When Galway United and St. Patrick's Athletic take to the field in Richmond Park on Sunday evening in the FAI Cup, there will be an air of familiarity in the dugouts. Between the years of 2015 and 2018, John Caulfield and Stephen Kenny locked horns in 4 consecutive cup finals with their respective clubs, Cork City and Dundalk, and it couldn't have been closer. Three of the four finals went to extra time, one of which went all the way to a shootout, with Cork winning it in 2017. Both sides nicked a 1-0 extra-time win for themselves in 2015 and 2016, and Dundalk beat Cork 2-1 in 2018 with a winner 15 minutes from time. In the Cork-Dundalk era, there was nothing separating Caulfield and Kenny at the top of their game.
Galway boss Caulfield now admits, however, that his old rival might have the upper hand on him, “When we were playing back then we were both neck and neck, at the moment Pats are probably doing better than we are, they’ve been in European football, we haven't, we’re at different junctions.” This will be the seventh clash between Caulfield and Kenny in their new jobs since the former Irish national team manager took over Pats last May. In the six clashes so far, there's been two wins for Galway, three wins for Pats and one draw.
When asked about Pats going in as red-hot favourites, Caulfield said, “I wouldn't call it an upset if we won Sunday. It's a massive opportunity to get to a semi-final. We know if we play well, we can beat anyone, which we’ve shown.” Another factor to this game is the recent appointment of Jon Daly as Galway assistant manager. Jon was in charge the last time Pats won the cup in 2023. If Galway are to turn over Pats to reach a second cup semi-final in three years, Daly and his prior knowledge will have a lot to do with it.
Caulfield confirmed a few fitness problems in the squad ahead of Sunday but remains hopeful he will have almost a full hand to pick from. “Hickey is struggling, McCormack is hoping to be back to full fitness, Jimmy Keohane has a knock, I’m hoping that most of them make it.”
It’s been an undoubtedly difficult period for Galway United, especially off the pitch. John Caulfield paid tribute to the late Ollie Horgan by saying, “The best way to represent a person like Ollie who would've been very close to the squad for the last three years is to go out and give good performances." When asked about how he and the squad are after the turbulence of the past few weeks, he replied, “You can’t feel sorry for yourself, you’ve to get back to refocusing yourself both individually and collectively, making sure that as a group together we’re clear on what we can do and off that wavelength, we can beat anyone.”
Kickoff in Richmond Park is on Sunday at 6 pm, live on RTÉ 2.
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