CUP FINAL BITTERSWEET FOR DOHERTY
DERRY CITY captain Ger Doherty admits Sunday’s EA Sports Cup final at the soon-to-be renamed Ryan McBride Stadium against Cobh Ramblers will be bittersweet as he remembers his absent teammates. Derry have won the competition a record 10 times and for their last two triumphs Doherty had Mark Farren and McBride sharing the success. Farren, who died from brain cancer in 2016, was in the side that beat Wexford in the 2008 final. McBride was at Turner’s Cross three years later when they defeated Cork City in the decider only to tragically pass away in his sleep last year. Sunday will be Derry’s first Cup final since the duo died and the fact they got home advantage in the draw will make the occasion all the more poignant. ‘Every time I come out of the dressing-room, there’s a picture of Mark and Ryan together in front of me,’ said the goalkeeper, who recently turned 37. ‘There’s reminders of the two players all around the ground but, to be honest, I don’t need them because I think about them constantly. ‘It will be a wee bit strange not having Mark and Ryan alongside me walking out. 100 per cent I’ll be trying to win this trophy for them. ‘That’s why this will feel bittersweet. It will still be a proud moment for me captaining the team in a Cup final.’ Both the Farren and McBride families will be represented at the redeveloped Brandywell as Kenny Shiels’ side aim to punctuate a lacklustre league campaign with some cup success. Derry have another huge game looming next Wednesday when Bohemians visit in the re-fixed Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup quarter-final against Bohemians. That had be postponed from last Friday due to U21 call-ups for Northern Ireland’s Jamie McDonagh, Ally Roy and Conor McDermott with Republic pair Ronan Curtis and Rory Hales on duty. After going over two weeks without a game, two seminal ones arrive for Derry in the space of four days.