John’s out to write another fine fairytale
AFTER the rescue of the two Galway paddle boarders provided us with the most uplifting story of the summer, what chances Galway United defying the odds with a fairytale run in the 100th Extra.ie FAI Cup?
Since Ellen Glynn and Sara Feeney were plucked to safety off Inisheer on August 13, the First Division club appointed a new manager, John Caulfield, whose first act was to draft Johnny Glynn, Ellen’s dad, onto the coaching ticket.
‘Johnny knows the club and Galway inside out. He’s the head of the club’s academy and also a great League of Ireland man. He’s invaluable to have on board,’ said Caulfield.
Between them, Caulfield and Glynn know all about the magic of the FAI Cup, and that could be a worry for Shelbourne, tonight’s visitors to Eamonn Deacy Park (7.45).
For Caufield and Glynn were team-mates on the Cork City team that won the FAI Cup in 1998, edging out none other than Shels, 1-0 in a replay at Dalymount Park.
Caulfield, who lost two finals as a player with Cork, in 1989 and 1992, was City’s manager for their FAI Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 over Dundalk, while Glynn scored a dramatic late winner for Galway, as captain, in the 1991 final – the club’s only FAI Cup triumph.
For Galway fans, starved of national success since their League Cup win of 1997, the dream ticket of Caulfield and Glynn gives them reason to believe the graph of the club may take an upward turn again.
Standing between Galway and a quarter-final place are the Reds, back among the top-flight elite after a six-season spell in the First Division backwater.
On the face of it, this should be a straight-forward tie for Ian Morris’ men, who didn’t flinch against Shamrock Rovers in the Tallaght trenches last Friday.
For Morris, a run in the Extra.ie FAI Cup would offer ‘a chance for a bit of silverware’ but is not taking the tie for granted.
‘When a new manager comes in, the playbook gets torn up and John is someone with fantastic pedigree, winning Leagues and Cups,’ he said.
At the midway point of the season, Shels are holding their own in the elite 10-team Premier Division with three wins and 11 points.
In contrast, Galway haven’t won a game in the First Division and are ninth of ten teams.
Without a fervent Terryland support to spur them on, it will be up to Caulfield and Glynn, on the line, to lift the Galway players.
‘Shelbourne have done really well in the Premier Division so far under a brilliant younger manager in Ian Morris,’ said Caulfield.
‘They’ve got some really experienced players in Gary Deegan, Karl Sheppard and Ciaran Kilduff. They’re all players that have been well established League winners and FAI Cup winners.
‘It’s a fantastic tie for us, obviously they’ll be overwhelming favourites, but to have them coming to Galway for my first game in charge, the fact that it’s the FAI Cup, we can go out and have a real cut at them, play without fear, and look to cause a major upset.
‘With the talent and quality that they have, we’ll have to be at our best to cause an upset.
‘Ideally, it’s vital we don’t concede. The longer there’s no score, of course, we have a chance.
‘The players have prepared well and I’m looking for them to take the shackles off and show what they can do against Shelbourne.’
The difficulty for Galway is they’ve yet to win a game this season. Should the young bucks go in front, they may struggle to have what they hold.
There was a time when First Division clubs regularly sprang FAI Cup upsets. Usually, the club was on the up, such as Sligo Rovers in 1994, who won the First Division and Shield before edging out Derry City in the final.
In 2009, when Sporting Fingal won the FAI Cup, they also claimed the First Division title that year, while the last club from outside the top flight to reach the final was Shelbourne themselves, in 2011.
Since then, the top division has dominated and the underdogs have struggled to land a blow in this grandest, and much-cherished, football competition.
Caulfield has been around the block long enough to know the odds are stacked against Galway but his team have home advantage and it’s a help that the tie must be decided on the night – a replay at Tolka Park would certainly favour Shels.
In football, as in life, nothing is certain and what appears to be a lost cause, can quickly become a glorious winning one.
As Glynn knows from the emotional roller-coaster he was strapped to a fortnight ago.
‘It’s fantastic for us, it’s the Cup, we can go and have a real cut’