St Patrick's Athletic's FAI Cup History
- Thu, Nov 30, 2006 @ 11:30
Mark O'Neill-Cummins looks at St Patrick's Athletic's FAI Cup pedigree ahead of Sunday's FAI Cup final clash with Derry City at Lansdowne Road.
St Patrick's Athletic were elected to the League of Ireland for the 1951-52 season (which they won at the first attempt) following more than 20 years of success at Junior, Intermediate and Leinster Senior level, not to mention several decent runs in the FAI Cup as a non-league club.
The best of those came in 1948, when they made it as far as the semi-final, where they were hammered 8-2 by Shamrock Rovers. It wasn't a bad season for the Saints though, as they won the Leinster Senior League, Leinster Senior Cup and FAI Intermediate Cup.
That trophy came after a 3-1 win over Cobh Ramblers in the decider at Turner's Cross, Cork. Pat's had already beaten Cobh 4-1 in the first round of the Senior Cup en route to that semi-final demolition by Rovers.
Stars of the time for Pat's included 'Barreller' Cassidy and Jimmy 'Growler' Cummins (who won 17 medals in total for Pat's).
Pat's got revenge on Rovers the following year when they beat them 2-1 in a first round replay, after a 1-1 draw, but were beaten by Shelburne (1-0) in the second round.
Pat's made it to the semi-final again in 1951. Having beaten Shels and AOH, they drew 1-1 with Cork Athletic in the semi at Dalymount Park, only to lose the replay 4-2 at the Mardyke in Cork.
By now a League of Ireland member, Pat's finally won through to the final in 1954.
Having beaten the big Cork sides, Athletic and Evergreen, along the way, they met Drumcondra in the final at Dalymount.
The Pat's side included legendary figures including Tommy Desay, Harry Boland, 'Ginger' O'Rourke, 'Longo' White and future Republic of Ireland international Joe Haverty.
It was to end in heartbreak though, as Pat's Dessie Byrne headed into his own net at the School End at Dalymount Park with just 11 minutes left to give Drums a 1-0 win.
Pat's finally got their hands on the cup in 1959. They met Waterford in the final at Dalymount with Jack Hunt (og) and Johnny McGeehan on the score sheet for Pat's in a 2-2 draw.
FAI Cup history:
Winners: 1959, 1961.
Runners-up: 1954, 1967, 1974, 1980, 1996, 2003.
Path to the 2006 final:
Second round: Beat Malahide United 2-0 (Molloy, M Quigley)
Third round: Beat Dundalk 2-0 (Keegan, A Murphy)
Quarter-final: Beat Longford Town 4-1 (Molloy 3, M Foley)
Semi-final: Beat Shamrock Rovers 2-0 (Keegan, Molloy)
Manager: John McDonnell
The Dubliner entered management after a glittering playing career that took in spells at St Pat's, Shamrock Rovers and Newry Town. The pinnacle came in 1996 when he captained St Pat's to the league title under Brian Kerr. He was player/ manager at Newry Town before taking over at Home Farm Fingal just as they changed their name to Dublin City. He left to become Pat Fenlon's assistant at Shelbourne before replacing Eamon Collins at Richmond Park in 2004.
One to watch: Trevor Molloy
29-year-old Molloy started off with Stella Maris before linking up with Shamrock Rovers aged 18. He then spent a short while with Athlone Town before Pat Dolan signed him for his first spell at St Pat's. He enjoyed great success with Pat's, winning two league titles, before departing for Bohs, where he was a double winner, followed by spells with Shels and Carlisle United. He then returned to Rovers and then joined Pat's for the start of the 2006 season.