IN AN age when soundbites and media-savvy responses often cloud pre-match and post-match interviews, it takes an awful lot for footballers to open up and express their inner feelings.

So for St Patrick's Athletic captain Jamie Harris to readily admit that their inability to keep pace with Bohemians in the league race this year was "embarrassing", you know it hurts . . . bad.

Another league season has come and gone without a serious title push from a St Pat's side with one of the biggest treasure chest in the country, and pressure is beginning to mount on boss John McDonnell and his charges.

There is only one real chance of redemption for the Saints and it doesn't come bigger than an FAI Ford Cup semi-final clash at home to the tour de force of Dublin rivals Bohemians tonight.

But Harris, an ex-Boh himself, believes the disappointment he and his team-mates feel every time they look at the Eircom Premier League table is all the motivation they need.

"It's something that, as players, we're not proud of; looking at the league table. I think we want to put things right to a certain extent in the cup. When you look at the squad we have assembled, for whatever reason we just haven't done it this year," said the 29-year-old.

"For me, it's embarrassing to look at the league table and see that we're 19 points behind. As a player, and as captain of the team, you don't want to see that happening. So there's going to be a lot of pride in our performance, a lot of blood and thunder, as they say, and we're going to go at them from the start."

It has become part of the job description for employees of St Pat's that they must every year answer questions about the one figure that arises when FAI Cup rolls around.

Worryingly for the Inchicore outfit, that number gets one bigger every season and right now it is 47; the number of years since their last cup success.

"It keeps getting brought up," responded Harris with a sigh. "I don't think the players have put too much pressure on themselves about it, which is a good thing, but it does get brought up a fair bit.

"All we can do is go play our game (tonight) and I think we have the players who are capable of performing on the big stage, which has been proven this season."

Harris has been involved in Irish football for nigh on a decade -- barring last year's spell in Scotland with Dunfermline-- and he has seen champions come and go on the biggest stages of Irish domestic football.

And whether it is an attempt to stoke the fire ahead of tonight's showdown or a simple honest opinion, the big centre-half is unequivocal in his belief that this is not the greatest Bohemians team ever, far from it; not even the best in recent history.

"It's a strange one because they are consistently good. They've got a lot of good players but I don't think it's as strong as Bohemians teams I've seen over the years but as a team, as a unit, they grind out results," he said.

"They get one-nils, clean sheets . . . they are a good team but I have certainly seen better Bohs teams over the years."

The last time Harris had some involvement in an FAI Ford Cup final, it was with Bohemians in 2000 (although he didn't make the final squad), and it took a replay and a single goal from a renowned winner to snatch the title.

The goalscorer? Pat Fenlon.

The big Welshman can only hope Fenlon does not orchestrate a similar blow to a side already licking their league-inflicted wounds.

Next Fixture

Waterford / April 19th @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Richmond Park
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Team	Pld	Pts
Shelbourne	10	21
Derry City	10	16
Bohemian FC	10	16
Shamrock Rovers	9	15
St Patrick's Athletic	10	14
Sligo Rovers	9	12
Waterford FC	10	12
Galway United FC	9	11
Drogheda United	9	8
Dundalk	10	4