Local hero Joe wants one more for the road

FOR St Patrick’s Athletic, the 2023 FAI Cup has been a case of have boots, will travel.

Drawn away to Longford Town in the first round, a return trip of 240km, the Saints have since been to Derry City (554km) and Finn Harps (468km) before today’s 606km trip to Turner’s Cross and back. That’s over 1,800km, or more than 1,110 miles in old money.

The long-haul travel will be validated if come Sunday, November 12, the Saints are making the short walk up the Grand Canal to the Aviva Stadium.

Joe Redmond, their skipper, has been part of that journey, returning from injury in the nick of time for the first of the four treks in the Cup. He said: ‘I got the last ten minutes against Longford. Then we got Derry and Finn

Harps away. Now, it’s Cork City away. That’s the way the Cup goes.

‘You have to have resilience to be prepared to travel and put in the kind of performances we did.’

Not too many Saints have played for City — I recall Johnny Glynn did — but Redmond crossed the white line five times in 2020 when on loan from Birmingham City. That connection won’t spare him today, not with a Cup final spot on the line.

Redmond, 23, comes across as a likeable fella, who is much respected down ‘Richer’ way, to the extent he was appointed captain half-way through his first season at the club. He kept the armband after Tim Clancy was replaced by Jon Daly in early May, at a time when the Saints were in a heap.

How has he found Daly’s approach compared to Clancy? ‘If we win or lose a game, Jon is very good at putting it to bed and keeping us on track. At the start of the season we lost a number of games in a row. When we’d lost, we’d lose again. That was a problem. He nullified that.

‘Jon’s knowledge of football is great, his understanding of how to address a game, to make key substitutions has shown. He’s been great for us since he took over. Hopefully, it can continue for as long as possible.’

Growing up a Saints fan, Redmond cheered from the banks of the Camac as the League, FAI Cup and two League Cups were won by the club between 2013 and 2016. He was also among the diehards at the Aviva for the 2021 FAI Cup final over Bohs on penalties.

All those triumphs adorn the red and white walls of the clubhouse on Emmet Road. ‘I’ve looked at the walls numerous times. You see the teams and their great achievements. As captain of the club, I want to be up there, lifting the trophy. It would be special.’