FAI Cup final: the moments that mattered as Shamrock Rovers complete double

The Hoops had too much for 10-man Cork City. 

HOOP DREAMS: Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley after the FAI Cup Final. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Gaffney’s sublime finishing

Being asked to lead the line to clinch the double at 36 shows the faith Stephen Bradley has in his veteran.

All good strikers miss chances but being in the right positions is often the difficult part. Having strayed marginally offside when heading home early in the second half, the Galway man provided two different types of finishes.

His close-range instincts were evident for the opener before he drilled the second between the legs of his fellow Galwegian Conor Brann from an acute angle. “I shanked the first one and, because Burkey wasn’t available in the middle, I had to try the shoot myself.” 

Pico Lopes has been the individual story of the season but Gaffney’s comeback competes, considering he was on the brink of quitting the game. He battled back from an ankle injury to earn a contract extension, while taking a pay-cut, and repaid that faith in spades.

Harry Nevin’s red mist

The 21-year-old was a composed figure in the opening 40 minutes on his first start since August but something eluded him to dive in, over the ball, on Josh Honohan. It’s an error he’ll have to live with for the rest of his career but is young enough to recover.

His team did, for a while at least, by persisting with a tweaked gameplan but on such a lush, wide surface, the class of Rovers was bound to tell.

Ger Nash was channelling Arsene Wenger afterwards when asked to comment, only accepting the decision on the basis of it being a ‘dangerous lunge' having not seen a replay.

A game-changing moment, further unbalancing the contest. “The sending-off really changed the game,” confessed Hoops boss Stephen Bradley afterwards.

Profligacy or Ed McGinty’s brilliance

Two draws between the teams at Turner’s Cross were the opposite to comfortable Tallaght victories for Rovers over the four league games but City held the upper hand early. Near-misses could be judged differently in time but the three chances that the Rebels missed were all due to brilliant goalkeeping.

When it was 11 v 11, Seáni Maguire and Darragh Crowley went close, the former seemingly on his way to emulating his 2016 heroics with a trademark turn inside the box on 12 minutes to offer a sight of goal.

His shot, while low and crisp, was brilliantly read by the Scottish-born stopper, who struck out a hand to claw it away.

There was an even more impressive save from Freddie Anderson early in the second half, sprawling across his goal to stick out his hand to divert the spinning header away.

Then his head thwarted the close-range rebound by Maguire, albeit the offside flag was raised.

It took Bradley a couple of years to replace legendary Alan Mannus but the former Ireland U21 international was instrumental to this triumph.