Saint O’Connor out to right cup wrongs

The neutrals might be happy if Sunday’s FAI Ford Cup final provides as much excitement as the last time St Pat’s and Derry City met in the decider — the final of 2006 when, after extra time, Derry won a pulsating game 4-3.

But Sean O’Connor, now back with the Inchicore side after a title-winning stint at Shamrock Rovers and a brief stop-off at Limerick, would happily settle for something altogether more dour, once Pat’s come out on top.

“A bittersweet day,” is how he sums up his involvement at Lansdowne Road six years ago. “Not starting was disappointing but coming on and scoring was great [to put Saints 3-2 up in extra time]. I was buzzing but it wasn’t to be as Derry came back and scored two late goals. So there’s a little bit of added spice that we’re against Derry again.”

And he adds with a grin: “I was hoping it would be them, it’s a bit of a personal vendetta.”

Further cup final disappointment came in 2010, as a torn cruciate forced him to sit in the stands and watch Shamrock Rovers lose on penalties.

And for a while in the final days of this season, he worried that a sending off against Sligo Rovers would leave him on the outside looking in again.

“It did cross my mind. I thought [the ref] had given me a red card. I’d seen him give Danny [North] a red card which I thought was harsh and I saw him show me the red. I thought it was three games I’d miss [which would have included the cup final] but was told in the dressing room that it was a second yellow.

“But there was still a bit of doubt in my mind because I’d accumulated three yellow cards and a fourth yellow means you miss another game as well, so there was a doubt in my mind.

“But then I was told a couple of days later I was okay, which was a relief. It was an anxious a few days.”

O’Connor can reflect with a great deal of personal satisfaction on a season which ended with him making the shortlist for Players’ Player of the Year but, for Pat’s — who finished third in the league — it was a case of so near yet so far as Sligo deservedly took the title.

“At the start of season, I said it would take a while to gel,” says the midfielder. “Not many of the squad last year were here at the start, maybe three or four. We went up to Sligo at the start and drew 1-1 and missed a penalty with the last kick of the game.

“We knew after that we were well capable of challenging. But we were kind of on Sligo’s coattails without getting near them. It’s nice to have Europe in the bag, especially with the added pressure of not having won the cup in 51 years. We’ve had an all right season but it’s time to win something now.”

Ah yes, the fabled 51 years, a cup drought that is impossible to escape around Richmond Park.

“Everyone you meet, they bring it up,” says O’ Connor. “Most of fans here would rather win FAI Cup than the League which is strange. But, as players, we don’t feel the burden or pressure of the 51 years, we’re more looking forward to playing in the final. Not many of the lads who will play on Sunday have played in a cup final before and playing at the Aviva will be great.”