On the brink of greatness
Drogheda United go in search of an unprecedented cup triumph and, for the first time since the club came into being, Cork City look to finish the season with the coveted 0double, a feat which was last celebrated on Leeside when Cork Athletic delivered the two trophies back in 1951.
And the stage is certainly set for high drama at Lansdowne Road. With big numbers travelling from Cork and Drogheda, 20,200 tickets had been sold by lunchtime yesterday, suggesting that the final attendance could be around 25,000. That would make tomorrow's game (kick off 3.15) the best attended final since Bray Wanderers beat St Francis in front of a crowd of 29,000 at the same venue in 1990.
Despite a slight worry over defender Steven Grey earlier in the week, Drogheda manager Paul Doolin has the luxury of reporting a clean bill of health.
Things are very different in Cork where, despite the boost of seeing Alan Bennett's suspension lifted, City go into the game minus the suspended Danny Murphy and Roy O'Donovan, and with doubts persisting over the availability of striker Neale Fenn, who will be given until later today to try and overcome the injury which sidelined him early in the league decider against Derry.
Denis Behan excelled as Fenn's replacement on that occasion and would now seem to be very much in line for a place from the start tomorrow.
Manager Damien Richardson admits that the absence of key players like Murphy and O'Donovan hardly makes for the perfect preparation.
"No it's not ideal," he concedes, "because they are two extremely difficult players to replace. Their level of performance, particularly in the latter part of the season, has been extremely high, but we have no option now but to replace them. And the decisions I've got to make are whether Greg O'Halloran or Billy Woods plays at left back or whether Billy or Colin O'Brien plays at right-side midfield."
While Richardson's final selection won't be revealed until tomorrow, the manager is confident that Cork have the strength in depth to cope.
"While I would have liked the two lads to play, particularly because it's a cup final and on the back of their efforts this season, one of the reasons we are the best team in the league is because we have such a good squad. Whoever steps in I have full confidence in them."
Even down a couple of players, Cork City are still judged to be favourites by most observers. But, not surprisingly, Drogheda United's Declan O'Brien begs to differ.
"We wouldn't think of ourselves as underdogs," he says. "I think the neutrals might, but we're confident going into the game that we can win it. This is a Cup Final and if we perform well on the day, I think we can do it. Cork City deserve to be champions - them and Derry have been excellent all season - but we played against Cork three times and they've been tight games, with a goal in it each time.
The season record stands at two wins for Cork and one for Drogheda, and the Co Louth club are anxious to even the score. Defender Graham Gartland - a back-to-back winner with Longford Town - sees cup glory as sufficient incentive in its own right, regardless of the fact that Drogheda have already guaranteed themselves European football next season.
"It's nice to have the UEFA Cup in the bag going into the game but I think it'd be great to say we earned that place by winning the cup," he says.
"Tomorrow is about the lads going out, realising that it's a one-off game, not freezing up and going out and playing. We can't allow ourselves to be distracted by all the hype and the media interest. At the end of the day, if we lose the game, the media and all the interest won't be on us, it'll be on Cork, so it's up to us to do it."
Similarly, Damien Richardson reckons tomorrow's game stands alone as a special landmark in this momentous year for Cork City.
"The cup final is different to anything else in the season," he says. "And that's definitely got to do with tradition. No matter who you are or what you've won, the cup final does something, it alerts the senses and injects enthusiasm into everyone. It brings the romantic out in all of us as we think back to times when we watched different clubs winning cup finals and holding up the cup."
Even with a couple of key men missing for Cork City, it's hard to see Drogheda being able to prevent class acts like George O'Callaghan, Joe Gamble and John O'Flynn getting their hands on the trophy. But if Paul Doolin's men do upset the form book, no-one will begrudge the joy it will bring to Drogheda's faithful servant, chairman Vincent Hoey.
Anyone who might care to dismiss tomorrow's game as a mere postscript to the serious business of the season, should heed the words of a veteran who has surely seen the two days.
"It's not just about winning it for me, it's about winning it for an awful lot of people who stayed the course with this club," Vincent reflects.
"Unfortunately, some of them have passed away and some of them are quite advanced in years. So many people have put their time into this club. And I've longed for a day when I could bring a cup back to Drogheda for them all. If I get my hands on that cup, I'm going to bring it up to certain people in their houses to show it to them. And I know that it will be the biggest thing in their lives, if we could do that.
"We can only ask this team to do their best and hopefully it'll work out that way. But we're there, and we're enjoying this. It's unprecedented for a lot of young people who can't remember all that I can remember. It's for a lot of players that played for Drogheda over all the years. People like Theo Dunne and Mick Meagan and all these people.
"We've had some great players and we've had great teams - sometimes I can't believe how we didn't win some things. But we have great players now and I think they're going to deliver. They're going to do it for me, I think, as well as for the club and the town. I hope so anyway."
: Devine, Horgan, Bennett, Murray, O'Halloran, O'Brien, Gamble, O'Callaghan, Kearney, Behan, O'Flynn.
: Connor, Lynch, Gartland, Grey, Webb, Robinson, Whelan, Bradley, Sandvliet, Ristila, O' Brien.
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