FIRHOUSE CLOVER MANAGER Keith Baker recalls being sat next to club captain Darren Forsyth at the 2015 FAI Intermediate Cup final.
The Tallaght-based outfit had just missed out on an appearance at the Aviva Stadium โ the first year it was being held there โ after suffering a heavy defeat to Crumlin United in the last four.
Martin Loughranโs Crumlin were 4-0 winners over fellow Leinster Senior League side Tolka Rovers that afternoon, with Darrenโs brother Carl featuring for the champions.
Baker, back then on Cloverโs coaching staff, was gutted that they werenโt involved, and he could see Forsyth wanted to be a part of it too.
โIt still hurts,โ the Firhouse boss tells The42. โI came to the final that day, I was in the stand watching and thinking what could have been.
โI remember looking at Darren and he said to me โI want that day outโ. Heโs put so much into it and Iโm delighted to get here for people like him.โ
Fast forward three years and Clover are preparing to meet Maynooth University Town in this yearโs showcase, having beaten Peamount United, Castleview, Leeds (replay), Crumlin and Letterkenny Rovers (replay) en route to the final.
โFrom hearing from the older generation and the lads on the committee, it means everything,โ says Baker. โItโs great for the club to get here and itโs massive for the area as well.โ
He and his assistant Ed Saul took over from Peter Flood two years ago and just avoided relegation from the LSLโs top Division, Sunday Senior, in their first season.
After overhauling the squad, the aim this term was a top-four finish in the league and while they currently sit fifth, Saturdayโs final has inevitably taken priority.
โAfter the semi-final, we kind of dropped off,โ Baker admits. โPeople are saying to me โLook Keith, itโll be hard to get the players motivated again after putting in such a good performance against Letterkennyโ.
We want our club to be as high as possible and an FAI Intermediate Cup final is the Holy Grail, but we want to finish in the top four in the league. That was our goal at the start of the season.
โWe only stayed up last season by beating UCD away in our second last game. This year, itโs all about pushing on and bringing in new players. Weโve done that and they have got us here.โ
Skipper Forsyth has been a driving force up front. The 30-year-old striker began his senior career in the League of Ireland with UCD, before having spells at Shelbourne and Bray Wanderers.
โI loved it at UCD,โ Forsyth says. โI got into a couple of Ireland U19 squads and it gave me a lot of belief. Pete Mahon was the manager and there were excellent players, some are still doing well in the League of Ireland like Greg Bolger and Ronan Finn.
โThen there are a couple of others who went away like Gary Dicker and Conor Sammon, and we had experience in Tony McDonnell. It was a great place to play.โ
Prior to joining Clover, he spent time in Northern Ireland with Glenavon and Warrenpoint Town but, now working as an accountant at Volkswagen Bank, says he has got the work-family-football balance right.
โThere was a lot of commitment involved when I played up north, but that helped me save for a house and stuff like that. Now I can relax a bit more and focus on work, having my home life and enjoying my football.
โI love my job, and Iโm getting married next year so there are a couple things going well at the minute.โ
He calls sibling Carl a team-mate these days, while Clover can also call on the experience of former FAI Intermediate winners Paddy Brophy and Gerry Bambrick.
โDarren is a smashing lad and my heart went out to him when he got sent off in the first first game againt Letterkenny,โ says Baker. โI thought it was very harsh and heโs not that type of player. Iโm a young manager and Darren has helped me out so much in my career.
Paddy, Carl and Bambo have won it before, and I think they will play a massive part on the day โ helping out the younger lads we have in the dressing room.โ
They met Saturdayโs opponents Maynooth in the Metropolitan Cup back in November, and handed the Senior 1A outfit a 5-1 beating. However, Baker believes it will be a different game this time around.
โTheyโve had as hard a run as ourselves and played a lot of away games,โ he adds. โWeโve watched them a couple of times, and they were very good beating Everton. You donโt get to an Intermediate Cup final if youโre not a good side.
โWe know they will have a lot of players who didnโt play against us last time but weโll have several who missed that game ourselves. Either way, we wonโt be underestimating them at all.โ
Both Baker and his number two are members of Shamrock Rovers, and they are hopeful that Hoops supporters get behind the club on what is sure to be a great occasion for the community.
โWeโre obviously a Tallaght-based club and we wear the same colours of green and white hoops as Rovers! Weโre trying our best to get as many people out as possible. I think weโll have a big crowd and hopefully they can spur us on.โ
2018 FAI Intermediate Cup final โ Firhouse Clover v Maynooth University Town, Saturday, 12 May (5pm), Aviva Stadium
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Great piece Niall, but there are a couple of other points here.
If, for example, Kenny Egan was to travel to Baku, he could qualify for the Olympics, and would do so in the same weight division as Joe Ward. As a country can only enter one fighter in any weight class, as far as Iโm aware, Ward could then not even compete in Istanbul and his Olympic dreams would be dashed, even though he is European Champion. This is the same for any of our โstarsโ who miss out.
Also, if IABA were to send Ward and Moylette, the European champions would be seeded and thus get an easier draw. If they send other boxers in the same weight classes, that seeding is lost.
Thanks for the comments Gavin.
I see Kenny has declared that heโs stepping up to Heavyweight for this weekโs competition, which was presumably decided in order to avoid the clash with Ward that you mentioned. Itโll be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next week.