“This is a huge match for the club”
INCHICORE Athletic manager David Hyland is delighted his players will get the chance to shine on the big stage after they were drawn against neighbours and Airtricity League giants St Patrick’s Athletic in the first round of the FAI Cup.
While Inchicore have been drawn at home, the match is likely to be played in Richmond Park on the week-ending August 12.
“This is a huge match for the club,” Hyland told Echo.ie.
“We have a number of local players on the team, a lot of them who are Pat’s fans so this is going to be a great match for the local area.
“We’ve got a lot of players under 25 so this is a pretty young team and it’s new territory for a lot of them,” he said.
Heading into his third season with the side, Hyland took over Inchicore at a time when they had won just one game out of eight and were languishing at the wrong end of the Leinster Senior League’s Senior 1B table.
Yet he helped turned it all around as they went on a superb run that saw them finish third in the table and secure promotion.
“It wasn’t just because of me,” stressed Hyland. “There were very good players there already, but they just weren’t gelling properly.
“We went on a great run and just missed out on the title. We got promoted, but we lost six or seven of our good players and then lost our first four matches that season.
Young team
“But we had a young team that just got stronger and stronger. Intermediate football was a learning curve for a lot of them, but they just got better and, realistically, they over-achieved.
“We finished fifth last season and had a good run in the Intermediate Cup, getting to the last 16 where we lost to Dublin Bus.
“We didn’t have our regular keeper on the night and, had we got past the Bus, I think we could have gone on to do it.
“But it still qualified us for the FAI Cup and when we were drawn against Crumlin, people were like ‘how much will they beat us by?’
“But we beat them on penalties and I’m delighted that the lads have now got this draw.
“We’ve got a couple of players with League of Ireland experience like our club captain Adam Mitchell who played with Bray and Stephen Quigley whose a player and my assistant, who played with St Pat’s.
“The lads will definitely give a good account of themselves,” he insisted.
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