Duggan hoping to end decade wait for double
Cork City
Peamount Utd
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KAREN DUGGAN has no regrets about rejecting a Ireland recall from Vera Pauw.
The Peamount United midfielder – who aims to win her first FAI Women’s Cup in today’s final against Cork City – walked away from international football at just 27.
Once Dutchwoman Pauw ( below) replaced Colin Bell as boss, she delegated her assistant Eileen
Gleeson to assemble the best domestic talent for their Euro qualification bid.
Gleeson succeeded in coaxing her former player Áine O’gorman into a U- tu turn but there wa was no going b back for Duggan.
She watched on as I Ireland’s fast st start to the cam campaign came to not nothing. A narrow defeat in Ukraine two months ago deprived them of a play- off.
Duggan said: “I hadn’t been thinking about the Ireland squad until Eileen approached me.
“I definitely thought when I saw the draw this could be the campaign we could qualify from.
“It was on for the girls from when they beat Ukraine at home – but I’m happy with my decision.
“I did sleep on it for a night, but the reasons I stepped away are still there.
“I was changing jobs, doing some studying, and I never wanted to turn professional. I knew how hard I’d worked to get my 35 caps over the years and didn’t want any sourness.
“I achieved that from the base as a domestic player and didn’t want that to be diminished in any way at all.
“So, I stepped away before I had to listen to too much more.”
Duggan heads into her third Cup final in a row at Tallaght today with Peamount attempting to complete a double by lifting their first FAI Cup since 2010 while City, who finished 14 points behind the champions, shocked Duggan and her UCD Waves teammates in 2017 to lift the trophy.
Duggan said: “Cork are the most improved team in the league. Nobody expected them to end Wexford’s title challenge and they’ve real identity in their style.
“They have a couple of serious individuals in Eabha O’mahony and Saoirse Noonan who can really hurt you. We will have to be at the top of our game to pull off a result.”