February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Cork City’s solitary cup win to date was in 1998 when they beat Shelbourne in a replay. In fact two of their three finals have needed replays. Cork manager Damien Richardson also experienced Cup success as a player, winning two medals with the great Shamrock Rovers team of the sixties, prior to moving to England and Gillingham.
Drogheda will be hoping it’s a question of third time lucky. The County Louth club were beaten 3-0 by Limerick in their first-ever Cup final in 1971 and five years later they went down 1-0 to Bohemians. And with Paul Doolin now in charge the Drogs may feel this could be their turn. It will be Doolin’s first final as a manager, but as a player the Dubliner won Cup medals with four different clubs: Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, Derry City and Portadown.
However, it would be a major shock if Drogheda were to overcome high-flying Cork on Sunday. But then as an English newspaper sub-editor once famously wrote when previewing the weekend FA Cup games: “shocks expected in Cup.’
What is expected, certainly, is a crowd of 20,000 so the continued closure of the North Terrace at Lansdowne will not be a problem. Supporters who have bought tickets for the North Terrace, will now be accommodated under the East Stand. A fire under the North Terrace the day before the Rugby Test against New Zealand earlier this month has meant that the area has not been declared safe since then. Now there is speculation that the Irish Rugby Football Union may ask the GAA to allow them use Croke Park to stage their three Six Nations Rugby games next Spring, but at this stage it’s only speculation!
SPORTS WRITERS HONOR BRENNAN
It seems that no matter how well Trevor Brennan is playing in France with Toulouse, he cannot get a call up to the Irish squad. Brennan has won two Heineken Cups with Toulouse, while Irish provinces struggle to even reach the final. Apparently Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan thinks that Brennan lacks discipline, but he did admit last week that he has been in telephone contact with Brennan and the back-row forward could get a call up for the Six Nations in the spring. However, the sports editors in the Irish media certainly appreciate Brennan’s achievements and last week he was named Texaco Sports Star of the Year in rugby.
The full list of winners are: athletics, David Gillick; cricket, Ed Joyce; Gaelic football, Stephen O’Neill; golf, Padraig Harrington; horse racing, Kieren Fallon; hurling, Jerry O’Connor; ladies football, Valerie Mulcahy; rowing, Irish lightweight men’s four, Paul Griffin, Richard Archibald, Eugene Coakley and Timmy Harnedy; rugby, Trevor Brennan; and soccer, Damien Richardson.
BEN AND GERRY ARE
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