Doyle shows his bottle in satisfying week for Pat’s
Winger focusing on final after missile incident
IF St Patrick’s Athletic seal a return to UEFA competition for next summer, which appears more likely than not, Mark Doyle will have played his part.
The wispy winger is up to eight goals in all competitions for the season after scoring on successive weekends against Cork City at Turner’s Cross.
The first goal secured three huge Premier Division points; the second pointed the way to the FAI Cup final for the Saints, 2-0 winners on Sunday.
After plundering a priceless opener in the semi-final, Doyle almost came a cropper as he was hit on the back of the head by a water bottle thrown from the crowd as he savoured the moment.
It could have been worse, as Doyle revealed.
‘There was a glass bottle of Smirnoff as well but that didn’t hit me. If that hits you, you could be in trouble. I just saw it going by me. It was on the ground
‘Thankfully, it was only a plastic one that hit me, so I just headed it back,’ he quipped.
Doyle, 24, delivered with a timely run and finish as he swept a pinpoint cross from Ryan McLaughlin into the net to silence the City faithful at The Shed End.
‘I just tried to get across the defender, similar to last week when I scored here.
‘It was a great ball from Ryan because he was stretching to get it and it was nearly going out. He just stood it up nice and thankfully I got on the end of it.’
Skerries native Doyle has scored in the League, FAI Cup and in Europe as he chases a 10-goal target this season.
‘I always aim for double figures as a winger, so to get to that in the final would be nice. I had a slow enough start, then I got going and then I didn’t score for a while.
‘You have to be patient and you can’t get too disappointed if you’re missing chances or the chances aren’t falling to you. You have to kind of keep trying to get in the areas and hopefully one that falls to you goes in.’
Doyle is chuffed at helping the Saints to the Cup final, where they face familiar foes, Bohemians, on November 12.
‘It’s class. You could see it from the scenes with the fans at the end of the game. It’s why you play football.
‘I wasn’t playing for Pat’s in 2021, but watching that Pat’sBohs final was brilliant. To be part of that now is great. I can’t wait.’
Pat’s took the long-haul route to the final with trips to Longford, Derry City, Finn Harps and Cork City.
‘We’ve definitely had to do it the hard way, with no home ties. Some teams get a home tie against a Leinster Senior League team in the early rounds. We had
Concerning: Joe Redmond throws a bottle off the pitch Derry in the second round, really tough, and obviously we went through on penalties.
‘We’re absolutely buzzing to be in the final.
‘Two Dublin clubs and rivals as well. To be part of that will be pretty special.’
Doyle doffed a cap to manager Jon Daly for his part in reviving the seasons.
‘I think you can see how hard he works,’ he said.
‘For every away game that we’ve played this year, I think he’s been there the week before to watch the opposition. Whether it’s Longford or Derry, it doesn’t matter.
‘The preparation that goes into playing any team, no matter who it is, you give them the utmost respect.
‘He’s very good at working on specific things in training during the week in terms of drills and to replicate the plan going into the game.’
A crowd of 37,126 — a record at the Aviva — watched the post-Covid final of 2021 and the FAI will be targeting a new attendance high.
Curiously, this will only be the second all-Dublin Cup final since 2000.
“We definitely had to do it the hard way, with no home ties”