Goalscorer Sean grateful to Super Mac
SEAN Hoare admitted that he was one of the most relieved men inside the Aviva Stadium at the fulltime whistle on Sunday.
The centre half had given Dundalk a 19th minute lead with a bullet header but undid his good work just two minutes later when he conceded a penalty for a foul on Karl Sheppard which Kieran Sadlier converted.
At that point the 24-year-old was convinced the final was due to follow the pattern of previous years and go to extra-time but Patrick McEleney’s 73rd minute header ensured a second FAI Cup win for Hoare, who previously won the competition with St Patrick’s Athletic in 2014.
Hoare said the final would be a lesson learned for him.
‘To be honest when I scored I just lost my mind a bit. I had scored in a Cup final so I was buzzing with myself.
‘I just got a bit eager to get the ball. He was in my box but it was a mistake. I thought it was soft enough still but it’s probably a penalty and a lesson learned.
‘Any touch in the box, the striker is going to go down. I touched off him but it wasn’t enough to knock him over like that but that’s the risk you run doing that in the box.
‘When that happened, I just thought here we go again but we kind of settled ourselves down and came out in the second half and we were on top for most of the half and we deserved our goal.’
Hoare praised McEleney for the quality of his winner.
‘You think he would dink someone or something but he can score any goal, he’s that type of player. It’s a big Cup final and he came up with the goods.
‘We looked a bit nervous on the ball in the first half, myself included, and we just weren’t playing our passing game like we would in Oriel or any other stadium. It’s a big pitch and a massive occasion so if you’re not nervous there’s something wrong with you but we settled it down and came out in the second half and played better ball.
‘We showed what we can do in the league over 36 games but today is a bit up in the air because it’s a cup final and anything can happen but it tops off a good few weeks and a brilliant season for us.’
Hoare said it was difficult to compare Sunday’s win with that of 2014 when he was part of a Pat’s side who ended a 53 year wait for glory in the competition.
‘2014 was special for me and the whole club. That’s well documented but this is great. It’s hard to compare the two but it’s such a great feeling.
‘You don’t realise at the time how good it is. I’ve looked back at 2014 and said it was such a great day out and I probably will look back on this next week and say how good it was but for now it hasn’t sunk in. We’re just taking everything in our stride. I think we deserve all our success with how we’ve been playing and we’ve shown that we’re the best team in the league,’ he said.