'Missing the penalty last year in the final, there was a lot of hurt' - McBride

With echoes of last year’s FAI Intermediate Cup final defeat ringing in his head, no doubt Cockhill Celtic man Corey McBride must’ve been wondering when his day of redemption was going to fall. 

Nobody needs to remind him of that painful penalty shootout defeat last April which saw Rockmount clinch back-to-back FAI Cup titles. 

Fast-forward 12 months and it would be McBride who would turn the screw for his club and lead them back to a national final, this time at Junior level. But the feeling of being the first Donegal club to capture national junior cup glory since Finn Harps in 1968 is something Cockhill won’t be taking for granted.  

After all, winning this prized trophy has been an ambition of theirs since they entered this competition, and after beating Limericks Pike 1-0 at the weekend, they are now just one step away from the coveted prize. 

Cockhill took the lead after 22 minutes when James Bradley won the ball in midfield and played wide to Luke Rudden. His delivery to the back post saw Garbhan Friel knock the ball back across the goal where McBride came sliding in to finish from close range. 

“It was a great day and even better to be involved,” McBride told Donegal Live. “They were a tough side and there was nothing in it, but both teams knew that one goal was always going to be enough to win the match and thankfully it fell our way.” 

McBride summarises his side’s progress as a team consistently progressing as their CV shows. 

“We’ve been learning as a team all the time, when you look at it, we only made it to the quarter-final of the Intermediate Cup two years ago, then last season we lost in the final on penalties, so we are hoping we have enough knowledge and ability to get over the line in four weeks and win a national trophy,” said the 23-year-old. 

But some of the greatest lessons we learn come from the hardest of setbacks and McBride can preach that better than anyone with him being the player who missed the decisive penalty against Rockmount in the Intermediate final last year. 

“Look missing the penalty last season in the final, there was a lot of hurt there. Of course, in a penalty shootout, it can go any way, but it was hard for us as a team because we worked so hard to get to that point and then to lose in the matter we did, it was bad, but look, we’re looking to rectify that now in the final this year. 

“I’m not going to lie, it was a hard time for me . . . and the rest of the team, like it’s always good to get to a final, but then when you’re there, you want to win it. The way it ended, it was just the worst way to lose a final, but that’s the way it goes. 

“I just remember there being a sour taste in my mouth after the defeat. We had a lot of travelling fans . . . I think we had about 2,000 supporters that followed us to the final that day, so it was sickening we couldn’t do it.” 

But whatever lessons Cockhill took from last season, their performance at the weekend shows that they are not a team that rests on their laurels, as they pushed Pike from start to finish, never sitting back or taking their foot off the gas, something McBride hopes they will carry with them into the final. 

“Our aim after we took the lead was to simply keep doing what we were doing. We were never going to park the bus and see what happened, we kept pressing high up the pitch and kept pushing for a second goal.  

“I think we had a couple of half chances in the second half, I feel we probably should’ve got a second goal, but we’ll take the 1-0 win and now we’re just looking forward to the final in four weeks and hope we can put in the same performance.”