THE FAI STAFF member had the Cup in his hands and was waiting patiently for the little green man to appear on the traffic lights before crossing the road.
Some of the Waterford players in attendance for Monday’s media duties ahead of today’s final needed to be corralled for photographs and publicity shots outside the Theatre Royal and Medieval Museum.
Interviews were taking place in the offices of Waterford Crystal directly across the road, so the sight of the FAI employee clutching the Cup tightly, with club flags flying high from lampposts as cars fizzed by beeping their horns, until he could eventually scurry safely along the road was humorous.
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After the first third of this season both clubs involved in Sunday’s showpiece might have felt like they were in danger of being run out of town by their respective fans.
The prospect of Waterford and Derry City in the FAI Cup final held little appeal and, frankly, seemed too farfetched to even contemplate.
After 14 games the Aviva Stadium was so far down the Blues’ priority list. Then Graham Coughlan arrived as manager and began a stunning turnaround in fortunes. From being cut adrift at the bottom of the table, 11 points from safety with even stagnation seemingly beyond them, Waterford even ended the campaign comfortably outside the promotion/relegation play-off in seventh place.
Their Cup run added a zest of ambition to the run-in, and a deserved victory away to Bohemians in the semi-final booked their place as they aim to win the trophy for the first time since 1980.
Coughlan signed a new two-year deal at the start of this week, rejecting interest in the UK to remain at the RSC. The chance to compete in Europe is an added incentive. For Derry, the Cup feels more like a salvage operation.
They, too, changed managers during the course of this season. Tiernan Lynch had been backed to the hilt by the club’s billionaire owner, Phillip O’Doherty. He didn’t deliver. Ever since the joyous aftermath of the 2022 final, when Ruaidhrí Higgins was at the helm and they blitzed Damien Duffy’s Shelbourne 4-0 at the Aviva Stadium, O’Doherty’s determination to win the league was clear.
He went on the record with an interview in local media declaring the Cup win would be just a catalyst for greater success.
Instead, with caretaker boss Mark Connolly confirming he will resume his position as director of football once the final is over, O’Doherty will be looking for his third permanent boss since that triumph over Shels four years ago.
Both teams are savouring the kind of positivity that might have felt unimaginable earlier in the year. Relegation loomed over Waterford until the final weeks while, of course, the James McClean situation at Derry also highlights some of the issues that remain off the pitch there.
When these sides have met this year goals have been guaranteed. Not just that, the games have kept everyone guessing with the aggregate score of 10-10 in the four league fixtures.
Derry got the better of Waterford early on in the Ryan McBride Brandywell, Michael Duffy’s second hat-trick of his League of Ireland career helping the hosts to a 4-2 win.
The Candystripes snatched a 2-2 draw in May with a 95th minute equaliser in the Brandywell while Waterford’s 4-2 victory away from home looked like it would be a routine one.
They raced into a 3-0 lead only for Derry to score twice before the 85th minute until the Blues made sure of
The points were shared again in September with a 2-2 courtesy of Padraig Amond’s header from a corner to equalise. The 38-year was the Golden Boot winner in the last two seasons – missing out to teammate and Ireland U21 international Tommy Lonergan by a single goal this term – and that is why both Shelbourne and champions Shamrock Rovers wanted to sign the veteran last winter.
The prospect of finishing his career at Tallaght Stadium was a romantic one for the Carlow native as that is where he began life in the professional game 20 years ago.
He subsequently joined Sligo Rovers but left the Bit O’Red in 2010 after the quarter final stage when they eventually reached the first final at the new Aviva Stadium.
Amond’s parents still attended the game – Sligo won on penalties – and 16 years on they will be there to watch their son lead Waterford out.
His son, Eóghan, will be mascot and walk alongside him for the anthem.
“You want to be remembered for winning a trophy. Yeah, I want to lift a trophy, want to bring the trophy into my kid’s school, I want to walk over the bridge here in Waterford with the trophy,” Amond said.
“I want to give back to the people of Waterford, a whole generation has missed out on it, a couple of generations probably, and I want to give all those supporters and all those kids who look up at us in the same way that the 1980 winning team were looked up to.
“We want to do that, and we want to give all those people in the Aviva on Sunday a day to remember.”
And if they do, nobody will be waiting on traffic lights to usher in the Cup. The place will come to a standstill.
Today – FAI Cup final: Derry City v Waterford, Live on RTÉ 2 from 2pm, kick-off 3pm.
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This FAI Cup final should deliver bedlam and goals with sides buoyed by confidence
THE FAI STAFF member had the Cup in his hands and was waiting patiently for the little green man to appear on the traffic lights before crossing the road.
Some of the Waterford players in attendance for Monday’s media duties ahead of today’s final needed to be corralled for photographs and publicity shots outside the Theatre Royal and Medieval Museum.
Interviews were taking place in the offices of Waterford Crystal directly across the road, so the sight of the FAI employee clutching the Cup tightly, with club flags flying high from lampposts as cars fizzed by beeping their horns, until he could eventually scurry safely along the road was humorous.
After the first third of this season both clubs involved in Sunday’s showpiece might have felt like they were in danger of being run out of town by their respective fans.
The prospect of Waterford and Derry City in the FAI Cup final held little appeal and, frankly, seemed too farfetched to even contemplate.
After 14 games the Aviva Stadium was so far down the Blues’ priority list. Then Graham Coughlan arrived as manager and began a stunning turnaround in fortunes. From being cut adrift at the bottom of the table, 11 points from safety with even stagnation seemingly beyond them, Waterford even ended the campaign comfortably outside the promotion/relegation play-off in seventh place.
Their Cup run added a zest of ambition to the run-in, and a deserved victory away to Bohemians in the semi-final booked their place as they aim to win the trophy for the first time since 1980.
Coughlan signed a new two-year deal at the start of this week, rejecting interest in the UK to remain at the RSC. The chance to compete in Europe is an added incentive. For Derry, the Cup feels more like a salvage operation.
They, too, changed managers during the course of this season. Tiernan Lynch had been backed to the hilt by the club’s billionaire owner, Phillip O’Doherty. He didn’t deliver. Ever since the joyous aftermath of the 2022 final, when Ruaidhrí Higgins was at the helm and they blitzed Damien Duffy’s Shelbourne 4-0 at the Aviva Stadium, O’Doherty’s determination to win the league was clear.
He went on the record with an interview in local media declaring the Cup win would be just a catalyst for greater success.
Instead, with caretaker boss Mark Connolly confirming he will resume his position as director of football once the final is over, O’Doherty will be looking for his third permanent boss since that triumph over Shels four years ago.
Both teams are savouring the kind of positivity that might have felt unimaginable earlier in the year. Relegation loomed over Waterford until the final weeks while, of course, the James McClean situation at Derry also highlights some of the issues that remain off the pitch there.
When these sides have met this year goals have been guaranteed. Not just that, the games have kept everyone guessing with the aggregate score of 10-10 in the four league fixtures.
Derry got the better of Waterford early on in the Ryan McBride Brandywell, Michael Duffy’s second hat-trick of his League of Ireland career helping the hosts to a 4-2 win.
The Candystripes snatched a 2-2 draw in May with a 95th minute equaliser in the Brandywell while Waterford’s 4-2 victory away from home looked like it would be a routine one.
They raced into a 3-0 lead only for Derry to score twice before the 85th minute until the Blues made sure of
The points were shared again in September with a 2-2 courtesy of Padraig Amond’s header from a corner to equalise. The 38-year was the Golden Boot winner in the last two seasons – missing out to teammate and Ireland U21 international Tommy Lonergan by a single goal this term – and that is why both Shelbourne and champions Shamrock Rovers wanted to sign the veteran last winter.
The prospect of finishing his career at Tallaght Stadium was a romantic one for the Carlow native as that is where he began life in the professional game 20 years ago.
He subsequently joined Sligo Rovers but left the Bit O’Red in 2010 after the quarter final stage when they eventually reached the first final at the new Aviva Stadium.
Amond’s parents still attended the game – Sligo won on penalties – and 16 years on they will be there to watch their son lead Waterford out.
His son, Eóghan, will be mascot and walk alongside him for the anthem.
“You want to be remembered for winning a trophy. Yeah, I want to lift a trophy, want to bring the trophy into my kid’s school, I want to walk over the bridge here in Waterford with the trophy,” Amond said.
“I want to give back to the people of Waterford, a whole generation has missed out on it, a couple of generations probably, and I want to give all those supporters and all those kids who look up at us in the same way that the 1980 winning team were looked up to.
“We want to do that, and we want to give all those people in the Aviva on Sunday a day to remember.”
And if they do, nobody will be waiting on traffic lights to usher in the Cup. The place will come to a standstill.
Today – FAI Cup final: Derry City v Waterford, Live on RTÉ 2 from 2pm, kick-off 3pm.
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