Damien’s double dilemma

AS Cork City trained at Bishopstown yesterday in advance of Sunday’s FAI Cup final showdown with Drogheda — for which 17,000 tickets have already been sold — Damien Richardson reported that his biggest concerns remain over the availability of Neale Fenn and Alan Bennett.

Striker Fenn hasn't trained since pulling a hamstring in the league decider against Derry City, and the Cork manager is keeping his fingers crossed that he can recover for the Lansdowne Road tie.

Centre half Bennett will have his yellow card appeal heard tomorrow and, says Richardson: "I'm very confident that the good, wise men of the FAI will make the right decision."

But there will be no chance of a reprieve for Danny Murphy and Roy O'Donovan, both of whom are ruled out through suspension.

"I'm very disappointed for the two boys," Richardson says. "They're both young but they have an exuberance that I and most people find very appealing. That's why Danny Murphy is so popular and that's why Roy is going to be so successful. In their own time they'll have to mature that exuberance and turn it into real professionalism. They both had too many yellow cards this season and we've no complaint about that."

Richardson believes that because Cork and Drogheda have both already guaranteed themselves European football next season, a certain amount of negative pressure has been lifted from Sunday's big occasion.

"I think too often in the past cup finals have been poor because of the pressure on both teams," he says. "They can become dour and bogged down in the middle of the park. Because that pressure has been lifted I think we'll have a much more open game. I think this is our 16th game live on TV this season and I don't think any of them have been disappointing. A real progression for eircom League football this season has been the quality portrayed through television in particular. I think the Derry game exemplified that.

"So I'm hoping on Sunday we can do full justice to the grand old lady of Irish football. It's an occasion every player will remember for the rest of their lives. It's my sixth final to be associated with and yet I still vividly remember every other final. So it's an occasion that deserves full justice from both teams. It's going out live on television, it will have the biggest attendance in years, and people now expect an awful lot from eircom League of Ireland football."

It's also yet another big game this season which does not involve a Dublin club, something Richardson feels indicates a real shift in the balance of power in Irish football.

"It's a healthy sign that the provincial clubs can attain the highest spots," he observes. "The most important point at Cork City certainly is that there's now a level of expectation which reminds me of top quality professional football. We've also seen the re-emergence of Derry this year, and not only Drogheda getting to the Cup Final but the investment that's been made in the club, which is a very encouraging sign and something that's been long overdue in the League.

"I think the Dublin clubs now know that there's been a major shift and it will be very interesting to see what they do about it. The rivalry between Dublin clubs and provincial clubs is part of the attraction of the league and the better the provincial clubs do the more it will egg on the Dublin clubs and vice versa. I think that's a very healthy sign for the future."

Returning to Sunday's game, Richardson says he doesn't subscribe to the theory that a team's name is on the cup.

"People talk about destiny and Cork City, but destiny is not somebody you meet on the street, it doesn't come up to you and bow. You have to seek destiny, and the FAI Cup is the same. You have to go out and earn the right to hold up that trophy. We're the best team in the country, we've proven that, but that'll be great motivation for Drogheda on Sunday. That's Paul Doolin's motivation done for him 'we're playing the best team in the country, now show them how good we are'.

"We've got to see that not as pressure but as a compliment. I want Drogheda to play the best they possibly can on Sunday. Because if they hit their peak form and we hit our peak form then I know we're guaranteed a great afternoon."

And despite all the head-spinning hype, there's no double vision from the Cork City boss.

"At my age, improving my cv is of no benefit really," he laughs. "The double would be a delight. But I'm not looking at it as a double, I see it as just one game. It's the next game and, as I've been saying all season, it's the most important game of the season. And the last one until the next one!"

As to his own future, Richardson admits that he is now looking beyond the original two-year deal he signed with Cork. "Success is addictive," he says. "And the real challenge for me now is to build on our success."

A project which continues with Sunday's big match, as captain Dan Murray makes clear: "We've won one trophy now but we don't want it to be the last one. This has got to be period of sustained dominance for Cork City. We don't want to be a one-hit wonder. We want to win every trophy we're in for, and that starts on Sunday. We're not treating it as, 'we've won the league so now we can relax.' We want more and more. And on Sunday we aim to go out there and show we deserve to be double champions."