Sligo Rovers 1-1 Shelbourne (after extra-time, Sligo Rovers win 4-1 on penalties)
For the second season in succession, Ciaran Kelly was the hero as Sligo Rovers retained the FAI Cup with a victory over Shelbourne at the Aviva Stadium.
Kelly had been twiddling his thumbs on the bench until a few minutes before the penalty shoot-out, but Paul Cook unveiled his trump card late on and although he was clearly stealing a few yards from his goal line, the Mayo man saved two Shelbourne penalties to ensure the cup headed west for the second year in a row.
Tubercurry thunderbolt Raffaele Cretaro scored the winning penalty for Paul Cook’s side, who gave a lacklustre performance against newly promoted Shelbourne, who were down to ten men for the majority of the game.
Shels took the lead after half an hour through Philly Hughes, who tapped in from close range after having the better of things early on.
The game was utterly transformed moments later when Barry Clancy was given a quite ridiculous red card. The midfielder had picked up a first yellow minutes earlier and was given his marching orders for an alleged dive inside the box even though there was definitely contact.
A penalty? Maybe. A second yellow card? Certainly not.
Inevitably, Sligo gained the initiative and they levelled matters three minutes after the break through an unlikely source.
Iarlaith Davoren picked a good time to score his first ever goal for Sligo with a speculative effort from the edge of the box, but Shels ‘keeper Dean Delany won’t want to see the replay after inexplicably allowing the ball fly past at him at his near post.
The Premier Division side had all the ball thereafter but struggled to create any clear cut opportunities and Shelbourne coped comfortably with their laboured attacks.
Desperately tired, Shels attempted to hold on for penalties and they managed to do so as extra-time followed a similar pattern as the second half of normal time.
Shels may have fancied themselves in the lottery of a penalty shoot out, but then they had the misfortune to encounter penalty stopper extraordinaire Kelly, who surely became the first ever ‘keeper to be brought on specifically for a shoot-out.
Any chance he could be brought as an emergency option if we get to the Euros next summer?
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