‘It will live long in the memory with me and my family’
By Daire Walsh
Clondalkin’s Chris Shields has said it was his proudest moment in football to lift the FAI Cup on behalf of Dundalk at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
Having missed last year’s Cup decider defeat to the same opponents through suspension, Shields bounced back to play a pivotal role in the Lilywhites’ dramatic 4-2 extra-time victory over Shamrock Rovers.
With his absence 12 months ago taken into account, he ranks Sunday’s triumph above his previous final wins back in 2015 and 2018.
“It’s definitely the best given the circumstances surrounding last year, missing the cup final. It was probably my proudest moment in football really.
“To miss out and watch it from the stands last year was torment,” Shields acknowledged.
“To be privileged enough to lift the cup for this group of players was very, very special for me. It will live long in the memory with me and my family.”
Now in his second spell at the club, Templeogue native David McMillan swung the tie in Dundalk’s favour with a superb hat-trick – becoming only the third player to do so in the competition’s showpiece game.
Given the journey he has been on over the past few years, Shields was delighted to see McMillan coming up trumps.
“It’s brilliant for Davy. Myself and Davy are friends for a long time now. There might have been question marks over him coming back to Ireland, having played here and there in Scotland.
“To come back and do what he did in the final, he’s made history.
“It’s a credit to him because he’s that good a player. I don’t think people realise how good of a striker he really is. Day in, day out we see it. To do that, to score a hat-trick in a cup final, it’s unbelievable. It’s very rarely heard of.”
While they finished a distant third in the Premier Division, this Cup success and their participation in the group stages of the Europa League makes it a positive 2020 overall for Dundalk.
They will round off their European adventure against Arsenal at the Aviva later tonight and while Filippo Giovagnoli’s side remain pointless in Group B, Shields believes facing superior opposition made them better prepared to tackle the Rovers challenge on Sunday.
“I think that’s what stood to us. We’ve had a lot tougher tests than Rovers had the last two or three months. We’re playing teams of very, very good calibre in Europe and it has really stood to us.
“Although we’ve not gotten the results we’ve wanted, they’re stern tests and it sticks with you.
“Whereas Shamrock Rovers have had gaps in games and breaks here and there. I think that showed in extra-time when we went to really push to win the game.”
In addition to winning three FAI Cup titles, Shields has also accumulated five Premier Division crowns during a glorious period with his current employers. Having fallen short of their expectations as far as the league is concerned this year,
Shields is now hopeful their FAI Cup triumph can be a springboard for an even more fruitful 2021.
“To not even contest the league was poor enough, but at least we somehow salvaged the season.
“Qualifying for the Europa League and winning the Cup, but your league is your bread and butter.
“When you win the league, it’s a testament to each squad that wins it, because it’s over a certain number of games. We want to be right back there next year and hopefully the Cup win gets us right back on track to doing that,” Shields added.