FAI Cup Final Countdown - 2014 - Cup final disappointment as St. Pat's get revenge on Derry
FAI Cup Final 2014
Derry City 0
St. Patrick's Athletic 2
Derry City’s road to the 2014 FAI Cup final was so dramatic, it seemed that the team’s name was on the trophy.
Peter Hutton’s team looked to be on the way out against 9-man Drogheda United in the quarterfinals only for a late equaliser from Philip Lowry to save them and force a replay. The hosts then actually finished the game with 8 men meaning they were bereft of key players for the trip to the Brandywell, and were completely demolished as Rory Patterson scored a hat trick in a 5-0 win.
City then had to travel to Tallaght for the semi-finals and again looked to be on the way out until a late Patterson equaliser took the game back to Derry. The drama continued with Patterson missing a penalty before Michael Duffy made the breakthrough late in the second half. Patterson made amends in the final few minutes by lashing the ball into the roof of the net to take the Candystripes back to the Aviva Stadium, and yet another meeting with St. Patrick’s Athletic.
From then on it was a matter of seeing out the remaining league fixtures and building momentum ahead of the showpiece in Dublin just three weeks later. However, City’s league form only worsened, and three defeats in the final three games to Limerick, UCD and Bohemians ensured that Hutton’s team finished in eighth place in the Premier Division; their lowest finish since 2007.
All eyes were on the Aviva Stadium on November 2, 2014 as Derry City and St. Patrick’s Athletic met in the third instalment of this particular fixture.
Derry had emerged victorious in two thrilling cup finals in 2006 and 2012, and hopes were high of a treble success against the team from Inchicore.
Unfortunately for Derry, a rather miserable season was summed up in a lacklustre performance and defeat. City were second best throughout but held firm until the second half when Christy Fagan gave Pat’s the lead with a scrappy goal which somehow eluded Danny Ventre as the ball trickled into the net.
City pushed hard for an equaliser but created only one chance which Barry McNamee failed to take. With the clock counting down, Fagan then capitalised on a mistake from Barry Molloy and scored his second goal to seal the win and seal St. Patrick’s Athletic’s first FAI Cup in 53 years.
Heartbroken Derry City players were left to wonder just what might have been at the end of a season which had more lows than highs.
“Pat’s were just too strong for us,” Duffy agreed. “If you look back we created a few half chances and then one for Barry McNamee in the second half whereas they created a lot. Christy Fagan should have scored a few before he did and it just wasn’t our day.
“It was amazing to walk out into the Aviva and see 16,000 people there. The stadium itself and the fans made it an amazing experience. But the whole season was good for me personally because I played a lot of games and I was able to develop. Playing in different types of games; like the cup game at Drogheda, really brought me on because as a team we were faced with different situations. That definitely helped me.”