Wexford Youths vs Derry City

• Gareth Penrose
• Fri, Sep 26 2008




At 19:30 on Saturday evening, history will be made for Wexford Youths FC as they play in their first ever League cup Final. The match will see them come up against Derry City, who hold the record for most wins in the competition. The game will take play at Ferrycarrig Park. (kick-off 19:30).

Wexford go into the game without any fear of coming up against Premier League opposition. They have already defeated Cobh Ramblers, UCD and Cork City on the way to the final.

The bad news for Wexford Youths manager Mick Wallace is the absence of Paul Murphy, who tore his cruciate ligament in training on Sunday morning and will be out for up to eight months. Conor Wallace will also miss the final having failed to recover from an injury picked up against Athlone Town a few weeks ago.

"Paul and Conor will be a huge loss to us," Wallace said. "I went to see Derry play St Pats on Tuesday and I was hugely impressed with them, as they look as good as any side in the country.

"As a unit they are extremely good and their mental approach combined with their physical condition and technique means they are a top side and will be very difficult to beat.

"We couldn't be playing a tougher side in the final as they don't seem to have any vulnerabilities and it's asking a lot of my lads to beat them.

"It's a great occasion however, with a real buzz around the county and we are privileged to be in a final. I just hope we don't let the occasion get to us and give a good account of ourselves."

Derry City have had a solid run to the final, defeating Finn Harps, Bohemians and Galway United, conceding only one goal along the way. Stephen Kenny will be without Pete Hutton and Ciaran Martyn.

This game kicks off at 19:30 and will be live on Setanta Sports.

Extratime.ie Prediction: Wexford Youths have home advantage for this final and it will be a hugely anticipated game in the South east, but we here at Extratime think Derry City will have too much for Mick Wallace’s men. We see the game ending 2-0 for the Candystripes.