OLD RIVALRIES ARE AT AN END
Championship side Preston have four graduates from the League of Ireland with a keen interest in today’s decider
‘The League of Ireland is looked down on, but it deserves to be respected’ DARYL HORGAN
AS WELL as becoming the focal point of the League of Ireland in recent years, the Dundalk-Cork City rivalry has also witnessed the emergence of three senior Ireland internationals. Two of them – Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle – were key figures for the Lilywhites as they won three league titles in a row before joining Preston North End in January.
The latest graduate to the green jersey is striker Seán Maguire, who left Oriel Park and thrived under John Caulfield alongside Kevin O’Connor. Now team-mates at Deepdale, Sportsmail sat down with all four ahead of today’s eagerly awaited Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup final to discuss their past battles, SM: the child-like giddiness of their former managers and the pride in how the League of Ireland helped advance their careers.
THE RIVALRY
KOC:
Andy Boyle: You always felt something extra. Going into those games you lived DH: for them. They were games you knew were really going to matter in terms of deciding the league and we had some big AB: deciders over the years.
Daryl Horgan: It brought the best out of you as a player. 100 per cent.
Kevin O’Connor: Definitely. That was the SM: game you looked for straight away when AB: the fixtures came out. When are we playing Dundalk? When are we at home, when are we away? You knew you had to be ready, you had to be on it. Daryl, you scored two important goals towards the end of 2016… DH: Am I getting that? KOC: No way. Own goal! Seán Maguire: Definite own goal. DH: Doesn’t matter, it went in. And if you are claiming that goal against Drogheda (one of his 20 league strikes this season), then that’s definitely mine! AB: You felt as if you didn’t want to let anyone down, or make a mistake. KOC: The stuff that goes on… DH: Well it’s hardly going to be all tippy-tappy, you have it, we have it. It’s never going to be niceynice. We were getting after each other. A few kicks here and there. The first tackle every game is Gearóid Morrissey, isn’t it? BOOM! That gets you going when you know it’s coming. KOC: Yeah, love it. AB: We’re team-mates now, the rivalry we had at home has to be left behind. You move on. What happens on the pitch stays there, there are no grudges. On the pitch you want to win, of course, you do what you have to do. But there is respect there, too. I always knew it was going to be a tough game playing against Seánie, he was the best striker in the league outside of Dundalk. Ah here! To be fair to you, you scored plenty of goals against us towards the end.
SM: The hat-trick this season was special because last season we went to Oriel Park and lost 2-1, we were going for the league and I felt we crumbled. We had to go there and put in a big performance. It got announced the day after the game that I was coming to Preston but I knew for five or six weeks before that that it was pretty much a done deal. I wasn’t going to slow down and 3 take it easy or worry about getting injured. Sure I could trip and fall down the stairs just like that. DH: Are you clumsy then? SM: Pretty much. I had a responsibility to stay focused for John [Caulfield] and the club, and myself of course, but I wouldn’t be sat here if it wasn’t for Cork City. The goal in the (2016) Cup final, people thought it was about getting revenge for me but I didn’t see it that way at all. The shot literally took about 10 seconds to cross the line.
DH: Seánie sent me a picture a couple of weeks ago of the goal going in and you can just see our faces. I remember looking and looking thinking “please, please don’t go in”. AB: That week sums up what football is all about for us, the highs and lows. We were out in Zenit, playing in the Europa League, and myself and Daryl got the Ireland call-ups. You go from such a great feeling to losing the Cup final. Just crazy. DH: It was just heart breaking how it all ended. I think every player on the pitch was thinking “right, it’s going to penalties, don’t miss your penalty!” And then Seánie’s shot scrambles into the corner… KOC: We came in at half-time saying “lads, what the f**k is going on? We’re getting pumped here”. SM: We were fearing the worst, the boys were popping us. We were blessed to go in 0-0. KOC: Everything was geared towards the game. The build-up just feels so long to it. It drags. It’s mentally draining. The Cork lads now, they were expected to win the league months ago, it’s hard to win a league. The lads, fair play, they proved it, but the final is totally different.
THE MANAGERS
Boyle was with Stephen Kenny from the very beginning in 2013 while Horgan signed a season later. Maguire played for both clubs but his spell at Dundalk was disappointing before finding a new lease of life under Caulfield on Leeside. SM: John will be like a child this week. He’ll be buzzing around the place, he’ll be everywhere.
KOC: It’s his passion, isn’t it? He just loves it.
SM: Sometimes after training he’d stay back and do some finishing with you. There would be times he probably wouldn’t make the gooals with his shots.
AB: You wouldn’t be saying that if he was sitting there! SM: True. Sorry, gaffer
KOC: He is like a child with his passion. It’s great. It rubs off DH: I think everyone should have that. SM: I can’t speak highly enough of the man. He gave me the oppurtunity to play and show what I can do, he helped me get that confidence in myself back, I felt so much better about myself and I will never forget that ca asking could we meet. I met him for a coffee in Portlaoise for half an hour. He just kept it simple with me. He told me he’d give me the oppurtunity but made it clear I was going to have to work hard for it. I found my feet straight away, scored on my debut and didn’t look back from there.
KOC: John brought me from Waterford in the First Division. He inherited a team that had a good bit of quality but maybe didn’t do as well as they could have. I think they finished third in his first season.
DH: Second, sure it went to the last day with us!
KOC: That’s right. DH: For me it’s Stephen’s man management, the way he spoke to you and got in your head. He’s an emotional fella. He knows people and definitely got the best out of me. He knew what I was about. He’d come up to me randomly and just remind me of something I had done in the season and I’d get a boost. Fellas love him, we do. We’d do anything for him.
AB: Like Daryl says there’s something he has that draws you to him. You believe what he’s telling you. You trust him and he trusts you.
THE LEAGUE OF IRELAND EDUCATION
DH: We have a great league in our country, and it’s looked down upon a lot of the time. It’s wrong. It’s ours, some people don’t care about it but look at the international set up, three captains this year (Seamus Coleman, James McClean and David Meyler) all played in the League of Ireland. There are eight, nine, 10 more playing at the minute so, you know, people have an opportunity on their doorstep to see future internationals. There’s Seánie over there, absolutely flying, look at him now. That’s the big pull, the standard should be respected.
KOC: There are young lads coming through who are very, very good players and it helps them so much to get a few years in the league.
AB: It’s a different platform to youth or reserve team.
SM: It’s men’s football. You’re getting hit hard, you have to deal with that.
AB: I do think Cork and Dundalk have brought it on, fitness wise, in terms of professionalism. DH: Michael O’Neill would disagree!
KOC: I don’t think Pat Fenlon will be happy with that either, Boyler!
AB: Ah, I think they have just brought it on to a better level. SM: We all watched the last game between them together. It was in a hotel before we played Hull away. When we (Cork) scored we were both buzzing, it didn’t look like either team was going to score after that and then Robbie Benson pops up and this fella (Horgan) is jumping around the place like a mad man. DH: The two boys didn’t speak to us after that. Just left the room. AB: Straight away they were gone. DH: Brilliant. KOC: Who won the league, though?
THE PREDICTiONS
All four will be in attendance at Aviva Stadium today but must settle for a watching brief…
AB: This is a great day for everyone. It really is. The chance to win a trophy at the Aviva, have your family there. It’s a proud moment in everyone’s life.
KOC: You want to play well for yourself and your family and obviously to win the game. That’s the most important thing.
SM: But even if you play crap it helps if you score the winner! It will be edgy, it will be aggressive, it could be low on quality because of what’s at stake but I can only see one team coming out on top. AB: No. I fancy Dundalk. They’ll be up for this. SM: 2-1 Cork in 90 minutes. I’m calling it. We actually texted the other day to find out about getting our league medals. We have to wait. It would be nice if we could go in the winning dressing room and celebrate with the lads, get our league medals then. DH: Why would you be going in the Dundalk dressing room? SM: Ah, be quiet. DH: I’m going for a comfortable win for Dundalk. KOC: Same as last year, 1-0 Cork. Doesn’t matter if it’s extra-time or not, once they win. AB: I’m going for 1-0 Dundalk, it will be tight. DH: Just wait. It will be 3-1 to Dundalk.
‘This is a great day, to win the Cup at the Aviva is a proud moment in your life’ ANDY BOYLE ‘John will be like a child and buzzing about this week, I owe so much to him’ SEÁN MAGUIRE ‘What happens on the pitch stays there, the stuff that goes on... I love it’ KEVIN O’CONNOR