"Double, double toil and trouble," once pondered Bill Shakespeare.
Twelve months ago Stephen Kenny put on a brave face as he spoke in the aftermath of losing the FAI Cup final to a last-minute, extra-time strike.
Not content with securing his third league title in a row, Kenny was visibly hurt at the chance of missing out on the double-double, a rare feat in Irish football.
Sean Maguire came back to haunt his former side last November with the Cup-winning goal, and to rub salt in the wounds of his former paymasters, the in-form striker, then put Dundalk’s four-in-a-row ambitions to bed with a rampaging run of form at the start of the 2017 campaign.
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So Kenny, one must imagine, will be just a little fired up to win today’s showpiece and turn a disappointing season – in relative terms – into a successful one.
Cup finals are made for teams like Dundalk and the salubrious setting of the Lansdowne Road arena (kick-off 3.30pm) should work in the Lilywhites’ favour, with their attacking and attractive brand of football on display.
And while Dundalk are not the team that won the league in 2014 and 2015, before driving them to that historic season in 2016, things are again looking good down Oriel Park way.
There is still a ‘work in progress’ element to the current Dundalk side but, to be honest, there was not too much tweaking needed, despite losing the likes of Daryl Horgan, Andy Boyle, Ronan Finn and Richie Towell in recent years.
Dundalk’s form throughout the second half of the season has been worthy of champions, however, they really had too much ground to make up following Cork’s record-breaking start to the campaign.
Patrick McEleney and David McMillan really took up the baton for Dundalk this season, while new arrivals Jamie McGrath, Niclas Vemmelund and Dylan Connolly have added quality throughout the side.
This afternoon’s Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup final between the two dominating sides in the league should, once again, be a clash of styles with Dundalk likely to play the more elaborate football against a well-organised Cork side, who are happy to play on the counter-attack.
Cork have possibly already hit their zenith for the season securing the league title, and while they will look to maintain their momentum to complete the double, they will need a very special performance to beat Dundalk.
Of course, they can look back to their head-to-head record throughout the season, most notably their 3-0 victory away at Oriel, which signalled the end of Dundalk’s domestic dominance.
But while the goalscorer that night will be present this afternoon, hat-trick man Maguire will just be an interested onlooker.
The now Preston North End striker has been ruled out Ireland’s play-off against Denmark through injury.
Maguire proved the matchwinner in the aforementioned fixture as he had in last year’s Cup final, while Richie Towell did likewise in the 2015 affair.
So both sides will be looking for special performances to prove the difference this time around, with so little to separate the two sides.
Dundalk have quality throughout and while McEleney has proved the star of the season for Kenny’s side, Stephen O’Donnell’s performance will be key should the Lilywhites land their 11th FAI Cup.
The midfielder reads the game like no other in the league and is the platform from which the other key players can influence.
Connolly’s mid-season move from Bray came too late for the league campaign, however, the former Ireland Under-21 international has the perfect opportunity to make a name for himself to round off his maiden season in Dundalk.
Aside from the flair and attacking football, Dundalk are also very capable of winning games through other means, with Brian Gartland always a threat from set-pieces, while both full backs Sean Gannon and Dane Massey are also dangerous in attack.
Cork, perhaps, need to stray from the script to a certain degree if they are looking to dominate proceedings and win the game within the 90 minutes.
And John Caulfield should look no further than Kieran Sadlier to stamp his authority on his league-winning side.
The former West Ham United man was tempted away from Sligo Rovers mid-season and while Sadlier has played his part in securing the title, there is a lot more to come from the talented 23-year-old.
Sadlier is not the man to fill Maguire’s boots, however, his creativity could make Karl Sheppard’s afternoon a lot easier, should Cork look to take the game to Kenny’s side.
While the old adage of familiarity breeding contempt certainly applies to this Cup final – Mark McNulty saw to that – for the rest of the country, perhaps an element of ennui has crept in ahead of the season-ending encounter.
With many League of Ireland fans already re-acclimatising back into normal society going into the monster four-month lay-off, there may not be too much appeal for the neutral.
The wintery November date remains admirable as the FAI aspire to bring down the curtain with their blue riband event, but perhaps an earlier date, while summer football still applies, might need to be considered in the future.
Having said that, the last two years have proved the most viewed in recent years, with only the 2010 final between Sligo and Shamrock Rovers attracting more spectators to the revamped Lansdowne Road – over 25,000 turned up for the 2015 and 2016 encounters.
As mentioned, McNulty fanned the flames of the growing begrudgery between the two sides last week with some choice thoughts on today's opponents.
But despite that apparent show of disrespect from the Cork keeper, fans from both sides will admire the passion that is evident in these players, while Dundalk themselves are not averse to their own goading of other sides with their "We won in in Talla" appendage when celebrating the league title in 2015.
This game could again be dragged into extra time, as has been the case for the past two seasons and while both sides will want to win it in regulation, Cork would surely see themselves as favourites to go the distance.
Dundalk are still nursing several key players back to full fitness, helped greatly by a very competitive fixture to finish the league in Galway last weekend.
The Lilywhites suffered from a different kind of fatigue going into last year’s contest, still in the throes of a Europa League campaign, so this year’s injury issues should not have as much of an affect.
In essence, Kenny’s side have been planning for this game since the semi-final victory over Shamrock Rovers at the start of last month.
The season started with a facile victory for Cork in the President’s Cup against Dundalk, but this finale should bear little resemblance as both sides look to finish the year on a high.
Of course, to the victor the spoils. For t’other, a winter of discontent awaits.
Live coverage of the men’s and women’s FAI Cup finals will begin on RTÉ2 Television at 11.45. Radio coverage starts on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday Sport at 2pm. Live streaming of the games is available worldwide on the RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie on Cork City v Dundalk from 3pm.
