Over 38,000 tickets have been sold for the 2024 FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday between Drogheda United and Derry City. With interest in the domestic game surging following a thrilling title race brought to a conclusion by Damien Duff’s Shelbourne last week, LOI TV commentator & host of Between the Stripes LOI podcast Kieran Burke previews the final for us.
Following Shelbourne’s stunning league success last week attention now turns to the 2024 FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday. Despite totally capitulating during the title run in, Derry City still have the chance to put some shine on their season by claiming a second FAI Cup trophy in three seasons while Drogheda United have reached the showpiece game for the first time since 2013.
In fact, Sunday’s game won’t even be the most important match of the season for the Louthmen as they have a promotion/relegation play-off final coming up on Saturday week against Bray Wanderers, a game they must win in order to preserve their Premier Division status.
Despite the fact that Drogheda United are not yet safe from relegation there is an argument to be made that they are the happier camp going into the cup final with the fallout from Derry City’s disastrous European exit and subsequent league collapse very much still raging on.
The majority of the City fanbase appear to have lost faith in manager Ruaidhrí Higgins who must be feeling the pressure going into this game. Further to that, there are strong rumours circulating that a number of Candystripes stars are set to depart the club in the off-season. It would be a stretch to describe Derry City FC as a happy camp right now.
Drogheda United may have finished a lowly ninth this season but as the divisions only part-time team avoiding the drop was the goal and Kevin Doherty’s team are on course to do so should they avoid an upset against Bray next week. The fact that Doherty’s men finished above local rivals Dundalk will have sweetened his already rock solid reputation with the Drogs faithful further, if he can deliver the holy grail of the FAI Cup he’ll go down as one of the greats in that part of the world.
Drogheda’s top-flight status looked in major threat going into the summer months but some inspired mid-summer signings sparked United into a fantastic run of form both in the league and cup. Goalkeeper Luke Dennison helped steady a rocky situation between the posts while Shane Farrell added some real quality to the midfield. Up front, Douglas-James-Taylor has proved to be a revelation with the on loan Walsall striker striking up a deadly partnership with Haitian international Frantz Pierott.
The two sides met quite recently in the league with Drogheda United’s fearsome front two running riot against a tame and timid Derry City who were rolled over 2-1 on the night. The general consensus among many LOI observers is that the bigger pitch in Dublin will suit Ruaidhrí Higgins team who are likely to be allowed to dominate the possession on the day. What Derry do with that possession is the bigger concern, so often during Higgins tenure the Foylesiders have struggled to break down deep sitting sides and Drogheda have proven themselves as a quality counter attacking team.
The fact that Derry City finished fourth (many would say in a two horse race) means they must win on Sunday to qualify for Europe next season, another layer of pressure to contend with. Derry knew they had to win at home to Shelbourne on the final night to have any chance of a top three finish and they failed to turn up, especially in the second half. When the full time whistle sounded last week among all the Shelbourne jubilation it was evident how down and deflated the Derry players looked. It’s been a long and trying season packed with pressure and now that the fans have begun to turn it looks like all of that weight is pushing down heavily on the shoulders of these Derry players.
For Drogheda, Sunday is a free shot for them, if they are beaten they can still finish the season in style by securing their top table status next weekend, it could be a perfect storm for the Drogs.
BEST BET: Drogheda to lift the cup (11/4)