St Patrick’s Athletic beat Bohemians 3-1 in the FAI Cup Final last Sunday in front of a record-breaking 43,881 strong crowd in the Aviva Stadium. Sports Editor Oisin Gaffey offers his analysis.
St Patrick’s Athletic won their fifth FAI Cup on Sunday 12th November as they beat Bohemians 3-1 in front of a record-breaking crowd in the Aviva Stadium. 43,881 fans attended Sunday’s final, breaking the previous record of 41,238 which was set in 1945 in Dalymount Park.
43,881 fans attended Sunday’s final, breaking the previous record of 41,238.
Despite initially trailing, St Pats responded well to turn the tide in the second half. A late goal from former UCD striker Tommy Lonergan was the icing on the cake for St Pats, who took the FAI Cup back to Inchicore for the second time in three years.
A late goal from former UCD striker Tommy Lonergan was the icing on the cake for St Pats.
It is safe to say that Bohemains had the brighter start, as they opened the score in the 10th minute after Jonathan Afolabi was fouled inside the penalty area. Afolabi stepped up to take the following penalty, and calmly converted it as St Pats goalkeeper Dean Lyness was sent the wrong way.
St Pats grew into the game and drew level in the 23rd minute thanks to a brilliant cross from Jake Mulraney that was met by a clever glancing header from Mark Doyle. James Talbot was unable to dive down quickly enough to keep out the effort, as Doyle’s late flick had caught the goalkeeper off guard.
Just after half time, another excellent cross from Mulraney would cause havoc in the Bohemians penalty area. A dangerous looping cross from right-to-left was destined for St Pats captain Joe Redmond at the far post, but Bohemians centre back Krystian Novak got a foot to the ball, only for it to then trickle into his own goal.
Bohs would not go down without a fight, and came within millimetres of equalising after a 73rd minute free kick from Jordan Flores hit the left post and went out for a goal-kick. Flores had generated so much power and swerve, but ultimately just not enough. The Bohemians captain could not believe how close his effort was.
It wasn’t to be Flores’ day, as he gave away the ball inside his own half to Tommy Lonergan in the 87th minute. The former UCD striker, who returned to his boyhood club last January, took one touch to set himself, before striking a beautiful shot from 25 yards into the top-left corner. Talbot was able to get fingertips to the shot, but this was not enough to keep the ball out of the net. The young striker has a knack for scoring on the biggest stage, having scored the only goal in the Relegation Playoff last season for UCD to keep The Students in the Premier Division.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham commented ‘Love it Bro’ on Redmond’s Instagram post following the win on Sunday.
The Pats contingent in the Aviva went wild as the full-time whistle was blown, whilst 23-year-old Captain Joe Redmond collapsed to the ground with emotion. The defender has been one of St Pats’ strongest players this season, it must be only a matter of time before he receives a call-up to the Republic of Ireland Senior Team. Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham commented “Love it Bro” on Redmond’s Instagram post following the win on Sunday.