Latest news with #RuaidhriHiggins'
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Tiernan Lynch opens up on how past FAI Cup Final anguish is fuelling Derry City's push to hit back at Drogheda United
The 2024 Final at the Aviva Stadium is still fresh in the mind of the City fans and the majority of the players, seven of whom started the decider and could well play a part on Saturday night. Drogheda won 2-0 to deny City a seventh FAI Cup triumph, a defeat which marked the end of Ruaidhri Higgins' time as manager. It is now a new era at the Brandywell with Tiernan Lynch and his staff hoping to make it to their first Final, but he is also hoping that his team will have some extra motivation on Saturday evening because of what happened previously. 'Yeah, you hope so,' he said. 'Everybody knows and is well aware of losing the Final last year, and I'm sure there were a lot of hugely disappointed heads, no more than the players and the staff because of the effort and the commitment and the work that they put in to get there. 'You can hope that you can use that as motivation to put that right.' Being in the hat for the FAI Cup Quarter-Finals is all that matters for Lynch in what is a potentially season-defining game against the holders. Having watched their title hopes fade away in recent weeks thanks to a return of just one goal and two points in the previous four League games, Lynch understands the importance of Derry winning the Cup. But given his team's poor form and the criticism which has followed, Saturday night's Cup tie at the Brandywell may have come at just the right time. 'As long as you win it,' Lynch insisted. 'It's a great distraction as long as you get your name in the hat at 10.00pm on Saturday night. We're under no illusions about how difficult the game is going to be on Saturday night. 'Drogheda is a really difficult team to break down. I don't think they've conceded a goal now for four or five games, and they're just one of those teams who are very good at what they do, and great credit to them for it. 'We know we have to be at our very best, and whether it's at home or whether it's at Drogheda, it makes no difference. There's a challenge in what comes with Saturday night.' With the title now lost, European qualification and an FAI Cup win have become the priorities, and the importance of delivering is not lost on Lynch. 'I think that's what comes with managing big clubs,' he continued. 'It's not something that we take personally or something that we take any offence at. The expectations are high, and we understand that. It's our job to get better at it.'
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Pressure on Derry City to overcome 'Achilles' heel' Drogheda
Derry City welcome Drogheda United to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium tonight for a potentially season-defining Sports Direct FAI Cup last-16 showdown (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 7.30pm). Kevin Doherty's Drogs beat the Candystripes 2-0 at Aviva Stadium in last year's decider, a game that proved to be Ruaidhri Higgins' last at the helm. He was replaced by Tiernan Lynch, but Derry have been plagued by familiar inconsistencies in the league, failing to put genuine pressure on table-toppers Shamrock Rovers. Lynch's side are 11 points back in third, and only ahead of Drogheda on goal difference. There's a sense they need another strong cup run to keep their campaign alive, and perhaps exorcise some demons from last year's final. But they will not have it easy against a team who relish being the underdogs. "Drogheda have sort of been the Achilles' heel of Derry over the last couple of seasons," said former Dundalk striker David McMillan on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast. "Any time they've been close to dragging Shamrock Rovers in in a title race, I can think of games where they've had to go to United Park and not been able to get a win. "Obviously there was the cup final last year when Drogheda got one over on them when I think most people were tipping Derry to take advantage of the big pitch in the Aviva. "Derry are at home, and with the pitch up there you'd expect them to have the know-how to be able to navigate this game. We're talking about the money they've spent, the players they've brought in, by all means they should be favourites - heavy favourites - but you look at the league form, these two are level in the table. "You expect Derry to win the game but honestly it's such a difficult match to call. If there's any team that can dig in, defend well, counter, break you down and get a 1-0 win away from home it's Drogheda. I expect Derry to win, being the home team, but I wouldn't be shocked if the result goes the other way." Richie Towell agrees. The ex-Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers man says there's "massive pressure" on Derry to overcome this hurdle and go all the way. "I was in Dalymount Park watching the Bohs-Drogheda game," he said. "Bohemians dominated possession... and Drogheda were really, really comfortable, just defending their box, defending deep in their own half. That's exactly what they're going to do when they go up to Derry. "We spoke about Drogheda not conceding goals... Derry have only scored one goal in their last four (league) games. It makes for a really intriguing tie. "I think people say that word 'revenge', they're going to get a bit of revenge for the cup final. It's going to be up to the Derry players and how they handle the pressure on the night because let's be realistic, it's a massive game for them. "They're kind of out of the league title race now so if there's one club that does need to go and win the FAI Cup it probably is Derry on the back of what happened last year. There's massive, massive pressure on the players up there for the game."
