Sunday, 12 November
Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup Final
Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, Aviva Stadium, 3pm
TV
Watch live coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 2pm.
RADIO
Listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio One from 2pm.
ONLINE
Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app.
WEATHER
Sunday morning will be wet and windy, with light showers continuing up until about 4pm. There will be a gentle breeze throughout the day, with temperature at kick-off set to be around 11C.
Dublin rivals meet in repeat of 2021 final
In keeping with the Dublin-based transport company that sponsors Bohemians, two all-capital cup finals have come along in quick succession, after over two decades without one.
Bohemians beat Shelbourne 1-0 in a replay after a scoreless draw back in 2000, and 21 years later there were no goals in normal time again, as Bohs took on St Pat's in front of 37,000 people at the Aviva.
Both sides scored in extra-time before St Pat's prevailed 4-3 on penalties to extend Bohemians' run without a major trophy that stretches back to 2009.
The Gypsies will have revenge on their minds this year, although only three of the XI that started on that day are still on their books - James Talbot, Ali Coote, and club captain Keith Buckley, who has been ruled out of the final through injury.
Jamie Lennon and Chris Forrester are the only survivors from the Saints' starting team, but much of the Aviva Crowd will be made up of the same faces who were there two years ago, as the match looks set to break the all-time attendance record for an FAI Cup final, with over 40,000 tickets already sold on Friday afternoon.
Damien Duff's Shels will be watching with interest
After a hectic week at Tolka Park, Damien Duff and his troops will be forgiven for settling in on Sunday and taking in the final.
Shelbourne finished fourth in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division this year, one place below St Patrick's Athletic.
With the Saints already sure of a European spot, a win for them on Sunday will mean Shelbourne will be playing continental football in 2024, 18 years after they last left Dublin Airport to play competitively.
In comparison to all of their major Dublin rivals, Bohemians finished a lowly sixth in the league, meaning the only way Declan Devine's side will be playing in Europe next year is if they lift the cup on Sunday.
What the managers say
Six months after Jon Daly took over in Inchicore, the former Ireland underage striker can top off a positive season by managing St Pat's to their fifth-ever FAI Cup.
Daly knows that stopping 19-goal Bohs Jonathan Afolabi will be key to his side's success, and the manager is hoping that his skipper Joe Redmond will have enough inside knowledge to keep the ex-Celtic man at bay.
"He is a handful," Daly, told RTÉ Sport earlier this week, when asked about Afolabi's threat. "He’s a very good player and he will be up for player of the season. He’s a very good striker.
"Joe Redmond played with him growing up at St Joesph's so he will know him very well and knows the threat that he poses.
"And James Clarke playing off him has been very good this year. They have a really good understanding, so it is about trying to manage them two, and I think the front four in particular are their main threat, so if we can manage that we give ourselves the best opportunity to win the game."
Daly, of course, has his own match-winners, with few candidates more obvious than veteran midfielder Chris Forrester, who opened the scoring in extra-time when these two sides last met in the final.
"He has shown it in the two years I've been here that he can produce something out of nothing, that little bit of magic, and that x factor that you want to see in players," said Daly of his talisman.
"If you are paying into the game, you would want to watch someone like him. He can do things that others can’t do and hopefully we see something similar on Sunday."
The man in the opposite dugout to Daly is hoping his side can dust themselves down after a strong start to the league season faded badly, leaving Bohs finishing in the bottom half of the table.
"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. "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."
The road to the Aviva
St Pat's have taken the long way round to get to Dublin 4, clocking up the miles with four away ties on their road to the final.
The first round saw them beat Longford Town 2-1, thanks to a late Forrester penalty, and there was more spot-kick glee in round two, as they beat Derry City 4-3 in a shootout at the Brandywell, following a scoreless draw.
It was back to the north-west for the quarter-final, as another Forrester penalty and a late Tommy Lonergan strike overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit against Finn Harps, before goals from Mark Doyle and Conor Carty secured a 2-0 win over Cork City in the semi-final at Turners Cross.
Bohemians were at home in the first two rounds, with Afolabi scoring the only goal in a win over Shelbourne, before non-league Rockmount were beaten 6-0 in round two.
An Afolabi brace helped secure a 3-1 win at Drogheda United in the quarter-final, before a Dylan Connolly goal saw off a stubborn Galway United side at Eamonn Deacy Park in the last four.
Previous meetings this season
There haven't been any home comforts for the sides in their meetings this season, with the away team coming out on top in three of the four league fixtures between the rivals.
Bohs went top of the league with a 2-0 win at Richmond Park back in March, but the Saints were resurgent by the time they won 3-2 at Dalymount Park in April.
August saw a goalless draw in Inchicore, before another Doyle/Carty scoring combo secured a 2-0 win for St Pat's in Phibsboro just three weeks before their Aviva meeting.
The first two meetings featured a total of three red cards, so don't be surprised if this final boils over at some point on Sunday.
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.
