AN INTRIGUING BATTLE

However, there’s no sense that Gorey Rangers are going to Ferrycarrig Park to make up the numbers, as they’ll be travelling to win and expect to be heading back up the N11 with the cup.

‘We believe in ourselves, we’re a very good side and on our day we’re capable of beating anybody. We look forward to the game, to putting in a good performance and hopefully bringing the cup home,’ said Casserly.

Shamrock Rovers supremo Nicky Murphy has been there and done it before, but the joy of cup final day has certainly lost none of its appeal.

‘It’s lovely to be in it and in with a shout of getting our hands on another one. It’s a great occasion, so hopefully things will go right for us on the day,’ he said.

Shamrock Rovers have definitely had a trickier path to the final, and apart from a comfortable win over Shelburne ‘ B’ in the third round they’ve been made work hard by all of their opponents.

Rovers are the only side to stop North End’s monopoly on the competition in the past five years, when they beat them in the 2015 final, and they again scuppered the Sky Blues this year, with two Eamon O’Brien goals earning them a 2-0 win over the Wexford town men in Curracloe.

They were also pushed all the way by Raheen in the second round, while Forth Celtic and Moyne Rangers were tough nuts to crack in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.

‘To get to the final we haven’t even had a game at home. We had to beat Division 3A winners Raheen away and they were excellent on the day we played them. They ran us very close and we ended up going through 4-2.

‘We got past North End and the Moyne, who are both tough to beat, and if we want to win it we’ll have to beat Gorey as well, so we’ll definitely have to do it the hard way,’ he said.

Murphy is certainly under no illusions about the tough challenge they face in the final and is expecting a tight tussle on Sunday.

‘Gorey Rangers have been coming for the last number of years and they’re improving all the time. They’re a young side, but they have a bit of experience in there as well. They’ll be very tough to beat.

‘You’d be hoping that it’s going to be wide open and a good game that we’d come out on the right side of, but it will probably be a tight, close affair. Both sides have good defences and we wouldn’t expect to give up a whole lot of chances,’ he said.

Shamrock Rovers are famous for their team spirit and willingness to put their bodies on the line for each other, something which makes them very difficult to beat, but they also have match-winners in their squad, and Murphy backs up that assertion.

‘Our biggest strength is that we’re a team. We’re always together. We work hard, there’s a great work ethic in the lads and they’re honest. We pride ourselves on the hard work and hopefully then our talent will carry us through,’ he said.

The final promises to be a fascinating encounter between two of the top sides in Wexford football, and it could be decided on the bounce of a ball.

There’s sure to be very little to separate the sides and a moment of magic or a lucky break could be the difference on the day.

Both sides have match-winners in their midst, with the likes of Joe Bolger, Mark Woods or Eric Quinn capable of turning the tie in the Gorey men’s favour, while players of the calibre of Eamon O’Brien, Marty Kelly or Ricky Fox, to name just a few, could do something special for Rovers, but given the quality of both teams a winning goal could come from almost any source.

It’s to be a titantic tussle between two evenly-matched teams and it could well take extra-time, or even penalties, to separate the sides.