When Derry City last won the Extra.ie FAI Cup back in 2012, the match went all the way to extra time before they overcame St Patrick's Athletic.
In the nine finals since then, six have also gone at least 120 minutes, with three of those going to the further lottery of penalties.
The trend of a long epic followed by a shootout has only been increasing, with that trio of games all coming in the last five editions of the competition.
It's an outcome former Republic of Ireland, Drogheda United and St Patrick's Athletic midfielder Keith Treacy is tipping to happen again this Sunday when Derry and Shelbourne lock horns (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
But when it comes to the tactical battle, the expectation from Treacy that much will be decided by how the contest on the flanks fares.
"I think the key battles will be the wing-backs for Shelbourne," he told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
"It will be all about how adventurous Shelbourne will want to be. If they want to play a flat back five, they're going to invite a lot of pressure.
"With the flat back five, it gives up an awful lot of space on the wings. So [Derry] can get the ball out wide and cross it really early, a bit like the De Bruyne position. He's always in that position and always trying to get it behind the back five for Haaland.
"You leave yourself open if you're going to play a back five. If the two wing-backs come up the pitch 10-15 yards to maybe come into midfield, to be a little bit more attacking, that's when the spaces come down the side of the three centre-halves and you're just chipping balls in (the space behind) there and keep them running towards their own goal. Eventually they'll stop coming forward."
Damien Duff will have plenty to ponder as the Shelbourne manager plots his way against a Derry side that often plays a 4-2-3-1 but who will be without midfielder Sadou Diallo after his red card in the 1-0 defeat to Dundalk at the weekend.
"I think Shelbourne will feel their way into the game and start with a flat back five. I don't think they'll be too adventurous," said Treacy.
"I think they'll just try and nullify Derry and it could even come down to a game of set-pieces. This could be over-analysed tactically but as we saw with the women's final, these things can often just come down to set-pieces.
"It will be a really, really close game. There's an awful lot of talent on the pitch and it could come down to something like a set-piece."
Watch the FAI Cup final, Derry City v Shelbourne, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Sunday from 2.15pm with live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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