Declan Devine's Bohemians started the season in impressive fashion, and the Gypsies manager is hoping that his side will end it in style as they take on St Patrick’s Athletic in Sunday’s FAI Cup final.
In his first season in charge, Devine made an immediate impact at the Dalymount Park club as Bohemians shot to the top of the Premier Divison table throughout the first round of fixtures.
Bohs sat on top of the table until mid May, however, there title challenge faded in the second half of the season, while a disappointing run-in saw Devine’s side miss out on European football as they fell out of the top three and ended up in the bottom half of the table, in sixth place.
But the Phibsboro side can right their recent wrongs by playing their way into Europe with a cup victory on Sunday against fellow Dublin club, St Pat’s.
A fourth-place finish in the league would have secured a place in the Europa Conference League for Devine’s side, as their opponents are already assured of a place following their third-place finish, however, now Shelbourne are waiting in the wings and will grab that final European spot if Bohs fail to secure the trophy.
"With a few games to go in our league campaign we were targeting second place, so we were really disappointed to finish outside the top four," said Devine, speaking to RTÉ Sport ahead of Sunday’s clash. "But it is the nature of the league this year, it has been tight from start to finish.
"This is another opportunity; we have worked hard to get here and we certainly don’t want to let it pass us by, because this club needs to be in Europe
"And it is also an opportunity to add silverware, which hasn’t been done in 15 years so it’s a big game for everyone."
Devine remains pragmatic regarding his side’s major dip in league form following their excellent start, and while he said it is something that will hopefully be rectified for next season, his immediate focus remains on Sunday’s clash.
"There was a huge turnover in players so there was always going to be highs and lows this year," said Devine.
"We’re disappointed after the break that we didn’t pick up more points than we should have done, but every team is in the same boat.
"It is certainly something that we will look at and analyse when the game is over, where did we leave points behind and making sure we don’t do it again."
And looking ahead to the game, Devine believes that there is very little to choose from and feels that the league matches between the two sides this season have shown how close they are in terms of quality.
"Very little [between the two team]," said Devine. "I think both teams play the game the right way and they have matchwinners in their panel. But if you look at all the games, there has been very little between the teams.
"We probably dominated possession in the last game, switched off twice and got punished, but that’s the nature of two good teams going at it, you have to defend both boxes well and attack both boxes with a bit of intensity."
Devine may be without important personnel as club captain Keith Buckley will miss out on the final through injury, however, the manager believes that the player will still have an influential role to play whether on or off the pitch.
"Keith Buckley is the past, the present and the future of this club," said Devine. "I don’t doubt that he will manage this club down the line.
"He has a big job to do whether he is on the pitch or not because he is very inspirational. He has an aura about him, he can calm people down, he is close to all the players and staff and whether he is available or not I think he has a huge role to play on Sunday."
Jonathan Afolabi, however, is fit and raring to go following a fine season leading the line for Bohs, netting 19 goals throughout the season, and the manager is hoping that the young striker can make it to 20 on Sunday.
He’s been outstanding," said Devine. "His overall play, his ability to hold the ball up and bring other players into play I think will be really important for us on Sunday."
Devine, of course, enjoyed FAI Cup success in recent years as he guided Derry City to glory in 2012 and while he feels that Dublin clubs have struggled in the competition in recent years, he takes a modicum of comfort in the fact that the trophy has to stay in the capital on this occasion.
"Dublin teams haven’t been very successful in the FAI Cup in recent history, so the Cup is going to be in Dublin, it just depends what part of Dublin it is coming to.
"A huge pitch, a big crowd, a break from the norm but at the same time it is still a football match, whether 90 minutes or 120 minutes, we have to make sure we’re ready," added Devine, when reminded of the many recent finals that have been decided on penalties.
"It was a brilliant day, It’s still very fresh in the memory," said Devine, regarding his previous success. "But we want to make sure that there is new memories now as this is a new place for me. I’ve been made to feel so welcome so I would love nothing better than to bring the trophy back into this stadium."
And Devine will urge his players to put external side stories to one side and leave the pitch on Sunday with no regrets, as Bohemians look to bring the Cup to Dalymount for the first time since 2008.
"We can’t worry about Shelbourne," said Devine. "We have to make sure that we do our job, give the best of ourselves and make sure our game plan goes according to plan, and make sure when that final whistle blows that we have no regrets.
"And if we can do that, we are more than capable, as Pat’s are, of coming away with that trophy."
Watch the FAI Cup final, Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, on Sunday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
