Sheriff boss hails 'absolutely unbelievable' win
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They caused the biggest upset of this year's FAI Cup by beating First Division leaders Shelbourne 3-2 on Friday night and Sheriff YC manager Alan Reilly has hailed his side's achievement as "absolutely unbelievable."
"For an amateur club, a junior club, to come to Shels," he said, "who are absolutely flying at the minute with a fantastic squad and a fantastic tradition... is absolutely unbelievable."
Sheriff were 2-0 down at half-time, but a magical brace from Willie Molloy and another goal from Thomas Meehan gave them the cup upset not many people gave them a chance of causing before the match. At 2-1, Shels striker Philly Hughes missed a penalty and Reilly said that was the turning point.
"When it was at 2-1 and we conceded a penalty, I didn't know what to think" he said. "Luckily enough that went our way. At 2-2, for Willie Molloy to score the third goal was absolutely unbelievable. The three strikes were all top quality. It's stuff you would see in the [English] Premier League, finishes of that quality."
Reilly attributed his side's comeback equally between the effort the players put in and the atmosphere generated by the crowd in Tolka Park. But did he say anything to spur on the comeback at half-time? Reilly said he told the players to "just keep going. [I told them] you don't know when the next time you're going to be in Tolka Park will be. They went out with that belief and took the game to Shels. To be honest I think they fully deserved the win."
The AUL Premier A Champions were the home side in Tolka Park, despite the Drumcondra venue being Shels' ground. Sheriff, from the nearby north inner-city, packed the main stand with their support. The majority of the 1538-strong spectators were Sheriff fans- giving a Tolka Park an unusually partisan atmosphere against the Reds.
"They were our twelfth man" Reilly said of the fans who roared his team on. "I know it's probably a cliche but they got behind us. We were 2-0 down at half-time but you could hear them, they were very vocal. It was absolutely brilliant, they really gave us that lift and I think the players really rose to that. It was right over my shoulder [in the dugout] and you could feel it."
After eliminating Salthill Devon in the third round, Sheriff can now look forward to the quarter final without fearing any draw. "This has been some ride for the club. For us to come here first of all was a great experience for us- to play in Tolka Park in the last 16" Reilly said. "Now that we're in the quarter finals we can't ask for anybody, we just have to look forward to the game because it's just great for the club."
Asked if there's any particular team he would like to draw in the quarter final, Reilly replied that "it's probably going to be the other way around- clubs will want [to draw] Sheriff. But let them, all we can do is look forward to the draw. It's going to be excellent. We'll take whoever we get and look forward to the game."
"For an amateur club, a junior club, to come to Shels," he said, "who are absolutely flying at the minute with a fantastic squad and a fantastic tradition... is absolutely unbelievable."
Sheriff were 2-0 down at half-time, but a magical brace from Willie Molloy and another goal from Thomas Meehan gave them the cup upset not many people gave them a chance of causing before the match. At 2-1, Shels striker Philly Hughes missed a penalty and Reilly said that was the turning point.
"When it was at 2-1 and we conceded a penalty, I didn't know what to think" he said. "Luckily enough that went our way. At 2-2, for Willie Molloy to score the third goal was absolutely unbelievable. The three strikes were all top quality. It's stuff you would see in the [English] Premier League, finishes of that quality."
Reilly attributed his side's comeback equally between the effort the players put in and the atmosphere generated by the crowd in Tolka Park. But did he say anything to spur on the comeback at half-time? Reilly said he told the players to "just keep going. [I told them] you don't know when the next time you're going to be in Tolka Park will be. They went out with that belief and took the game to Shels. To be honest I think they fully deserved the win."
The AUL Premier A Champions were the home side in Tolka Park, despite the Drumcondra venue being Shels' ground. Sheriff, from the nearby north inner-city, packed the main stand with their support. The majority of the 1538-strong spectators were Sheriff fans- giving a Tolka Park an unusually partisan atmosphere against the Reds.
"They were our twelfth man" Reilly said of the fans who roared his team on. "I know it's probably a cliche but they got behind us. We were 2-0 down at half-time but you could hear them, they were very vocal. It was absolutely brilliant, they really gave us that lift and I think the players really rose to that. It was right over my shoulder [in the dugout] and you could feel it."
After eliminating Salthill Devon in the third round, Sheriff can now look forward to the quarter final without fearing any draw. "This has been some ride for the club. For us to come here first of all was a great experience for us- to play in Tolka Park in the last 16" Reilly said. "Now that we're in the quarter finals we can't ask for anybody, we just have to look forward to the game because it's just great for the club."
Asked if there's any particular team he would like to draw in the quarter final, Reilly replied that "it's probably going to be the other way around- clubs will want [to draw] Sheriff. But let them, all we can do is look forward to the draw. It's going to be excellent. We'll take whoever we get and look forward to the game."
About Niall Farrell
Niall Farrell is our correspondent at Tolka Park, covering the goings-on at Shelbourne. You can visit Niall's website for further information and contact details- niallf.net. View Full Profile