LY HAS ONE WISH

still the same – try to keep them out and try to contribute as much as possible to help my team lift the trophy.’

Victory on Sunday would mean a 10th winners’ medal for Gartland at Dundalk and he revealed that the mementos from those occasions are starting to mean more and more to him.

‘It’s a funny question because I would have always been of the view that it’s just a medal and that it’s a piece of metal. I have the memories, I’ve won it and no one can take that away from you but then a couple of weeks ago I was thinking where are my medals?

‘I moved from Dublin to up here a few years ago but things are still in boxes so I was looking about for them. My mam found one in her house somewhere and Bronagh (his wife) said there’s one in a frame in our house. There’s one somewhere else but I am trying to get them all together now.

‘I think it was a case of the younger me saying I’ve won it and that’s it but now it’s something I will look back on and treasure so I want to make sure they’re kept and in a safe place.

‘I got a bit sentimental recently saying I’m going to want them, especially when I’m older because you’re in a bubble now and you’re just riding the crest of a wave and loving it but when you’re older they’re going to be great things to look back on and show grandchildren and children.’

Regardless of Sunday’s result, Gartland can see Dundalk being successful for some time to come and he admitted he’s looking forward to following his adopted home town when he eventually hangs up his boots.

‘It has come into my head loads of times and I’ve said to the lads here, the younger lads in particular, that when I retire you better be winning and you better be in Europe and travelling around the place because I want to experience that side of it as well.

‘For such a small town it’s unbelievable what we’ve done in travelling Europe, competing and the success we’ve had. There’s a euphoria about it and this is my home now so to follow it and have a vested interest in it would be another side to experience.

‘It’s just the atmosphere and the buzz. It can be indescribable, especially when you’re so into football and it’s your team. I really can’t wait for that but I want to make the most of this side of things first and hopefully there’s a good few years yet left in my playing days.

‘I’ve a year left on my contract and I want to stay here as long as I can. This team is only going to get better year on year once we keep the gaffer in charge. We’ve got a solid base of players now who have stayed on for two or three years and when you have that continuity it really breathes togetherness because we have a great group of lads here.

‘The track record of players here is always improving year on year and if that happens again I’m excited to see the team next year and leading on to the next few years.’

In what is one of the youngest league’s in Europe, Gartland is well aware that many people were writing him off as finished at the start of the year when injury saw him start the season on the sidelines at a time when Dundalk went on a run of eight games without conceding.

He says that only spurred him on to prove the doubters wrong.

‘I heard enough people saying ‘Gartland won’t get back in’ but that just gave me extra motivation to prove people wrong.

‘It is what it is. I’m 32 now the day of the cup final and as you say it’s a very young league. As soon as you hit 30 and somebody scores or if you’ve a bad game, people are saying ‘ah his legs are gone’. It can all swing the next week or two weeks later when you score or you’re man of the match and people are saying ‘ah he showed his experience there’. People have short term memories in football so I don’t dwell too much on that. I just try to look after myself and do everything I can to keep myself in the form I’ve been in this season and keep myself injury free.

‘I had a smashing pre-season and I was flying but then literally the week before the season I got hit by a bug and my body got shattered from that and I picked up a couple of injuries. You’re always going to have those things but I’ve confidence in myself to stay as mobile as I am and keep my performances high.’

On that note, Gartland is well aware that Dundalk will have to be clued in if they’re to deny Cork a third FAI Cup success in-a-row at the weekend. While John Caulfield’s side have won the last two finals, the Pearse Park man says this game is a ‘different animal.’

He said: ‘For the most part in the cup finals, we’ve dominated but we just haven’t been clinical enough or good enough in the final third.

‘You can use any excuse but when it comes down to it no one really remembers or no one really cares how things happened, it’s whoever has the trophy.

‘Those games mean nothing to what lies ahead though.

‘They come to stop us playing but we need to find a way to win,’ he said.

Having tasted first-hand what it’s like to lift the league title as captain, Gartland would love nothing more than to mark his birthday by raising the FAI Cup in the Aviva on Sunday. For him, failure is not an option.

‘All our focus is on the cup final now. To go and win the cup final, you can let your hair down but if you don’t - and I’ll be saying this to the lads and anyone who thinks differently - it takes the shine off the season without the trophy.

‘I’m not going to lie, it was a special, special feeling to lift the trophy here in front of our crowd. The whole set up was done really well and the atmosphere was really great so it was a hair on the back of your neck sort of moment. There’s not really much more I can say on it without getting soppy.

‘I’ve tried to imagine what it would be like to lift the Cup at the Aviva but we’ve got to do the job first. The league is done and dusted but we want more,’ he said.