Hopes that Frost will help break Waterford drought

THIS year’s Carlsberg FAI Cup final is unusual for a few reasons.

Firstly, it’s between two provincial soccer hotbeds in an era when all things in domestic soccer seem to be dominated by Dublin. And both Waterford United and Longford Town may be missing their captains on Sunday.

Longford captain Barry Ferguson is certain to miss Sunday’s match because of suspension.

Meanwhile, John Frost is in a race against time after sustaining a shoulder injury against Cork City last weekend. It was the latest in a series of injury misfortunes to hit the Waterford skipper. He had damaged ankle ligaments in July. Frost says he won’t know until later in the week whether he will be fit to play.

“It will between myself and Alan [Reynolds]. I will see how I feel later in the week and tell him. But I will be honest with him. You don’t know until closer the game being a player. You have to be optimistic about these things, I will do whatever I can to play, but I won’t know until the last minute.”

Frost will be missed on Sunday if he is forced to sit it out. His return from ankle injury coincided with the club’s best run of the season. However, it has been in the Cup, which Waterford haven’t won in 24 years, that they have really shone, even if they rode their luck on occasion.

“It has been an interesting cup run. Kilkenny gave us a scare and we ended up winning 7-2. We were two-nil down against Rockmount and we are now in a cup final. That is cup football. Anything can happen.”

Of course, their performance in Derry - in a gale - has brought them this far. “We did a very professional job in Derry. We played 5-3-2, got the goal and kinda sat on the lead. But that is what you need to do.

“When you want to win silverware, you do what you have to do. We are in a Cup final and silverware would do so much for this club and football in the whole town.

At the moment, everybody is playing hurling which is great, but if we were to win the cup, it will give the club a real boost and we can get more local lads involved.”

Longford, the cup specialists, stand in the way. “It will be a tight game,” Frost says. “All the games we played against them this year have been tight, and it might come down to a set-piece.

“But, when you win the Cup, then you are talking about Europe and this new competition with the clubs from Northern Ireland coming up. There is a lot there for lads to aim at, and it will give the club a great boost.”

Frost is still hopeful of turning out for Waterford. The city haven’t been in a FAI Cup final in 18 years, haven’t won the Cup in 24. It has been a long wait.

And waiting is not something Frost wants to endure on the side-lines, if he can help it.