Gill hoping for cup final spot
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An FAI Cup semi-final tie with Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght holds no
fears for St. Patrick’s Athletic, that’s according to their assistant
manager John Gill.
The Inchicore side take on Rovers on Sunday with a place in the FAI Cup Final at stake. Speaking to Extratime ahead of the game Gill said his side will go into this game with confidence. “I’m looking forward to it. We played them three times this year and they’ve all been tight games. We have a good record in Tallaght, we’ve done well in the Setanta Cup Final; even though we were beaten by Bohemians. We perform well up there and the players seem to like the atmosphere. We will go there with no fears but with confidence and try and get ourselves into a cup final and into Europe,” he said.
Looking ahead to the game Gill is quietly confident his side can cause somewhat of an upset on Sunday. He said, “It’s not Real Madrid we are playing and I’m not trying to be disrespectful to Rovers; it’s Shamrock Rovers. If your name is on the cup, your name is on it. So far this season it looks like we might have been getting a little bit of luck in the cup, hopefully that will continue on Sunday. But you have got to make your own luck; we got to go out and perform, got to match their intensity and try and keep the crowd quiet.”
So much has been made about this game coming at the right time for St. Pat’s with Rovers coming into this game on the back of four defeats in five league games. Gill was quick to point out that Pat’s too have been struggling of late in the league but he feels their performances haven’t rewarded. He said, “We’ve been in a bit of a blip but in saying that our points tally hasn’t matched our performances. I feel we have been very unlucky. They must be devastated after what has happened and it probably is a good time to be playing them. But then is there ever a good time to be going to Tallaght to play in front of a big partisan crowd. What we got to do is go up there and do our stuff; try and silence the crowd early on and maybe turn their crowd against them. That can happen up there.”
1961 is the year etched in the memory of the majority of St. Pat’s fans; it was the last year the club lifted the FAI Cup. The assistant manager believes that because the squad is relatively new it’s not playing much on their minds, though he knows how long the wait has been for the club and supporters. “The players that are there haven’t been with the club that long. So it’s more so the staff and supporters that will be thinking about that. We are just focussing on the Rovers game. We’ve had a tough run in the cup. Dundalk away, Sporting Fingal they were two tough fixtures and ok Belgrove sandwiched in between them. We have done well in the cup,” said Gill.
The ex-Dublin City boss is delighted with the way things have been going this season at Pat’s. He feels a place in the FAI Cup final will be just reward for the season they’ve had. He said, “We have exceeded a lot of people’s expectations, not our own because we had a good group together. So it is important that we get something to show for the season; we have already been to one cup final and it’s important that we cement Europe. It would be nice to get to a cup final and also because it’s the first time in the Aviva it would be great. You could be part of a little bit of history. We’ve been saying that to the players so here’s hoping.”
The Inchicore side take on Rovers on Sunday with a place in the FAI Cup Final at stake. Speaking to Extratime ahead of the game Gill said his side will go into this game with confidence. “I’m looking forward to it. We played them three times this year and they’ve all been tight games. We have a good record in Tallaght, we’ve done well in the Setanta Cup Final; even though we were beaten by Bohemians. We perform well up there and the players seem to like the atmosphere. We will go there with no fears but with confidence and try and get ourselves into a cup final and into Europe,” he said.
Looking ahead to the game Gill is quietly confident his side can cause somewhat of an upset on Sunday. He said, “It’s not Real Madrid we are playing and I’m not trying to be disrespectful to Rovers; it’s Shamrock Rovers. If your name is on the cup, your name is on it. So far this season it looks like we might have been getting a little bit of luck in the cup, hopefully that will continue on Sunday. But you have got to make your own luck; we got to go out and perform, got to match their intensity and try and keep the crowd quiet.”
So much has been made about this game coming at the right time for St. Pat’s with Rovers coming into this game on the back of four defeats in five league games. Gill was quick to point out that Pat’s too have been struggling of late in the league but he feels their performances haven’t rewarded. He said, “We’ve been in a bit of a blip but in saying that our points tally hasn’t matched our performances. I feel we have been very unlucky. They must be devastated after what has happened and it probably is a good time to be playing them. But then is there ever a good time to be going to Tallaght to play in front of a big partisan crowd. What we got to do is go up there and do our stuff; try and silence the crowd early on and maybe turn their crowd against them. That can happen up there.”
1961 is the year etched in the memory of the majority of St. Pat’s fans; it was the last year the club lifted the FAI Cup. The assistant manager believes that because the squad is relatively new it’s not playing much on their minds, though he knows how long the wait has been for the club and supporters. “The players that are there haven’t been with the club that long. So it’s more so the staff and supporters that will be thinking about that. We are just focussing on the Rovers game. We’ve had a tough run in the cup. Dundalk away, Sporting Fingal they were two tough fixtures and ok Belgrove sandwiched in between them. We have done well in the cup,” said Gill.
The ex-Dublin City boss is delighted with the way things have been going this season at Pat’s. He feels a place in the FAI Cup final will be just reward for the season they’ve had. He said, “We have exceeded a lot of people’s expectations, not our own because we had a good group together. So it is important that we get something to show for the season; we have already been to one cup final and it’s important that we cement Europe. It would be nice to get to a cup final and also because it’s the first time in the Aviva it would be great. You could be part of a little bit of history. We’ve been saying that to the players so here’s hoping.”
