"Why can't we win it back-to-back?"

Derry City 3

Athlone Town 0

Ruaidhri Higgins is not hiding away from the fact that he wants to retain the FAI Cup with Derry City, after seeing off Athlone at the Brandywell.

The Derry City boss watched his team leave it very late before completing a 3-0 victory against the First Division underdogs at the end of an interesting FAI Cup weekend, which saw Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne and Sligo Rovers all eliminated.

“I remember saying to the lads before the first-round last year that they were four games away from the Aviva and the showpiece event; today was about getting 25% of that done again, and we’ve done it, and why not win it back-to-back? It would be a monumental achievement. You have got to be greedy for medals because in 20 years’ time, all you have to look back on are memories and medals. I know it’s really early to be talking about it, but our ambition is to go and try and win the cup, that’s for sure.”

Derry City made hard work of the win yesterday, failing to kill off Athlone until added time at the end of the game.

Will Patching’s first half penalty and Brandon Kavanagh’s late, late volley proved to be enough to separate the sides in a game of few chances and even less excitement.

Ruaidhri Higgins made seven changes to the team which defeated HB Torshavn in last Thursday’s Europa Conference League tie, the most notable of which was a debut for goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan, who made his first appearance for the club eight months after joining.

The goalkeeper had very little to do however as the game went as expected, with Derry City dominating the ball from the start. They took a while to get going but finally opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 22 minutes. Defender Noah van Geenan fouled Brandon Kavanagh and Will Patching stepped up to fire the Candystripes into the lead from 12 yards.

Cian Kavanagh had the chance to double the lead early in the second half when he was picked out by Diallo in the area, but he lost his boot as he brought the ball under control, and he let it go for Brandon Kavanagh to shoot straight at the goalkeeper.

Derry were showing no signs of adding to their lead however and Ruaidhri Higgins moved to change that, making four substitutions at one, Patrick McEleney, Michael Duffy, Cameron Dummigan and Paul McMullan all coming on.

But still City failed to fire and it wasn’t until the 93rd minute that they settled the tie, Kavanagh volleying in after a pass from Patrick McEleney.

Derry City the added another one 60 seconds later when McEleney crossed for Duffy to head in to put an emphatic look on the final scoreline which was harsh on Athlone.

“I would have liked the job to have been done quicker, but we got there in the end,” Higgins admitted. “We had opportunities and we were wasteful. We had total domination of the ball, but you get nothing for that unless you take your chances and thankfully, we got two late goals to make it more comfortable for us in the end.

“A lot of players got much-needed minutes and now everyone feels completely involved. It’s been great. There was a big European victory with a clean sheet and now a cup victory with a clean sheet and it’s been great to get everyone involved. I thought in particular, the enthusiasm Patrick McEleney showed when he came on; he’s won so many trophies, and the quality and enthusiasm he showed, he just gave us a completely different dimension and that’s why he’s one of the top players in the country.”

Teams

DERRY CITY: Ryan, Boyce, Coll, S McEleney, McJannet, Diallo (Duffy 58’), Patching (P McEleney 58’), McEneff (Dummigan 58’), B Kavanagh, C Kavanagh (McMullan 58’), D Mullen (McGonigle 82’).

ATHLONE: Minogue, Van Geenan, McKenna, Hickey, Connolly, Pierrot, Abdikadir (Gavin 81’), Campion-Hinds, Leal (Kavanagh 68’), Peprah (Baker 81’), Lamtoukou (Dolia 84’).

REFEREE: Oliver Moran.