FAI FORD CUP FINAL
SLIGO ROVERS 3 (North 78, 85, Elding 94)
DROGHEDA UNITED 2 (O’Conor 13, R Brennan 92)
Anthony Elding was the hero for Sligo Rovers at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as his 94th minute goal determined the outcome of an extraordinary FAI Ford Cup Final. Ten-man Drogheda United had held the lead for the majority of the game, but having forced their way back into the proceedings with a 92nd minute Ryan Brennan strike, it looked extra-time would be needed before the 2013 winners were revealed.
Former Leeds striker Elding had other ideas, however, and he ultimately provided the finishing touches to secure Sligo’s third FAI Cup success in four seasons.
Drogheda – who were playing in their third Cup Final of 2013 following Setanta Sports Cup and EA Sports Cup reversals to Shamrock Rovers earlier on in the campaign – were unchanged from their controversial semi-final victory over near rivals Dundalk, with Declan ‘Fabio’ O’Brien once again leading the front line ahead of a five-man midfield, which was spearheaded by the experienced duo of Paul O’Conor and David Cassidy.
However, Sligo supremo Ian Baraclough did make a couple of alterations to his starting XI from their outstanding 3-0 triumph over Shamrock Rovers at the penultimate stage, as the long-serving Gavin Peers replaced Evan McMillan at the centre of their defence, while the in-form Elding assumed the lone striker role from Grimsby native Danny North.
He was flanked on either side by Raffaele Cretaro and Aaron Greene, who were expected to offer plenty of guile and creativity to the Rovers attack. Yet, it was fine play on the left-flank that led to United taking a surprise lead with just 13 minutes gone on the clock.
On this occasion, winger Gavin Brennan had drifted infield, and he expertly picked out overlapping full-back Shane Grimes, whose inch-perfect pull-back was side-footed to the roof of the net by the onrushing O’Conor off his right-peg.
It had been a relatively low-key cup decider up to this point (although Drogheda had started the contest with plenty of energy), but this goal certainly provided a spark to the play. Sligo were left somewhat shell-shocked as a result of O’Conor’s opening, and despite enjoying some promising passages as the half progressed, they were struggling to create inroads through a compact Drogs rearguard.
Indeed, Drogheda continued to threaten at various junctures, and Sligo’s back-four did look edgy for much of the opening period. As expected, though, the Bit O’Red were starting to cause their opponents problems moving into the second-quarter, and the County Louth outfit were forced to drop deep on a number of occasions in order to keep the Sligo attack at bay.
Elding did head powerfully past Drogs netminder Micheal Schlingermann (a former Mayo GAA underage stalwart) from close-range after 37 minutes, but midfielder Danny Ventre was adjudged to have cross the by-line before delivering his right-wing cross.
This was as close as Sligo came to levelling matters before the break, and the Westerners had a major task on their hands upon the resumption if they were to claim their second piece of silverware under the guidance of Baraclough.
Certainly, there was more urgency about Sligo’s play as the action re-commenced, and they were doing their level best to stretch the Drogs defence at every available opportunity. The fantastic work ethic of United was evident throughout, however, and as the minutes passed by, they continued to frustrate Sligo.
Drogheda (who were playing the final game of outgoing manager Mick Cooke’s tenure) were also very impressive on the counter-attack, and they had the ball in the back of Gary Rogers’ net for a second time 64 minutes in. Gavin Brennan’s headed finish was also ruled out because of a shove on Rovers right-back Alan Keane as he rose to meet an enterprising delivery, but it did serve as a reminder of Drogheda’s capabilities on the day.
Brennan had another effort cleared off the line just eight minutes later by Elding, who had been joined up front by North at this point, as Sligo looked to force their way back into the reckoning. A dramatic turnaround wasn’t looking likely as the final-quarter approached, but the ever-dependable North came up with the goods 12 minutes from the end, as he fired past Schlingermann with a spectacular volley after Elding had nodded on Joseph Ndo’s corner on the right-hand side.
Suddenly, the momentum had swung in Sligo’s direction, and Cameroon international Ndo was also the creator of his team’s second goal on 85 minutes, as his delicate chip from a 25-yard free-kick was finished with aplomb by the deadly North.
The Drogheda players were incensed following the concession of this goal, as they felt that referee Paul Tuite had failed to blow the whistle for the free-kick, and owing to his prolonged protest, Drogs skipper Derek Prendergast was given his marching orders by the Dublin whistler.
With numerical advantage now on their side, a Sligo victory seemed inevitable, but with an incredible eight minutes of injury-time added on at the end of the second half, there was still a glimmer of hope for Drogheda.
Indeed, the fantastic determination of Drogheda did come to the fore once more, as Ryan Brennan produced a clinical strike past the helpless Rogers after Sligo had failed to deal with a long punt forward.
With parity restored to the showpiece, extra-time appeared to be a certainity, but Elding had the final say four minutes into stoppage time with an excellent left-footed finish after the outstanding North had chested down Kieran Djilali’s delivery.
SLIGO ROVERS
Gary Rogers
Alan Keane Gavin Peers Jeff Henderson Iarfhlaith Davoren
(Evan McMillan, 65)
Kieran Djilali Danny Ventre Joseph Ndo
Raffaele Cretaro Anthony Elding Aaron Greene
(Danny North, 70) (Ross Gaynor, 84)
Subs not used: Ciaran Kelly, David Cawley, Seamus Conneely, Lee Lynch.
DROGHEDA UNITED
Micheal Schlingermann
Michael Daly Derek Prendergast Alan McNally Shane Grimes
Alan Byrne David Cassidy Paul O’Conor Ryan Brennan Gavin Brennan
(Peter Hynes, 90) (Graham Rusk, 77)
Declan O’Brien
Subs not used: Gabriel Sava, Philip Hand, Cathal Brady, Eric Foley, Jason Marks.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Paul Tuite
First Assistant: Damien MacGraith
Second Assistant: Michelle O’Neill
Fourth Official: Derek Tomney
MATCH STATS
Total Attempts – Sligo Rovers: 10 Drogheda United: 11
Shot On Target – Sligo Rovers: 7 (2 in first half) Drogheda United: 7 (2)
Red Cards – Sligo Rovers: 1 (Derek Prendergast) Drogheda United: 0