ST Patrick’s Athletic will be aiming for another away day victory in this season’s Sports Direct FAI Cup campaign, when they face Bohemians in Sunday’s final at the Aviva Stadium.
The Saints have reached the showpiece final by winning all four ties in the competition on the road and have been drawn as the ‘away’ team for Sunday’s Dublin derby, which is expected to be a record cup final attendance with over 40,000 tickets sold.
Boss Jon Daly, who took over the reins from Tim Clancy in May, concedes that his side certainly have travelled the length and breadth of Ireland on their way to the final, having started at Longford Town, before travelling to the north west twice to see off Derry City and Finn Harps and then going south to beat Cork City in the last four.
“It certainly has been a tough run for us and we’ve been up and down the country with great support,” he stated.
“The fans have backed us in numbers, which has been great. We’ve been away from home in every round and even in the final we’ve been drawn as the away team, which is quite funny.
“But yeah we’ve obviously come through some difficult ties most notably at the Brandywell on penalties. Derry are a fantastic team, good club, and we were fortunate on the day probably to get through.
“Yes we had a couple of good chances in that game, they had chances and we came out the right side of a penalty shoot-out, which on the day can go either day, so we were pleased to get through that run and then navigate our way to the final.
“When you come through ties like that you obviously feel like you have fortune on the your side.
“We then had to come through a difficult tie up in Finn Harps, against a well organised team, who put us under pressure for large spells on a very, very tight pitch and then we went down to Cork in the semi-final.
“I wouldn’t say our name is on the cup and we’re obviously going to have to work extremely hard on Sunday against a very, very strong Bohs team.”
In their previous encounters in the Premier Division this season, St Pat’s won twice, Bohs won at Inchicore in March and there was a scoreless draw in August – and Daly is expecting another close encounter.
“One of our strengths is our defensive players and I think their strengths are their attacking players, so it certainly is going to be one of the key battles on Sunday,” he explained. “But we too have certainly some creative players who can cause them problems.
“We feel if we step up and perform in the attacking side of the game then we can certainly cause them problems.
“I think it’s a well balanced game, an even contest, but obviously I’m hoping we can come out on top and, yes, I’m very, very excited and looking forward to the final.”
