On Sunday, Derry City won the FAI Cup for the 7th time since they joined the League of Ireland in 1985, beating Waterford 1-0 in this season’s final at the Aviva. Prior to them joining the League of Ireland, Derry had won the Irish FA Cup three times.
Derry’s goal was scored in the 69th minute by Meath-born Darragh Burns and it was also his first-ever goal for the Candystripes whom he joined four months ago. The 24-year-old winger had previously won an FAI Cup medal with St Patrick’s Athletic in 2021. After his time with St Pat’s, Burns moved to English club MK Dons, returned for a season on loan to Shamrock Rovers and then went back to England to join Grimsby Town, whom he left to join Derry in July.
The attendance on Sunday was 36,093, which was very good considering there was no Dublin club involved, but the colorful attendance were not treated to a classic. However, it was a great end to what has been a tumultuous season for Derry City. Patrick McClean was named Man of the Match, while his older brother James, who left the club two weeks ago, was at Old Trafford with his son watching Manchester United draw 4-4 with Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Derry still need a new manager as caretaker boss Mark Connolly says he wants to return to his role as Director of Football role at the Brandywell. Currently he doesn’t have the coaching badges necessary to manage a team in the Conference League in Europe next season. Connolly was appointed caretaker manager when Tiernan Lynch was sacked in August.
STUDENTS
PROMOTED
University College Dublin will play in the League of Ireland Premier Division next year. Goals from Ciarán Behan and Louis Dignam saw the Belfield students beat Drogheda United 2-1 in Tallaght Stadium on Saturday night and regain their place in the top flight for next year. Going into Saturday’s promotion/relegation play-off very few neutrals gave the students much hope of causing an upset, but they were deserving winners on the night. UCD did it the hard way. They finished 19 points behind Cork City in the first division final table, then beat 5th placed Longford Town in the play-off semi-final and Bray Wanderers in the First Division play-off final. The Students will now return to the top tier following a three-year absence.
DATES CONFIRMED
Dates for the Republic of Ireland 2027 Women’s Nations League have been confirmed. Carla Ward’s team will kick off their campaign with a home double-header in March, welcoming Switzerland on March 2 before hosting Norway on March 6. Match venues and kick-off times for all six fixtures will be announced in due course.
UEFA Women's Nations League Fixtures: March 2 Republic of Ireland v Switzerland; March 6 Republic of Ireland v Norway; April 20 Spain v Republic of Ireland; April 24 Switzerland v Republic of Ireland; June 11 Republic of Ireland v Spain and June 15 Norway v Republic of Ireland
