job done” he smiled.
“This is what it’s all about” exclaimed Lopes. “Sharing this with all the friends and family and especially the fans who have waited so long to have the cup in their hands again.
“It’s just a brilliant feeling. Yesterday was just more a feeling of relief, that we’ve done it, just overwhelming joy and today we can just go and celebrate it with the fans.”
TAGS sports
