Feely hoping to help Cork City end tough season with FAI Cup delight

Rory Feely is hoping he and his Cork City team mates can provide their supporters with an unforgettable finish to the season when they take on newly-crowned SSE Airtricity League Premier Division champions, Shamrock Rovers in this Sunday’s Sports Direct FAI Cup Final at the Aviva Stadium.

While the Rebels have endured a tough year that has seen them relegated back to Division One, they have still managed to string together a superb cup run that featured wins over Waterford United, Finn Harps and most recently St. Patrick’s Athletic in the semi-finals.

That campaign has certainly lifted the sombre mood around Turners Cross, and Athy man, Feely, who joined Cork from League Two side, Crawley Town back in July, is hoping they can serve up one more shock result when they take on a Rovers side who, last week, secured their fifth Premier Division crown in six seasons.

Indeed, if they can do that, then it will serve as some measure of redemption in the wake of a disappointing league campaign that has now left them battling for a return to the top ranks.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be in a cup final,” Feely told The Kildare Nationalist.

“It's a massive opportunity for the club and it kind of shows you the highs and the lows of football really.

“In the second half of the season, when I joined, we tried to get some more consistency in the league, but we were just a bit shy of that.

“Obviously, with the cup games, there's always more at stake and so you're playing that bit extra hard. It's such a massive occasion and we just managed to come out on top in those games when it came down to it.

“The performances we produced in the semi-final and quarter-final are what we want to see in every league game, but we just weren’t clicking at the time and that’s something we’ve got to work on as players.

“It's just unfortunate we weren't able to give the supporters the results we feel they deserve.

“With the way the league has gone, this is the best we can really ask for now, to be in a cup final, and in with chance for the Cork City fans to travel to the Aviva and see their team play in one of the biggest occasions in Irish football,” he said.

Standing in their way of a bridging an eight-year gap since they last lifted the FAI Cup is a Rovers outfit who have proven the team to beat in the league over recent seasons.

Stephen Bradley’s side will be very much buoyed after finally getting over the line in their bid for a 22nd League of Ireland crown following last week’s narrow win at home to Galway United, leaving them free to focus fully on their date with Cork next Sunday.

While they did suffer two heavy three-goal defeats at the hands of the Hoops on the road this season, Cork’s record against the newly-crowned champions at home as been a lot more encouraging, as they twice held the Tallaght side to 1-1 draws.

And Feely remains very hopeful they can go one step better and put one over the Dubliners on the big stage next weekend.

“If we play with the same passion and the same togetherness that we showed against St. Pat’s [in the semi-final], then there's always a chance we can win,” he insisted.

“We’ve just got to really focus on our own game and our own game plan, making sure that we perform. We can't really focus on what Rovers are doing, bar the usual kind of analysis you do on them.

“It's more about us playing together, doing it for each other and focusing, more or less, on our game plan. I think if we do that, there's every chance of us winning.

“The attacking threat is definitely there for us. You saw that in the Pat’s game. And we feel like, in defence, we're much more secure than we were earlier on in the season, so we're actually in quite a good place, and we just hope that it can basically all click at the same time.

“We’ve just got to take the opportunities that we’re given in the game because absolutely anything can happen in a cup final.

“We’ve got to let the occasion happen and be excited to be there. Just use the nerves as energy and adrenaline to go out and show what we've got on the really big stage.

“There’s young players there who have a chance to progress in their careers, and there's no better opportunity of doing that than in the cup final, scoring a goal or playing out your skin,” he said.

Feely will, himself, be bringing some FAI Cup Final experience to the table for Cork this weekend, having scored a superb extra-time header for Bohemians in the 2021 showpiece against St. Pat’s.

That goal served to cancel out Chris Forrester’s opener for the Inchicore side, but it was not enough to drive the Gypsies on to the coveted prize on that occasion as they ultimately lost out 4-3 on penalties.

Despite the disappointment of just missing out then, Feely insists the experience of playing on the big stage will serve him well next weekend.

“The good thing is that I've played in this occasion, even if it was just the once,” he said.

“When I was on the pitch at the time, it was just very surreal.

“The crowd were absolutely roaring. You could barely see, there was smoke and flares and all of that. It’s just a huge occasion and a huge thing to take in as a young player.

“I'm lucky enough that I did play in it, so I will be kind of somewhat used to it. It's a surreal experience and it's a really exciting chance as a footballer and a great occasion for your friends and family who are coming to watch you play.

“It's something I've always really wanted to do, play in these occasions, and I'm absolutely delighted that I’ve got the chance to play in another one,” he said.